Windows 7: Problem with LG DVD drive

I have an LG DVD drive in my present PC. The model is GH22NS50.

It worked normally until recently, and Windows 7 recognized it quite well. In fact Win 7 was installed on this computer using that DVD ROM drive.

About a month ago I installed Avid Liquid suite of programs on my PC because I needed some video editing software. It seems that during the installation of this program, a new and unsigned CD/DVD-ROM driver was installed. I know this because Win 7 promptly notified me about the unsigned driver right after the program installation. I think the problematic driver is called "ASAPI.sys", but I am not sure. I didn't pay much attention to it at the time.



Several days later I needed to use the DVD drive, but it doesn't work in Win 7 now. This is what now stands in device menager for DVD/CR-ROM drives:

HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GH22NS50 ATA Device
LYP TE3G963 SCSI CdRom Device
LYP TE3G963 SCSI CdRom Device
QPSIMR YNSPIZOH6NKD SCSI CdRom Device

All these items have a yellow exclamation mark (!) next to them, and when I look at their properties Win 7 says "Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)".

I tried to delete the drivers from Device Menager, but they keep reappearing again. Also, I tried System Restore with several restore points, but for some reason the computer crashes during a system restore (Blue screen, memory dump etc.).

(Before the installation of Avid Liquid, I used System Restore several times to fix minor annoyances and it worked like charm.)

Does someone have an idea how to fix this problem?

Uninstall the Liquid programs and reinstall the drivers for your DVD player. If that fixes, the problem then you can try to install the software again, atleast you know what's causing it.

Thanks for the reply notsograymatter.

I forgot to say that I already uninstalled everything related to Avid Liquid but that didn't help. Also, the drivers for DVD RAM are in .exe format and when I execute the file I get the message "Can't find the target drive" as a dialog box inside the driver update program. So in a way I'm stuck.

You can try this, the ".exe", rename it to ".zip" and extract.
Also have you tried upgrading the driver, but choose the "browse" then "Let me pick" option, choosing another driver.

It could also be the infamous "Upper and Lower filters".

1. Locate, and then click the following registry subkey:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
   Caution There can be many instances of the registry subkey that is mentioned in step 2. You must make sure that you are in the appropriate registry subkey before modifying the UpperFilters and the LowerFilters values. To verify that you are in the appropriate registry subkey, make sure that the Default data value is DVD/CD-ROM and the Class data value is CDROM.
2. In the right pane, right-click UpperFilters, and then click Delete.
3. Click Yes to confirm the removal of the UpperFilters registry entry.
4. In the right pane, right-click LowerFilters, and then click Delete.
5. Click Yes to confirm the removal of the LowerFilters registry entry.
6. Exit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

Note After you remove the UpperFilters registry entry and the LowerFilters registry entry, you may lose functionality in certain programs such as CD recording programs. In this scenario, you must reinstall any affected programs. If the problem recurs, contact the program vendor to determine whether an update is available for the program.

The above registry procedure is courtesy of Microsoft support.

It may be too late to do it, but it may be worth a try: The best way to try and recover from an event like this is to
1- Uninstall the offending program using "remove Programs".
2- Search for and delete any of the program's folders in Windows Explorer.
3- (Optional) - search the Registry for "Avid" entries and delete.
4- Do the system restore to a previous time before Avid.

If the problem persisted, then
5- Remove (delete) all DVD related entries from the Device Manager and reboot. Let Windows find and load it's own drivers. (It is very important to have deleted any Avid folders before you do this or Windows will find and install the most current driver from there).

Advanced option: You might also delete the C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\cdrom.sys file before rebooting. But if Avid added additional drivers to the Drivers folder you would need to find and delete each one - an advanced procedure that requires caution. We are hoping that all of the Avid drivers will be removed when you remove/delete the DVD drive.

Hope that helps.

This won't solve your problem now, but in the future I always create a restore point before I install any new programs. This should give you a way to revert your system back to where it was before you installed the new program(s). I do this just in case I don't like the program or it cause's problems. Fabe

Your answer is here...
LG SN22NS50 ODD... problem! - Techgage.com

It's called "Bluebirds" and it's a Firmware virus planted on LG's disk by a disgruntled engineer...

Bascially you have two choices...
Try the fix ... which works about 50% of the time.
Scrap the drive.


(And people wonder why I tell them not to flash stuff all the time)

I've found the solution on Microsoft's site:

DVD drives not recognized after install of Liquid 7.2 on Win 7 64 bit


The little registry modification described by Andy Song in that thread fixed the problem.

And now I see that Sanvean also mentioned this same thing. Thanks.