ROM Drive Gone AWOL? Try This Fix

About a month ago I built a new desktop PC. I had noted that one issue I ran in to was that my Blu-ray ROM drive stopped being recognized, something I attributed initially to a bad drive. Before I started the RMA process I decided to use my Windows Home Server PC restore to restore my PC to a previous date from when I remember the ROM drive working. Sure enough doing this got my ROM drive back into a working state, so although I was unsure of what the cause was it appeared something just went screwy with my PC. Fast forward a few weeks and everything is humming along until this morning when my ROM drive disappeared again. The ROM drive would appear in the device manager but with a caution icon over it. Looking at the driver details I saw the following message:

A driver (service) for this device has been disabled. An alternate driver may be providing this functionality. (Code 32)

I decided to do a search on the web for this error code and sure enough other Windows 7 users had experienced the same exact issue. Fortunately Microsoft has a support article posted with a fix to this issue, and once I went through the quick steps my ROM drive was recognized again. I am still unsure of what the root cause is (possibly a software conflict somewhere) but I hope this helps in case any readers here run into the same issue down the road.

Windows 7 or Windows Vista

1. Click Start, and then click All Programs.
2. Click Accessories, and then click Run.
3. Type regedit, and then click OK.If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.
4. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
5. In the right pane, click UpperFilters.
6. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
7. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
8. In the right pane, click LowerFilters.
9. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
10. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
11. Exit Registry Editor.
12. Restart the computer.

Windows XP

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
3. In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
4. In the right pane, click UpperFilters.
5. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
6. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
7. In the right pane, click LowerFilters.
8. On the Edit menu, click Delete.
9. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
10. Exit Registry Editor.
11. Restart the computer.

An alternate method would be to create a .reg file in notepad and run which accomplishes the same thing:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}]
“UpperFilters”=-
“LowerFilters”=-

Tagged as: News, ROM Drive, Troubleshooting, Windows 7

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Article by Damian

Hi, my name is Damian, and I'm tech gadget addict! Although I always had some interest in technology, it wasn't until I got my EX470 and more importantly found Mediasmartserver.net, that my interest became an addiction. My goal, aside from world domination and to see the Mets/Broncos win another championship, is to set up the perfect digital home where all my media is available at the click of a button. When I am not writing for Mediasmartserver.net you can find me over at my blog at http://www.adigitalhomeblog.com or follow me on twitter

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