ReadMeToo
03-12-2008, 01:02 AM
DVD Drives in Vista can be buggy. Check out this article for solutions to the following problems:
Problem #1: DVD Drive disappears from My Computer (in other words, your DVD drive does not show up when you boot into Windows even though it is plugged in)
Problem #2: DVD Drive shows up but does not play DVDs (by DVDs I mean legitimate store bought DVDs)
I recently purchased Ghost Rider, which is a movie that was just released on DVD. I stuck it into my Samsung DVD-RW/CD-RW drive (which is only 5 months old) and it wouldn’t recognize the disk. I tried rebooting, reinstalling the driver, uninstalling the device using the device manage and was unsuccessful in getting this problem fixed.
I then did some google searching and discovered how to fix if your drive doesn’t even appear in Windows Vista. This wasn’t exactly my problem but it did help guide me in the right direction. Since many folks do in fact have the problem where their DVD drive just disappears, I thought I would include that fix in this article as well.
Before you begin this guide, Try this first. (added on 06/24/07) If you are having issues with your DVD Drive, first check to see if Windows Update installed the KB936825 update. If you see the KB936825 installed, uninstall it. It apparently has been causing some issues with DVD drive recognition.
Disclaimer: Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify registry keys located in your registry incorrectly. If you choose to follow this guide, you understand that any changes made to your registry are done so at your own risk. Every effort has been made to ensure that the suggested changes are correct and safe. Furthermore, following this guide, constitutes that you agree that FixMyVista cannot be held responsible for any damage/potential damage done to your system by using this guide.
Please Note: this guide contains some registry notation. For details on this notation please Click Here (http://www.fixmyvista.com/content/view/35/26/)
Before we begin, must enable the shortcut for Run. The instructions to do that are here (http://www.fixmyvista.com/content/view/18/26/)
Click the Start Orb, then click Run
Type regedit then click http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/backupreg_03.jpg
http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix02.jpg
Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix03.jpg (http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix03.jpg)
http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix04.jpg (http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix04.jpg)
Now, on the right hand side locate UpperFilters and LowerFilters. Once located we need to delete both, so right click on it and choose delete for both UpperFilters and LowerFilters
Now Reboot
For my problem I did not see a UpperFilters and LowerFilters key. Here is what I did to fix my issue (Please read the Disclaimer at the beginning of this guide. Additionally, please note that the following instructions are what worked for my system, I have no way of knowing whether or not this will work on your system. Therefore, If you are a newbie or beginner working with the registry, then stop right here. If you continue, you are doing so at your own risk).
Here is what I did, On the left hand side right click on \{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and select Delete. You will see an error which is ok, it still deletes what we want (we want the Device Manager to re-add our DVD drive when it reboots)
Now Reboot
And Voila, the drive is back and can see my DVD
http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix05.jpg (http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix05.jpg)
Problem #1: DVD Drive disappears from My Computer (in other words, your DVD drive does not show up when you boot into Windows even though it is plugged in)
Problem #2: DVD Drive shows up but does not play DVDs (by DVDs I mean legitimate store bought DVDs)
I recently purchased Ghost Rider, which is a movie that was just released on DVD. I stuck it into my Samsung DVD-RW/CD-RW drive (which is only 5 months old) and it wouldn’t recognize the disk. I tried rebooting, reinstalling the driver, uninstalling the device using the device manage and was unsuccessful in getting this problem fixed.
I then did some google searching and discovered how to fix if your drive doesn’t even appear in Windows Vista. This wasn’t exactly my problem but it did help guide me in the right direction. Since many folks do in fact have the problem where their DVD drive just disappears, I thought I would include that fix in this article as well.
Before you begin this guide, Try this first. (added on 06/24/07) If you are having issues with your DVD Drive, first check to see if Windows Update installed the KB936825 update. If you see the KB936825 installed, uninstall it. It apparently has been causing some issues with DVD drive recognition.
Disclaimer: Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify registry keys located in your registry incorrectly. If you choose to follow this guide, you understand that any changes made to your registry are done so at your own risk. Every effort has been made to ensure that the suggested changes are correct and safe. Furthermore, following this guide, constitutes that you agree that FixMyVista cannot be held responsible for any damage/potential damage done to your system by using this guide.
Please Note: this guide contains some registry notation. For details on this notation please Click Here (http://www.fixmyvista.com/content/view/35/26/)
Before we begin, must enable the shortcut for Run. The instructions to do that are here (http://www.fixmyvista.com/content/view/18/26/)
Click the Start Orb, then click Run
Type regedit then click http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/backupreg_03.jpg
http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix02.jpg
Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix03.jpg (http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix03.jpg)
http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix04.jpg (http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix04.jpg)
Now, on the right hand side locate UpperFilters and LowerFilters. Once located we need to delete both, so right click on it and choose delete for both UpperFilters and LowerFilters
Now Reboot
For my problem I did not see a UpperFilters and LowerFilters key. Here is what I did to fix my issue (Please read the Disclaimer at the beginning of this guide. Additionally, please note that the following instructions are what worked for my system, I have no way of knowing whether or not this will work on your system. Therefore, If you are a newbie or beginner working with the registry, then stop right here. If you continue, you are doing so at your own risk).
Here is what I did, On the left hand side right click on \{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and select Delete. You will see an error which is ok, it still deletes what we want (we want the Device Manager to re-add our DVD drive when it reboots)
Now Reboot
And Voila, the drive is back and can see my DVD
http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix05.jpg (http://www.fixmyvista.com/images/playdvd_fix05.jpg)