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The optical drive is an essential component of a Windows computer, used to access files on a CD or DVD. Users may encounter common issues related to the CD/DVD drive, such as it not appearing in the My Computer/This PC/Windows Explorer section while still functioning normally.
Causes of CD/DVD Drive Not Showing Up on Windows 10/8.1/7 Computers
If your Windows computer is attacked by a virus, you'll face various issues, including the CD/DVD drive not showing up on your computer.
Below are some reasons for the CD/DVD drive not appearing on Windows 10/8.1/7 computers:
1. Corrupted Windows Registry file: Due to malicious software or virus attacks on your computer, configuration information in the Windows Registry may get corrupted. As a result, Windows may fail to initialize optical hardware devices, and the CD/DVD drive may not function correctly.
2. The cause could be issues with the installed CD/DVD driver on the computer: If the CD/DVD drive is outdated, damaged, or missing, you may encounter problems when opening files from the optical drive. If the operating system fails to load the driver (to ensure proper device operation) correctly, you'll experience issues with the CD/DVD drive on your computer.
3. Unexpected issues may arise, even though the Windows driver is still intact, but the problem could stem from hardware failure or loss.
4. The optical drive on a Windows computer won't function if the device driver on the computer is disabled. System admins may disable the driver to prevent unauthorized file transfers from the computer. Sometimes, the device driver may be disabled by a virus.
Fixing CD/DVD drive not showing up on Windows 10/8.1/7 computers
Method 1: Check BIOS settings on the Windows computer
Sometimes, in certain cases, the optical drive may be disabled from the BIOS/Chipset settings. If so, you won't find the DVD drive in the This PC or My Computer section on your Windows computer. Simply access the BIOS and ensure all drives (including the optical drive) are configured correctly. When in the BIOS, if any discrepancies are detected in the settings, simply activate the CD/DVD drive as your optical drive.
Method 2: Run Troubleshooter to fix CD/DVD drive not showing up on Windows 10/8.1/7 computers
If you're a Windows 7/8/10 user, you're probably familiar with the Windows Troubleshooter tool, used to address hardware-related issues. In this case, you can also use the Troubleshooter to fix the CD/DVD drive not showing up on Windows 10/8.1/7 computers.
To open Troubleshooter on a Windows computer:
Open Control Panel and access the Search box on the Control Panel window.
Type Troubleshooter into the Search box, then from the search results list, click on the Troubleshooting option.
Click on the Configure a device option under the Hardware and Sound section.
Next, follow the on-screen instructions to resolve the issue. If the CD/DVD drive still doesn't show up on your Windows 10/8.1/7 computer, you can refer to some other troubleshooting methods in the following section below.
Method 3: Update or uninstall and reinstall the CD/DVD drive driver
First, visit the manufacturer's website to update the device driver. If not available, you can update the driver directly from Device Manager on your Windows computer. Follow the steps below:
Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window.
Type devmgmt.msc into the Run command window and press Enter to open the Windows device manager window.
Navigate to DVD/CD-Rom Drives and expand the options to open the optical drive connected to your computer.
Right-click on the ROM drive and select the Update driver option.
If this method is not available, follow similar steps and select the Uninstall device option from the context menu (right-click menu) to remove the driver.
Restart your computer and the driver will be automatically installed on your computer. Additionally, you can choose the Scan for hardware changes option to reinstall the driver automatically.
If the issue you're facing is related to device drivers, simply follow the steps above to fix the error.
Additionally, you can uninstall and reinstall IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers from the Device Manager window. Of course, you'll need to enable the Show hidden files option in the Device Manager window to display IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers in the list.
Method 4: Fix corrupted Registry files to fix CD/DVD drive not showing up on Windows 10/8.1/7 computers
Before proceeding, don't forget to back up the Windows Registry to avoid potential mishaps.
Step 1: Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window, then type regedit into it and press Enter to open the Windows Registry Editor.
Step 2: In the Windows Registry Editor window, navigate to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlClass
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Step 3: In the right pane, locate and delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters strings.
Step 4: Restart your computer. Hopefully, after your computer restarts, you can access the optical drive on your Windows computer.
If you cannot find the UpperFilters and LowerFilters registry items, you'll need to create a registry subkey to fix the CD/DVD drive error.
Method 5: Create a Registry subkey
Press the Windows + R key combination to open the Run command window, then type regedit into it and press Enter to open the Windows Registry Editor, then navigate to the key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesatapi
Next, in the atapi section, create a new subkey named Controller0.
Open the Controller0 key you just created, then create a new DWORD value named EnumDevice1. Double-click on EnumDevice1 and set the value in the Value Data box to 1.
Finally, close the Registry Editor window and restart your computer. Hopefully, this method can fix the CD/DVD drive not showing up on Windows 10/8.1/7 computers.
Alternatively, you can use Command Prompt to add a registry subkey directly. All you need to do is open Command Prompt as an Administrator, then run the following command:
reg.exe add 'HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetServicesatapiController0'
/f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
If you're unsure how to open Command Prompt as an Administrator, readers can refer to additional articles on how to open CMD in Windows 10 with admin rights from Mytour to open Command Prompt as an Administrator.
If you've tried all the methods above and still can't fix the CD/DVD drive not showing up on Windows 10/8.1/7 computers, try the last resort of using the best antivirus software to scan and remove viruses that prevent you from accessing the CD/DVD drive in the My Computer section on Windows computers. There are many antivirus software options like BKAV or KIS that help you detect and remove viruses quickly.
