DVD Reader

I have just installed windows 7. The PC has a CD drive and a DVD drive. On start up Windows does not "see" the DVD drive, but if I go to Hardware manager and ask it to search for hardware it finds and installs the DVD drve no problem. Why does Windows 7 not do this automatically?

sorry, what I mean is that Windows will not automatically find and install the DVD reader. But if you ask windows to search via the Divice manager it finds it and installs it successfully. Will the make/model of DVD reader make a difference. BTW they was no problem when I was running the PC with Windows XP

If I understood what you said, it sounds as though there isn't a proper driver on the installation DVD for your drive, thus has to wait until you install it via Windows Update, as you did.

Following on from the above. When you select "Computer" you should see your CD/DVD drive as an icon. If so you're ok.
Or are you saying this is not the case and you need to do an install of the CD/DVD each time you boot your PC?

If you know who manufactured your DVD drive it won't hurt to go to their website to see if there are any updated drivers or a firmware update.

seavixen32 said:

If you know who manufactured your DVD drive it won't hurt to go to their website to see if there are any updated drivers or a firmware update.

There may be exceptions, but all CD and DVD drives I've seen since Windows 95 came to market used the drivers that are included with Windows.

It's odd that the drivers install, but then don't stick.

Remove the device from Device Manager and re-detect it? That may not help. Shouldn't hurt.

I will check the make/model of the DVD drive. The part that is the most baffeling is that I have to re-install every time I switch on the computer. And I does not show on the device list with the usual missing driver exclaimation mark. And it worked fine with WIndows XP without getting an external driver.

There may be a problem with the upper and lower filters in the system registry:

Your CD drive or DVD drive is missing or is not recognized by Windows or other programs

Your CD or DVD drive can't read or write media

How can I fix that?