This is yet another problem that I encountered on my new Acer laptop running Windows Vista. The Acer laptop came with NTI Backup Now 5, NTI Shadow 4 and NTI Media Maker 8. I prefer to use Nero Burning ROM, so I manually uninstalled all the NTI software that came pre-installed. Everything was working fine until when I tried burning a disc with Nero. While burning the disc half way, Nero encountered an error and stopped burning. I saw that my DVD drive letter was missing from My Computer.
I checked my BIOS and it was able to detect my DVD-RW drive. Went to Device Manager, the drive is listed there without any yellow exclamation mark. But in My Computer, the DVD drive letter intermittently went missing and occasionally came back by itself… I was about to remove Vista from the laptop and install Windows XP but luckily I found a fix for it.
I posted about this problem in forum and prashanthpai suggested a registry fix solution. Actually this is a common fix when you call up HP to report on a drive not appearing problem. I helped my client to report a DVD problem before and got this advice that fixed the problem but I totally forgotten about it.
Here are the steps to fix the CD or DVD drive not appearing in My Computer:
1. Go to run (or hit Win+R), type Regedit and click OK.
2. Expand My Computer in Registry Editor, and then expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
2. Expand SYSTEM, and then expand CurrentControlSet.
3. Expand Control, and then expand Class.
4. Under Class, click {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
5. In the details pane of Registry Editor, on the right side, delete UpperFilters and also LowerFilters.
As you can see, I only had UpperFilters (some of you might have both UpperFilters and LowerFilters) with the value data NTIDrvr. Since I no longer have NTI application installed on my Acer laptop, having the data there is messing up the DVD drive. Usually after uninstalling a CD or DVD writing or recording programs will cause this registry entry to corrupt. By right after deleting the UpperFilters and LowerFilters from registry and restarting the computer should fix the CD or DVD drive missing from My Computer problem but don’t know why I am still unable to see my DVDRW drive after doing that.
I tried uninstalling the driver for DVD drive from Device Manager and let Windows Vista auto reinstall again after restart, but still no DVD drive in My Computer. Searching for other solution revealed that it could be due to a faulty drive. I was very close to installing Windows XP to confirm the problem but luckily I noticed something that stopped me from doing that. In My Computer, I now see Devices with Removal Storage (1).
I have to admit that I don’t use Windows Vista at all for my daily computing tasks and didn’t know that the drives group in My Computer can expand/collapse. Just double click on the line and now the DVD drive letter appears. DUH! This is like the silliest mistake I’ve done… I guess we all do that sometimes 
Related posts:
I had the same problem in XP Pro, except the code was 19 instead of 39, I didn’t have Upperlimits but I did have Lowerlimits, so I deleted the 0000 class and the lowerlimits value, and now my dvd-cd rom now shows up in the My Computer now. I had thought earlier that I was going to have to buy another DVD Burner!
Thanks for the info, basically same problem, just different OS!
i got my cd/dvd drive back again so cool thank you Raymond
“DVD/CDD RIVES DOESN’T DISPLAY ON HP Pavilion dv2500 Entertainment Notebook PC series VISTA HOME”
Thanks a lot for the help it sorted out my missing DVD RW I am overjoyed
sandy
almost to the bottom of the first link there is a section that will help you find the keys and where you will need to look in the registry
For more information about the filter drivers that may be loaded in Windows Vista, run the DevCon program. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Obtain and extract the DevCon program. For more information about how to obtain this program and about how to use this program, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
311272 (support.microsoft.com/kb/311272/ ) The DevCon command-line utility functions as an alternative to Device Manager
2. Click Start
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Start button
, type cmd in the Start Search box, right-click cmd in the Programs list, and then click Run as administrator.
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User Account Control permission
If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
3. At the command prompt, change the directory to the directory to which you extracted the DevCon files.
4. Type devcon stack gencdrom, and then press ENTER.
Then, information that resembles the following appears:
IDE\CDROM_____CDRW121032______1.08\5&60546BC&0&0.0.0
Name: CDRW121032
Setup Class: {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} CDROM
Upper filters:
Controlling service:
cdrom
Lower filters:
1 matching device(s) found.
and it is a command line tool but don’t let that scare as i found the instructions very straight forward and it should help you find the registry keys ( or key as all system might not have both upper and lower filters) and then you should be able to find them easily
i hope this helps you
good luck and take care
chuck
Hello!
I have Vista Home Premium and my dvd/cd rom drive is not showing up at all in my device manager (there should be a dvd/cd-rom drives tab in between display adapters and human interface devices, but there is not) and the d:/ drive doesn’t show up at all on my computer.
I’ve come across this same solution on several websites and tried to follow through, however when I get into the registry and carefully search out the entry I cannot find any upper or lower filters in the right column – just default, class, class desc, enumproppages, iconpath, installer32, noinstallclass, and silent install. So if there are no upper or lower filters to delete, do you maybe have any other ideas on how to fix this?
Thanks!
ok they have separate knowledge base on vista and win xp
here are the 2 links
support.microsoft.com/kb/929461
support.microsoft.com/kb/314060/EN-US/
hope this helps you Albin and amy others
This is a good article. I have had this problem a couple of times and have had to google it on each occassion. Editing the registry did the trick – i’m not very experienced but I thought hey i’d give it a go and it worked like a charm.
Raymond the same problem my acer have encountered several times but I do have Win XP on my computer.
I resolved it my way by inserting the Windows bootable rom in drive and restatriting. The system checks the drive for bootable ROM, I did not pressed any key as it asked and allowed the computer to start. Then opened my computer to find the DVD-RW icon present
Anyway thanks Ray I will try ur trick too, if it is present in XP.
hmm.. ada2 je…:-)
Don’t these Vista evangelists just make you want to upchuck? As usual – talking out the back of their necks. I have a friend in “department management” at Redmond and the open secret is that most departments therein consider Vista an “abortion” – ill conceived and launched before it was ready. Why else has Bulmer finally conceded publically that he accepts why the ‘Corporate’ market have declined Vista and will wait and see what W7 looks like a year after it is launched and the inevitable SP1 is released to start debugging it?
Hallelujah and praise da Lord – Microsoft will save the world !! Would I buy a used car from them? Hell ! Yeah Right ! NOT ! “It’s ok Sir …. there will be a new model around in two years but you must buy this one NOW! Oh and by the way ….. don’t worry about it going in reverse when you select first gear …. we’ll be issuing a parch for that sometime soon ! You have a good day ….. y’heah!”
Keep up the good work Raymond and try to ignore the irriots around !
Hey raymond, what about if you see a UpperFilters_2 and a UpperFilters_3 registry key?
LOL. that was a nice article.
Raymond, do you try install (overwrite) all previously removed NTI apps again? After this remove it with any good uninstaller such Revo or any other with deep clean option. This method helps me resolve problem with my PC, no other way to do it better. And if you uninstall Nero and install other burning program such a BurnAware drive is appearing?
Hi All,
I have LG DVD writer. D problem is, wen i insert a disc, i hear a sound of “ZZZZZZZ” the disc is rotated at very high speed.. wat will b d problem? the disc loads a lot time to read its contents!
Help me please!
Tnx Ray!
lolz! :) will test the drop down if its working hie hie hie :)
Thanks Ray!
i can’t belive this blog today !!!
exactly this problem i’ve found this morning on my dell laptop with xp (the same solution i found five minutes later with google ;-)
but just today this blog is a super coincidence.
thx and greets, triDot
hey raymond…
i was messing with my pc last time and i lost the dvd/cd writing on my computer…i was really angry so next day i wanted to formatt the pc!! and now i checked ur blog and found the solution for it!! i did it in 1 min and it worked gr8 for me:D thanks alot raymond..seriously ur the best!! ur simply a genius :) tc
thanks man….! u rock.!
Thank you ray for this great article. It is true that Vista is better than XP as it is easy to use, but XP’s been improved alot for the past 5 years something Vista still has problems with.
Great article raymond.
The problem occurs again and again in my XP Professional SP3 system.I tried the regedit but it didn’t work.
raymond.cc/forum/hardware/9147-dvd-drives-missing.html
@kees
bro 4 ur concern let me tell u the vista was already installed with the acer laptop………
Kees, I’m not touchy about it, I just frustrates me that people are so concerned with instant gratification that they don’t bother to try to work their problems out. I’ve learned so much about IT stuff just by tweaking and optimizing my computer that I don’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to do that so they don’t have to do a clean install every time they run into an issue. If I wanted things dumbed down for me, I’d use a Mac. That said, I misread where Raymond said he was ABOUT to install XP. I thought he did, then just wanted to find out a solution so maybe he reinstalled Vista or something. My fault. Still, it shocks me that even someone as knowledgeable about computers as him seems about to give up at the first sign of trouble. And if you think the days of Vista are really “counted” I invite you to show me how Windows 7 is really all that different. It’s built pretty much on the Vista shell, except that you can’t upgrade straight from XP. It just has new features, like every other new OS. Remember, Microsoft says it’s (fully) backwards compatible with Vista, so if you’re stuck on XP because you don’t feel like giving up that program that doesn’t work on Vista, you’re still SOL.
Thank you for the tips Raymond, i use Windows XP, in my registry editor i didn’t see UpperFiltter? i only see lowerfilter how could it be Raymond? Thank you :)
It is curious that Vista users are so touchy about any unpositive remark converning their OS. If they are happy with it, congratulations, but why jump at anybody who prefers XP?
Anyway, the days of Vista are counted. As for Raymond, I am amazed that he did not do a clean install of Vista.
You are luck enough. My DVD RW from DELL LAtitude D630 sometimes detected, sometimes not. When I trying to RMA it, the RMA guy was luck enough to see my DVD-RW OK. That why my RMA failed. Back to my house, DVD-RW still sometimes detect, sometimes not. I really hate this condition. When I need to install Windows, I am forcely using WDS :((.
H!!!!!!! /)
RaY ….. :-)
Ur Always gr8,,,,,, ;-)
we all love U …… for such rocking daily topics,,,, :)
thought the micro$oft knowledge base article states that you should remove the cd or dvd in device manager before you clear the upper and ( or) lower filters in the registry before rebooting and it should just set it all up again like new
there are different pages for win xp and vista and win 2000 (3 in total) on the micro$oft site and doing a search will come up with the relevant page as the upper and lower filters are located in different spots in each of those 3 operating systems
gl and tc
hope you all had a good xmas (now i got a acer aspire one / win xp to get rid of and yes it has the slow ssd drive and not the faster ones)
Hey this is great!
Thanks
tnx raymond
ur funny ray
even i have been using vista for more then a year .. i still get confuse with all this small features :P
I love how everyone’s solution when something happens in Vista is to uninstall it. I have had the OEM install of Vista running on my Fujitsu N6460 for over a year now, and I haven’t had to reinstall it at all. Not reinstall, not restore backups, none of that. I’ve had to do System Restore a few times, but it works way better than in XP and I’ve only used it when I’ve messed with drivers or things like that in ways I probably shouldn’t. I’ve also messed with partitions and dual-booting and haven’t had any problems. I’ve taken the time to tweak it, but whenever I see anyone who claims to be computer-savvy who bashes Vista over XP, I know they’re not as good with computers as they think. I just think that people give up on it too fast. They see one problem and run, when there’s usually a simple solution. It’s sad, actually, cause it’s a great OS that has been around less than two years. How long was XP around before Vista came out? Over 5 years? Yeah. It had its problems too, but people have gotten used to it. It’s just that Microsoft used to release a new OS once ever 2 or 3 years, so when they slowed down the cycle, people got too used to XP. Really, very little in terms of problems with Vista is Microsoft’s fault. If they wanted to take it further than XP, they obviously had to do some things to remove outdated XP tech, while developers didn’t care very much about future-proofing. Same for hardware manufacturers. Any company that doesn’t make drivers for Vista yet is a joke, plain and simple.
And maybe something small, but spend enough time with Vista, and you’ll start seeing XP as a cartoon. All those bright, ballooned-out buttons and toobars are like caricatures of an OS.
thanks alot