Notebooks & Netbooks

[DavidJBeach]

Only had this laptop for 3-months and the DVD drive has worked just fine. Now, when I look in Windows Explorer, it is missing from the Computer Devices list. 

Firstly, how can that happen?

Secondly, how do I fix it?

Help Please.

[Acer-Tommy]

You may find this article helpful:

Where can the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM driver for a computer be obtained?

Is the drive listed in Device Manager?

Can you see the device in BIOS?

If the answer is no to those questions, please contact service.

Acer Service and Support

[DavidJBeach]

Many thanks for your reply. In answer to your questions, Yes the device is shown in the BIOS and Device Manager.

Whilst in Device Manager, I opened the Properties of the CD-ROM Drive and in the Drivers tab clicked Update Drivers (Search Automatically). The returned message was:

The best driver software for your device is already installed.

Windows has determined the driver software for your device is up to date.

Only then did I click the General tab and found this message:

Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)

Waaa! What's occuring?

[Acer-Tommy]

That's very odd.  There shouldn't be anything changing the registry to affect the optical drive.

Have you installed or uninstalled any software or hardware recently?

[DavidJBeach]

Hi Tommy. Greetings from rural Gloucestershire, England.

The only uninstall I've done recently was to an old version of iTunes. A bit like wrestling a bear actually - it didn't go quietly!

I then downloaded and installed the latest version, then copied several music albums to my iPhone.

I have run AVG antivirus software on this machine since purchasing it and ironically, I had just bought AVG PC TuneUp but am unable to install it due to the lack of a working DVD drive.

I really wish there was an Acer service/repair site near me because I'm starting to doubt whether I'm sufficiently knowledgeable to fix it. 

Thanks for your support.

[Acer-Tommy]

OK, I see.  It is possible that something may have changed the information in the registry, somehow.

I can certainly point you to the nearest UK service center.

I would first go into Device Manager, right click the optical drive and UNINSTALL it.

Then reboot the system to reinstall the proper drivers.

[Sus_ACER]

Hello Tommy,

I have identical problem, with identical error messages, as the original poster of Re: Acer Aspire 5750 DVD drive not recognized (no device driver). I also uninstalled and reinstalled Itunes on my Acer Aspire 5750 yesterday (maybe the problem is related to Itunes?), and subsequently lost access to my DVD drive.

I followed your instructions and went into Device Manager, right clicked the optical drive and uninstalled it. However, I don't know how to get the system to reinstall the proper drivers when I restart the computer. When I shut down and restarted, the DVD drive did not show up in Windows Explorer, but does show up in Device Manager. When I run troubleshooting, it says I need to reinstall the driver for the DVD. Could you advise how to do that? Thank you.

[philclemo]

I have just experienced something similar on our Aspire 7730ZG which has run faultlessly for the past few years. On Monday (1st July) I went to carry out an upgrade from Vista to Win7 using an upgrade disk. The program ran from the disk until it stopped as the pc needed to restart to install updates. It also suggested that I uninstall iTunes as it may not run correctly after the upgrade.

After the restart the CD/DVD drive had disappeared from Explorer. Device manager had it listed but with errors ('the driver for this device may be corrupt'). So I clicked on update driver, Windows found that the current driver is up to date. I then uninstalled the device, on restart Windows found the device and attempted to install the driver but found it to be corrupt once again!

I resorted to system Restore to the last restore point (which was 26/7/13). On restart the CD DVD drive had returned. I then carried on with the upgrade to Win7. Everything fine until yesterday (3rd July) as I attempted to install a new application - no CD DVD drive again!

Reading the above posts iTunes seems to be a common element to this problem, however, using the restore point would also suggest perhaps Windows Updates is causing an issue?

Please hellllpppp!!!!

[philclemo]

Oh, and by the way I plugged in a USD DVD drive, same thing - not in explorer etc!

[Acer-Tommy]

Windows 7 and later will only show the optical drive on the left side navigation if there is media in the drive.

If you click on Computer, you should still see the drive letter and label

Example:  DVD-RW Drive (E

It may be possible that a Windows Update is causing issue, or that iTunes is, but I would not know specifically what is occuring with that interaction.  If you can narrow down the recent updates (since you did a rollback/restore) that might help narrow it down.