Missing CD/DVD Drive for Windows 8 Professional

Anonymous
2012-10-29T10:13:32+00:00

The CD/DVD Drive is detected in the BIOS Setup but when it boots to Windows the drive seemed to be missing and not working. Whenever I insert a media for playback it won't work. I did check under the Device Manager to troubleshoot the missing CD/DVD drive to no avail. Does anyone have encountered the same problem? Thank you for your kind assistance.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2012-10-30T09:17:42+00:00

Hi,

As I understand the issue, the CD\DVD drive is not recognized in windows explorer. I also see that CD\DVD drive is detected in BIOS.

Do you get any error message?

Method 1:

I would suggest you to follow these steps and check if it helps.

a) Right click on the Left Bottom Corner (Start Menu).

b) Run Command Prompt as an Administrator.

c) Type cmd in Windows 8 Metro UI and press cltr+shift+enter.

d) Type following and say enter

reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001

e) Reboot the system.

f) Verify if the problem has been resolved.

Method 2:

If the issue persists run hardware and troubleshooter and check.

a) Press “Windows Key + R”, type Control Panel.

b) Then type “Troubleshooter” in the Search box and hit enter.

c) Select “Hardware and Sound” from the Troubleshooter Window.

d) Select “Hardware and Devices”.

**Method 3:**If the issue persists I would suggest you to follow these steps, uninstall and re-install the CD/DVD ROM drivers in compatibility mode and check if it helps.

Note: Download the drivers from the Manufacturer’s website and install it.a) Press Windows Key + R, **** type devmgmt.msc.b) Expand the CD/DVD ROM drivers, click on the drivers.c) Click on properties, click on uninstall tab.d) Click OK.e) Right-click on the driver executable/installer file**.f)** Click on Properties and select the Compatibility tab.g) Click the checkbox before Run this program in Compatibility modefor option and select Windows 7.h) In the list-down box; then try installing the device driver via Run as administrator.

Give this a go; I’m confident you will find what you need here. But if you face any further issue please reply back to this post and I'll be happy to assist you further.

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-03-28T18:20:16+00:00

    I also have this issue. Many of my apps had stopped working, so I refreshed the OS. I was able to re-install MS Office 2007 by disk. After this, I ran Windows update. Sometime after this, when I wished to re-install MS-Project Standard 2007, the external blu-ray player I had been using was no longer present. I have confirmed that the registry is set up according to all of the directions in this thread. No luck. The drive is still missing from device manager and hence the file explorer. The drive works on other computers. Someone noted that you should re-install the vendor's drivers. There are no vendor drivers for most optical drives.

    Is there a third solution besides the two registry hacks noted here?

    Computer is a dell laptop, 16.0GB RAM, Intel core i7-4500 CPU at 1.8 Ghz. Windows 8.1 (via update at MS store, one of the apps that had stopped working prior to the refresh)

     UPDATE: I have found the solution. The external dvd/cd/bluray drive appears in the Device Manager as "Initio Default Controller". Confirm that the Initio Combo Device Class is only present when the drive is plugged into the USB port. To solve this. In the Windows System area of the Metro Apps, click on Control Panel. Click on "View by: Category and change to large icons. Right click on Device Manager and run as administrator. Click the arrow beside Initio Combo Device Class. Right click on the Initio Default Controller icon. Click uninstall. In the dialog box that comes up, click that you DO wish to uninstall the driver as well. When this is complete, close everything and reboot. If you are faced with this issue, then your DVD/CD-ROM drive will re-appear.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-07-12T16:29:42+00:00

    hi I did this to fix error code 19 an cd/dvd missing after upgrade to windows 8. this was on my Toshiba laptop.  I uninstalled Toshiba recovery media, then under deivice

    uninstalled matshita dvd ram uj880as , then did a restart. dvd now appears and works

    ok. I got this from Toshiba website.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-08-16T21:30:38+00:00

    Had this same problem after the recent upgrade from Win 7 Pro to Win 10 Pro, method 1 did the job for me!

    Thanks to Geethu B for the tip.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-08-19T17:19:22+00:00

    Method 1 worked perfectly also on Win 10 Pro 64 bit

    Thx

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