No dvd/cd drive displayed

jimmyw

Hi, I have a dell laptop that runs on windows xp, and when I turn it on and go into the "my computer" section I can see the icon for the dvd/cd drive.But after a while It disappears so that I cant play cd, cd rom, or dvd.If I turn it off and then on again all is ok until it does it again. I have gone into the diagnostics section of the laptop to check the drive and it says its ok. I have also gone into the boot menu and added the number in the menu beside the cd drive, but still the same happens, any ideas?

kikel

Try This at your own risk. Bt I'd say it will work.



Start the Run Command Prompt

Type in "regedit" without the parrenthesis then click ok

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

Then SYSTEM

Then CURRENT CONTROL SET

Then CONTROL

Then CLASS

Then find {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

The whole thing looks like this:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Then delete the upper and lower filters....

RESTART YOUR COMPUTER THEN THERE YA GO!!!! HOPE THIS HELPS

ttm

I had a similar problem recently which was fixed with a BIOS update of the combo CD/DVD RW drive. Worked fine in XP but disapeared in Windows 7.

Also can be a reg issue with higher and lower filter settings for the drive in the registry http://blogs.technet.com/fixit4me/archive/2009/03/18/delete-lower-upper-filters-for-cd-devices-fix-it-live.aspx has the info on fixing it. Edit> just as kikel has already said, but there's no real risk unless you delete the wrong keys. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982116 is a better link than the first one I gave.

2nd Edit> Thinking about it the upper lower filter option has only ever worked for me when the drive can't be seen at all and not when its there on each boot up and later disappears so if it doesn't help then head for a BIOS update for your DRIVE if you can find one.

jimmyw

Ye 2 are some pair of c***s:mad:. My laptop is really f****d up now listening to what ye told me, AAAARRRRRRRGGGGG!!:(

















































Only joking:).I did what ye told me, but at first it went completely over my head, so I left it until today and I done it. It installed some kind of software but it still disappeared.After it was installed ( took a while) and the drive icon seems to be still there fingers crossed.But what exactly is happening when one does all that?How did you find out how to do this in the first place.

P.S I might be really giving out tomorrow when it might disappear again;)

Thanks by the way!!

ttm

Don't be supprised if the drive goes missing again, I've seen it happen far to often to judge the fix by first appearences, at least it doesn't sound like a hardware problem.

Sometimes its related to something thats recently been installed afaik virtual drive software can be one of the culprits.

jimmyw

Its gone again I am afraid, thanks anyway:(:(:(:(