Curious Why DVD Drive is Missing in Windows 10?

Raza Ali Kazmi Windows

There are several reasons that can be attributed to a DVD drive not showing up in Windows 10. It could be that Windows might have failed to detect the writable DVD drive and hence no icon appears in the File Explorer (earlier known as

Windows Explorer). Go through these steps to deal with this problem:

Delete Upper & Lower Filters

There are some particular Registry keys that specifically deal with the DVD / CD Drive data transmission and driver information. Detailed instructions on deleting both these keys are given below:

  1. Press Windows Key + R.
  2. Type RegEdit and click OK.
  3. Locate the following subkey:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
  4. In the right panel of the window, you’ll find the Upper Filters string.
  5. Right-click it, choose Delete.
  6. Right-click Lower Filters string and choose Delete.
  7. Exit out of the screen.

 

Use Troubleshooter

Windows 10 comes with a preinstalled diagnostic utility that is designed to detect and resolve trivial issues like the one under discussion.

  1. In the Search Box on the Taskbar, type Troubleshooting.
  2. Click Troubleshooting icon under the Search Results.
  3. You have a new window. Click the View All link on the panel located on left side of your screen.
  4. Select Windows Media Player DVD.

Note: If the problem still persists, try the Hardware and Devices option.

 

Reinstall DVD Drive Drivers

Use the Device Manager to gather the list of devices installed on your laptop/ computer. Check whether the DVD Drive entry is greyed out. There might be driver issues or the driver installation files might have gone corrupt.

  1. Press Windows Key + X; choose Device Manager.
  2. Expand the top node named after your laptop/ computer’s name.
  3. Expand DVD/ CD-ROM Drivers node.
  4. Right-click your DVD Drive, choose Uninstall option.
  5. After successful uninstall, close the window and restart your laptop.
  6. Open up the Device Manager again.
  7. Right-click the top node, choose Scan for hardware changes.