Windows 7 - CD Drive only shows in Win Explorer when it is being accessed

I am using Windows 7-Ult and my CD drive is now only showing in win explorer when writing to the disc. The programs I use can "see" the drive, but I can't. Any ideas?

In explorer go to tools,folder options, and under the view tab look for a "hide empty drives in Computer Folder". If its checked uncheck it and see if that helps.

It is already unchecked. Anybody have an idea of what else could be wrong?

Is there a drive letter assigned to your CD/DVD drive? Have a look at Disk Management - your drive will be there and you'll see if it has a letter or not.

I am familiar with disk management. It shows the CD drive and has a drive letter assigned. If I open Windows Explorer so it shows the list of drives, the CD drive does not show. Then I insert a CD into the drive (without closing WinEx) the CD drive appears, and has the same drive letter that was shown in disk management. Then, I remove the disc, and the drive disappears.

Hi,

Have you tired uninstalling the CDROM in Device Manager, then rebooting Windows? During reboot, Windows should find the hardware and reinstall the Windows driver for it. This might solve the problem.

Regards,
Golden

Try deleting the upper and lower filters and also updating the DVD ROM firmware..
It might help.

Not sure what this means.

Uninstall the Drive from device manager first and then follow these steps.

1) Close all open programs
2) Click on Start, Run, and type REGEDIT and press Enter
3) Click on the plus signs (+) next to the following folders

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
* SYSTEM
* CurrentControlSet
* Control
* Class
* {4D36E965-E325-11CE-
BFC1-08002BE10318}

4) This folder is the DVD/CD-ROM Drive Class Description in the registry. Look for any of the following names in the right hand column.

* UpperFilters
* LowerFilters
* UpperFilters.bak
* LowerFilters.bak

5) If any of the above keys shown in step 4 are listed, right-click on them and choose Delete
6) After deleting the keys, close the Registry Editor
7) Reboot your computer
8) Open My Computer and check to see if your CD or DVD drives have returned. You may also want to open Device Manager and verify that the yellow exclamation and error code on the CD or DVD drive is gone

In explorer go to tools, folder options, and under the view tab look for a "hide empty drives in Computer Folder". Check mark it/select it and log off or reboot. Then go back in and uncheck it again. It sounds like that option is active even though it isn't checked. Can't hurt to try it before resorting to editing the registry and deleting the upper lower filter values.