CD, DVD drive not recognized after Adobe application install | Windows

Issue

Windows 2000, XP or Vista doesn't recognize your CD or DVD drive after you install one or more of the following Adobe applications:

  • Audition
  • Encore
  • Photoshop Album
  • Photoshop Elements
  • Premiere Elements
  • Premiere Pro
  • Production Premium
  • Production Studio
  • Soundbooth

Reason

Other CD and DVD burning applications, such as Roxio Easy CD Creator, are installed on the computer.

Solution

Refresh the CD and DVD drivers list in the Windows registry.

Disclaimer: The registry contains system-related information that is critical to your computer and applications. Before modifying the registry, be sure to make a backup copy of it. Adobe doesn't provide support for problems that arise from improperly modifying the registry. Adobe strongly recommends that you have experience editing system files before you modify the registry. For information on the Windows Registry Editor, see the Windows documentation or contact Microsoft Technical Support.

To refresh the CD and DVD drivers list in the Windows registry:

Important: After you refresh the driver list in the Windows registry, you may need to reinstall any other CD or DVD burning applications on your computer. If you restart Windows after this procedure and other CD or DVD burning applications do not recognize the CD or DVD drive, then reinstall those applications.

  1. Uninstall your Adobe application.
  2. Open Registry Editor:

    • On Windows 2000 and XP: Choose Start > Run. Type regedit in the Open text box and click OK.
    • On Windows Vista: Choose Start. Type regedit in the Search text box, and press Enter.
  3. In the left pane of Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class and select the {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} key, which appears as a folder.
  4. Select File > Export (Windows XP and Vista) or Registry > Export Registry File (Windows 2000).
  5. In the Export Registry File dialog box, select Selected Branch under Export Range, name the file (for example, CDDVDkey.reg), and click Save to save the file to the Desktop.
  6. In the right panel of the Registry Editor, select the LowerFilters line, and then choose Edit > Delete. Click Yes in the Confirm Key Delete dialog box.
  7. Select the UpperFilters line, and then choose Edit > Delete. Click Yes in the Confirm Key Delete dialog box.
  8. Close Registry Editor.
  9. Open Device Manager:

    • On Windows 2000 and XP: Choose Start > Control Panel. Double-click the System icon, click on the Hardware Tab, then click on Device Manager.
    • On Windows Vista: Choose Start > Control Panel, double-click System, then click Device Manager in the Tasks pane.
  10. Click on the plus symbol next to DVD/CD-ROM Drives.
  11. For each DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drive listed, select the icon then choose Action > Uninstall.
  12. Restart Windows.
  13. Windows will automatically detect and reinstall your DVD-ROM or CD-ROM drives. You can verify that the drives are installed by viewing them in Device Manager (see step 9). If the drives are not present, open Device Manger and choose Actions > Scan For Hardware Changes.
  14. Reinstall your Adobe application.
  15. Restart Windows.

Important: If this solution doesn't resolve the problem with the application you reinstalled, then you should restore the CD and DVD drivers list in the Windows registry.

To restore the exported CD and DVD drivers list:

  1. Double-click the registry key you exported.
  2. Close the Registry Editor.
  3. Restart Windows.

The Adobe Captivate demonstration below illustrates how to refresh the CD and DVD drivers list in the registry.

 

Additional Information

The UpperFilters and LowerFilters keys in the Windows registry store information about CD and DVD burning drivers. When you add or remove CD and DVD burning applications, these registry keys are altered and they can become corrupted. When you remove the registry keys and restart the computer, Windows refreshes the keys. Some applications may use a different burning driver than the application you reinstalled. If the other CD or DVD burning applications installed on your computer cannot access the drive after Windows refreshes the registry keys, you will need to reinstall those applications before they can access the drive.

For more information, see the following articles on the Microsoft website at www.microsoft.com:

  • 314060: CD-ROM Access Is Missing and Messages Cite Error Code 31, Code 32, Code 19, or Code 39 After You Remove Easy CD Creator in Windows XP
  • 270008: Cannot Access CD-ROM and "Code 31" Error Message in Device Manager After You Remove Adaptec Easy CD Creator from Your Computer (Windows 2000)