What to Do if XP Suddenly is Unable to Find Your CD-ROM/DVD/CD-RW Drive
While running Windows XP, after having recently installed Burning Software (such as: Roxio Easy CD Creator, Nero or another program such as CloneCD or even a program that backs up to DVD-R/+R or CD-RW like Drive Image 7.0), XP becomes unable to find your CD-ROM/DVD/CD-RW drives, give the following a try.
First go into the Device Manager (which is found by Right clicking on your My Computer Icon, and selecting Properties. When the System Properties window appears click on the Hardware Tab. In the center of that tabbed page you will see Device Manager. Click on that button). When you see your CD-ROMs or CD-RW's listed, Right click on each device and select Uninstall. Ignore the Warning and remove the devices anyway.)
Next go to Start, Run, type in regedit then click OK! In the Registry go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
When you double left click on that folder in the Left Window, over in the Right Window you should see either an UpperFilter, LowFilter or both. If either or both are found, right click on those entries and select: Delete.
After doing that Reboot and any CD drives that you have will be found, and XP will load a basic driver for your master CD-ROM. Chuck Gratti had this problem after installing Nero and I had the same exact problem after loading Roxio (formally Adaptec) Easy CD Creator and both of us regained our CD-RW's after making that adjustment to the Registry.
Comments appreciated: eric.groves (at) verizon.net