Missing DVD/CD-ROM odyssey

Hi,

I'm running Windows 10 (version 1903). In "This pc", my E:/ (the place for CDs and DVDs, etc.), didn't work. Now the "DVD/CD-ROM" drive doesn't even show up on the "Device manager". Please help! It's being an odyssey trying to fix it!


So far I have done the following troubleshooting:

When I inserted a movie (for example) in the DVD/CD-ROM, its name (title) was shown in the "E:/" unit. However, when I clicked on it, this message showed up:

"[...] location that is unavailable. It could be on a hard drive on this computer or on a network. Check to make sure that the disk is properly inserted, or that you are connected to the Internet or your network and then try again."

I read I could fix it returning to a "Last Know Good Configuration". However, when I went to "Advanced boot options", there was no "Last Know Good Configuration" option. By that time, the DVD/CD-ROM didn't even show up on "This pc".

In any case, I tried "Repair you computer", which brought me to the blue "Choose an option" Windows 10 window. So, I chose "Troubleshoot/Advanced options/Go back to the previous build". I could see only a very recent build, but I chose it to see if it worked. It didn't.

Then I tried going to the "Device manager", and uninstalling the "DVD/CD-ROM" drives, hoping Windows 10 would reinstall them. However, it did not: "DVD/CD-ROM" does not show up on "Device manager" anymore, even when I click on "Show Hidden Devices", and does not appear either when I click on "Scan for hardware changes". I also tried uninstalling the "IDE ATA/Atapi" controllers in the "Device manager", hoping that when those controllers would be installed, so would the "DVD/CD-ROM"s' be. After rebooting, the "IDE ATA/Atapi" controllers were back, but not the "DVD/CD-ROM"s'.

To fix the now missing "DVD/CD-ROM" drives, I tried "Troubleshoot/Advanced options/Go back to the previous build" again, and discovered that a previous build to the one I had previously chosen was available (apparently, I had to click on "show more builds"). This previous build had been made by Windows Update, so I thought the problem would be solved, as I believed Windows Update had originated the defective DVD/CD-ROM.

However, after going back to the most distant build, neither the "DVD/CD-ROM" drive in the "Device manager", nor the DVD/CD-ROM in "This pc" show up.

I've read quite a lot of posts on the matters, and I'm aware there are some posts relating to "Location not available", but none of them refer to the DVD/CD-ROM.

How can I fix it and make my DVD/CD-ROM work again?


Thank you very much in advance

Delfion said:

... I tried going to the "Device manager", and uninstalling the "DVD/CD-ROM" drives, hoping Windows 10 would reinstall them. However, it did not: "DVD/CD-ROM" does not show up on "Device manager" anymore, even when I click on "Show Hidden Devices", and does not appear either when I click on "Scan for hardware changes"....

Welcome to Ten Forums Delfion.

This sounds like a hardware fault if Device Manager isn't even detecting the drive any more. Could be a loose cable, or could be a dead optical drive

If you can't fix or replace your existing drive, USB external CD/DVD drives are quite cheap these days.

Thank you for your prompt reply. I followed the troubleshooting in the Microsoft support site "Your CD or DVD drive is not recognized by Windows or other programs", and "CD-ROM not working in Windows 10 [SOLVED]" from "windowsreport", resetting the BIOS, again, to no avail. I guess I'll have to replace my drive with a USB external drive.

Thanks