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I am also having a problem with my cdrom drive except the script wasn't able to help. Now my cd drive is receiving power (with blinking green light and all) and is properly connected ( I tried with 3 different cables and made sure that they were plugged in tight) but my computer doesn't recognize that there is even a drive there. The drive does try and read disks and out of the blue I will check My Computer and my cd rom drive shows up and works fine...but it's a very rare occation and once I turn off the computer it's gone. I have xp and the cd drive worked fine on my old computer (which had windows ME), could it be a compatability issue?
IT'S DRIVING ME MAD...I need my gaming fix lol

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Dani AI

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A few focused steps that weren’t covered yet (for ). The behaviour you describe — drive has power, sometimes shows up in My Computer, then disappears after reboot — usually narrows the problem to either an intermittent hardware/connection fault or a Windows driver/registry/filter problem. ’s note about hardware/compatibility is useful; the checklist below helps separate the two and gives the repairs that most often fix this exact symptom.

  1. Quick hardware isolation — BIOS and power
  • Reboot and check whether the BIOS/POST consistently lists the optical drive. If the BIOS never sees it, it’s a hardware issue (bad power connector, failing drive electronics or motherboard connector). Swap the drive’s Molex/SATA power lead to a different PSU connector and reseat the data cable. If the BIOS sees it sometimes, the connector or drive electronics are flaky — try the drive in another PC to confirm.
  1. Windows checks — Device Manager and logs
  • In Windows open Device Manager, enable View → Show hidden devices, and look under “DVD/CD-ROM drives” and “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.” Uninstall any ghost/failed entries, then Action → Scan for hardware changes. Check the System event log for device-driver errors (these Device Manager error codes point to driver/registry problems). (learn.microsoft.com)
  1. Registry filters and the common XP/Vista symptom
  • Third‑party CD‑recording or virtual‑drive software can leave class filter entries that hide or break optical devices. After making a System Restore point and exporting the registry key for backup, open RegEdit and inspect:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
    If UpperFilters or LowerFilters exist, export that key, then delete those values and reboot. Microsoft documents this fix and the official CD/DVD troubleshooter. Removing filters can disable burning features (reinstall burning software if needed). (learn.microsoft.com)
  1. If software fixes fail
  • Run sfc /scannow and the Microsoft CD/DVD troubleshooter; if the drive still vanishes or is only intermittent after the hardware tests above, the drive or the motherboard connector is likely failing — replacing the drive (or using a cheap external USB DVD drive as a workaround) is the fastest path to a stable gaming setup.

If those steps are followed in order, they will quickly show whether the fault is hardware (BIOS-level) or Windows (drivers/filters), and point to the minimal fix.

Member Avatar for DMR

I have xp and the cd drive worked fine on my old computer

When you moved the drive into the new computer, did you make sure to verify that the Master/Slave jumper setting on the drive was correct for the drive's position on the new computer's IDE channels?

could it be a compatability issue?

That is something that you would need to verify, as you're the one who knows the make/model of the drive. Look it up on Microsoft's Hardware Compatibilty List and also check the manufacturer's support site to see if there are any known issues with that particular device.

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