For some reason the dvd drive doesnt load up with windows vista, its not in my computer and only works if I boot from it, any ideas?

does it show in device manager with an error symbol next to it?

quite odd that. Possibly its connected to an IDE or sata controller which has not had any drivers installed for.

 

Another alternative to check if it is in device manager, is that it has a drive letter assigned to it in windows its self.

 

Control panel - administrative tools - computer management - disk management.

 

Might be in there with no drive letter assigned, right click on the offending drive and click "change drive letter and paths"

run regedit and try this if you have itunes installed it can conflict some times

 

XP/VISTA DVDRW NOT APPEARING IN MY COMPUTER, SHOWS ERROR IN DEVICE MAMANGER

 

NAVIGATE TO AND DELETE UPPER AND LOWER FILTERS FROM:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CURRENTCONTROLSET\CONTROL\CLASS\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-09002BE10318

does it show in device manager with an error symbol next to it?

 

It shows but has this error

 

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

 

Only happened after a windows update from a fresh format

what if you uninstall it and restart?

Tried a roll back to when formatted but still no luck.

did you try the filters thing i posted also?

I did bud but still no luck.

weird thats fixed every one ive encounted with a similar problem.

What type of drive is it. Do you have a model number, also is it IDE (40 pin ribbon cable normally in a grey cable) or SATA (small red ribbon cable)

What type of drive is it. Do you have a model number, also is it IDE (40 pin ribbon cable normally in a grey cable) or SATA (small red ribbon cable)

 

Not sure mate, its in a laptop.