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How to Solve CD or DVD Drive Missing From My Computer Issue

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Sometimes your CD or DVD drive doesn’t show up in the My Computer section. You can’t use your
CD/DVD drive in spite of actually having it on your computer. Also, sometimes it may happen that it
shows up but is unable to play the files in CD/DVD.
Such problems in Windows aren’t that uncommon. This could arise due to many reasons. Some
common reasons are:
 Corrupted registry entry.
 CD/DVD driver problem.
 Installation and un-installation of DVD recording programs.
 Un-installation of Microsoft Digital Image.
This articles elaborates all the necessary steps you have to perform to solve the missing drive
problem in Windows Vista, Windows 7 and Windows XP.
How to solve missing cd/dvd drive issue
You can solve this problem by using the in-built troubleshooter in Windows 7 or by tweaking your
computer’s registry settings in Windows Vista and XP. Note that if you change or delete a wrong
registry file then it might result in serious issues with your PC. Therefore it is highly advisable
tobackup your registry before starting the process.
If this solution doesn’t work then you have to uninstall your CD/DVD device driver and reinstall it.
We’ll talk about that too.
Windows 7
If you don’t find CD or DVD drive on your Windows 7 computer then you can take help of “Playing
and Burning CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs troubleshooter” to resolve the issue.
1. Click Start button
2. On search box, type Troubleshooting. Open the result.
3. On left click “View All”.

3. 4. Click “Playing and Burning CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray Discs”.
If this method doesn’t work, it might be possible that the problem exists inside your computer’s
hardware. You can make use of “Hardware and Devices troubleshooter”. It checks all the
hardware issues and confirms that your CD/DVD drive is installed correctly or not.
1. Again click on “Start” button.
2. On search box, type Troubleshooting. Open the result.
3. Under “Hardware and Sound” setting, click “Configure a device”. If prompted for confirmation
click “Yes”.
4. Now reboot your computer and check for drive by clicking on Start button and then “Computer”.
If the drive is listed then your problem is solved.
Windows Vista
1. Press “Start” button.
2. In search box enter “regedit”. Click on the result “regedit.exe”.

4. 3. If prompted for a confirmation, click “Allow”. It will open the Registry Editor.
4. In registry editor you have to locate a registry key by expanding directories on left pane. Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlClass{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-
08002BE10318}
5. Click on folder named “{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}”.
6 In the right pane, right click on “Upper filters” and select delete from the context menu. If asked
to confirm the deletion, click “Yes”.

5. Note If you see a registry entry “UpperFilters.bak” then don’t delete it.
7. If you don’t find any UpperFilters entry then there should be LowerFilters entry. Right click on it
and delete it. If asked to confirm the deletion, click “Yes”.
8. Exit Registry editor and reboot your computer. This should resolve the issue and your CD drive
icon should now show up.
Windows XP
1. Click Start. Click Run.
2. In the Run box, type regedit and click OK.

6. 3. In registry editor, go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlClass{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-
08002BE10318}
4. Click on {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} .
5. On the right pane, right click on UpperFilters and select delete from the context menu. If asked to
confirm the deletion, click “Yes”.
6. If you don’t find UpperFilters registry entry then there should be LowerFilters registry entry. Right
click on it and select delete from the menu. If asked to confirm the deletion, click “Yes”.
7. Exit Registry editor and reboot your computer.
If the above steps don’t work and drive still doesn’t show up
You have to remove and reinstall the device drivers for the drive. Here I am explaining the process
for Windows Vista and Windows XP. Process for Windows 7 is almost same as Windows Vista.
Windows Vista and Windows 7
1. Click Start button
2. Type Device manager in the search box. Click on the result.

7. 3. On device manager, expand “DVD/CD-ROM drives”. Right-click the CD and DVD devices, and then
click “Uninstall”.

8. 4. Reboot your PC.
5. The drivers will be automatically installed after your PC restarts.
Windows XP
1. Go to Start > Control Panel.
2. Click System and Maintenance > System.
3. Open the Hardware tab, click “Device Manager”.

9. 4. Expand DVD/CD-ROM drives, right-click the CD and DVD device, and then select Uninstall.

10. 5. Reboot your PC. All the drivers will be automatically reinstalled after restart.
By applying the above mentioned steps, you can troubleshoot your missing drive problem. If still you
are unable to solve the issue then you could take help of Microsoft Customer Support Services Web
site.
Let us know if you had this problem ever, and whether you tried these steps to resolve the issue.
Tagged as: DVD, Windows

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Written By Himanshu Yadav and published on Friday, April 2nd, 2010.
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Showing 4 comments
JolieC
Thanks so much - that was exactly the help I needed!
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o Reply
o 2 months ago
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didntwork

12. I now see the DVD & CD-Roms but they are colored yellow with an explanation mark
o Like
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o 3 months ago
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didntwork
I tried your suggestions, rebooted now I don't see them at all.
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o Reply
o 3 months ago
o
Henrygar
Thanks!!!!!!
It Solved My Problem!!!
o Like
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o 4 months ago
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