Vista HP Laptop DVD Drive Keeps Disappearing From 'My Computer' and 'Device Manager'. Already Tried Upper/LowerFilters.

• Pci Ide Controller Driver

Hi, A couple of weeks ago, the DVD writer in the laptop suddenly disappeared fromMy Computer (Windows Explorer). The first thing I did was checkDevice Manager to see if the drive was there. It was not. Rebooting the laptop did nothing. Repeated several times, checked Vista for updates. No change. In checking the net, I have tried deleting the Upper/LowerFilters in the registry, downloading Microsoft's fix it tool, removing iTunes, doing a system restore, changing all settings ofsleep and hibernate to off, and a few other things. It appeared for the first time after this:

Standard dual channel pci ide controller driver - ECS Asrock N68c-s Ucc Motherboard question. •AHCI - AHCI stands for Advanced Host Controller Interface. It makes Native Command Queuing (NCQ) along with hot-plugging or hot swapping through SATA Serial-ATA host controllers possible. It makes Native Command Queuing (NCQ) along with hot-plugging or hot swapping through SATA Serial-ATA host controllers possible. In the absolute worst case (and I mean this, you should be able to do a registry twiddle instead), you will have to boot up your OS disk and do a repair install. What version of Windoze? And you don't need to re-format / re-install to change mode from IDE to AHCI. In Win7 you can do a registry twiddle, then reboot. Switch from IDE mode to AHCI by editing registry. 10) Choose to reboot in the main menu of Emergency Boot Kit, go to BIOS setup and switch SATA controller to AHCI mode before Windows is loaded, otherwise you get BSoD with stop code 0x0000007B: INACCESSIBLE_BOOT_DEVICE. Home » Controller standard PCI IDE Use the links on this page to download the latest version of Controller standard PCI IDE drivers. All drivers available. Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (x2) The laptop is about 2 years old, and has never had any issues. The DVD writer is hardly used to burn, maybe a total of 5 discs in that time period.

1. Doing a system restore to the earliest restore point.
2. Physically removing the DVD writer.
3. Rebooting the laptop.
4. Scanning for new hardware in Device Manager .
5. Changing all sleep and hibernate settings to off. (I tried this method without this step first, but the drive disappeared after the computer went to sleep and woke up. Tried it 3 times with the same results).
6. Shutting down.
7. Reinserting the DVD writer.

At the next restart, the DVD writer was recognized and was present in My Computer and Device Manager . No errors of any kind, and no drivers were installed at startup.

What has been happening since then, over the last 4 or 5 days, is it will randomly disappear fromMy Computer . Usually after a few hours or so. This time though, it will usually appear inDevice Manager after I scan for new hardware. No restart required. It will read .avi files from a DVD every time. It has not been detected byDevice Manager maybe about 2 or 3 times, and after a simple restart, it will be present in bothMy Computer and Device Manager automatically after restart. I have read that the Upper/LowerFilter fix has worked for many people, but for some the problem comes back. Also, many of the threads about this issue/fix are years old. This happened just about 10 days ago. Within the 2 days before the problem first appeared, there was a windows update as well as an iTunes update.

I noticed that I received this error when opening iTunes:

'The registry settings used by the iTunes drivers for importing and burning CDs and DVDs are missing. This can happen as a result of installing other CD burning software. Please reinstall iTunes. '

I reinstalled, no DVD drive. Uninstalled itunes again. Since I finally got the drive to appear (using the method I described above), I haven't bothered to install iTunes again because I don't particularly need it on this computer, was worried that it may be the cause of the initial problem and I wanted to see if the drive would disappear again. I did, however, leave QuickTime installed. Don't know if this could be a problem?

I came across this suggestion, but I also had the same question as the following post, and I did not see an answer. I don't know if or how I should attempt it:

Nikki,
You can't go back if the restore points aren't there. Try reinstalling the IDE driver.
To do so:
-Click the Start Orb and Right Click Computer
-Left Click Properties, this will open the System Window
-Click on Device Managerin the upper left
-Click Continue if prompted by UAC
- Goto 'IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers' you should right click uninstall and restart
BTW that dog rox in that avitar
Cheers! MCP. MCDST. LVL 80

Hi, thanks for the comment on my pup. she is now 5mo and her name is Nikki, lol.
well i tryed what u said, but the IDE ATA/ATAP controllers has a ( + ) so when i highlight it it does not give me a option to uninstall. it gives me ( scan for hardware changes (or) properties ). and if i click the (+) i have 4 differant options. 2 IDE Channels, Intel (R) 82801 HEM/HBM SATA AHCI controller and Intel (R) ICH8M Ultra ATA Storage Controllers- 2850.

What I see in 'Device Manager', under IDE ATA/ATAP controllers is:

IDE Channel (x4)

Ricoh Memory Stick Controller

Ricoh SD/MMC Host Controller

Ricoh xD-Picture Card Controller

Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller (x2)

The laptop is about 2 years old, and has never had any issues. The DVD writer is hardly used to burn, maybe a total of 5 discs in that time period. It has been used occasionally to read or copy from, but not very much. I'm not convinced that it has died, as I have had 2 die on me in desktop PCs, after burning hundreds of CDs in them and reading as much.

Anyways, I haven't been able to find any other fixes or suggestions (except for 'replace the drive'), so I just wanted to describe my specific situation and see if anyone could help out. Forgive me for any information I have left out, but I'm an amateur when it comes to solving problems with the computer and don't always know what things mean or where I can get information about my OS, software or hardware. Anything that anyone can do would be greatly appreciated.

This is the information I do have:

HP Pavilion dv6700 Notebook PC

Optiarc DVD RW AD-7560 ATA Device

Vista Home Premium

Service Pack 2

Pci Ide Controller Driver

Thanks again for any help.