Compaq Presario F700 does not recognizes any DVD drive

[instrument]

Hi, I have been using Windows XP running Compaq Presario F700 Notebook PC from last many months and it was working pretty satisfactory. But from yesterday it has started showing one annoying problem. The Notebook has just refused to detect the DVD drive. I am unable to find the reason behind this unusual of my laptop towards the DVD drive. Is there anyone who can help me knowing the reason behind this problem? Please give me some solution to solve this issue. Your suggestion are always welcomed and appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Algonkin]

You said that the problem started all of a sudden, so it is possible that in recent times your system must have got infected with some kind of malicious germs, Trojans or viruses. If you have installed any Antivirus/antispyware/antimalware in your laptop then I would recommend you to perform complete system scan and delete the corrupt files if detected any. If you don’t have any antivirus in your laptop then I would suggest you to download and install any of the free antivirus; AVAST or AVG, in your laptop and perform the scan. Always remember to keep your antivirus updated and perform system scanning from time to time. This will help you to keep your laptop protected from virus attacks.

[Odalis]

You must try to do System restore to restore your laptop to that stage when you were not facing the problem of your laptop unable to detect the DVD drive. Before performing the System restore make sure that you have made a back-up of your important data and installed file, so that if system restore does not help, then you can get back you lost data again. You can perform System restore by navigating to the following path:Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.
This will display the System restore window. Select the restore point to which you wish to restore your laptop. Once you have selected the restore point, click on the Next button. If prompted for confirmation, Click Ok to confirm the process. Allow the system to perform the necessary changes. Restart your laptop when prompted to do so.

[Cruzz]

Follow the below steps to solve the problem in Windows XP:

• Go to Start > control Panel > System and Maintenance > System to start the System Properties Window
• Or, right-click the My Computer icon and select the Properties option
• Select the Hardware tab, and then press the “Device Manager” button.
• Click the + sign next to DVD/CD-ROM drive. This will expand the options.
• Uninstall the CD/DVD Device, by right clicking the device and selecting Uninstall option.
• Restart your laptop. DVD device drivers will be automatically installed after restart.

[BansiJ]

I am not sure but I have read it on some website that performing hard reset will clear all the temporary settings. Hard reset also forces Window to perform complete scan and detect all the hardware components of the system. You can do hard reset by following the below steps:

1. Remove all the possible power connections and remove the battery of the laptop.
2. Disconnect all the possible connections like the LAN cable, USB device, Wireless Bluetooth, WI-FI, external mouse and keyboards etc.
3. Press and hold the power button for few seconds. This will remove all the possible electrical charges remaining in your capacitors which act as a protection to the memory.
4. Now insert the battery and attach the power connection to the Notebook PC. Remember not to connect other devices now.
5. Turn on the notebook PC

[Iroquois]

I would suggest you to edit your registry entries and follow the bellow steps:
Click on Start button, then on Run option. Type “regedit” in the text area and Enter (or click OK)
Go to the following path in the Registry Editor: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} and select the {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318
Now search for UpperFilters and LowerFilters option on the right pane. You have to delete them. You can do that by right clicking on UpperFilters and LowerFilters (perform on one and then on other) and select delete. Confirm the changes by hitting on OK.
Exit from the Registry editor and reboot the laptop.