Windows 7: Upgrade Problems from Vista...no optical drive detected

I am having major problems upgrading to Windows 7 from Vista. I have an HP dv3 with Windows Vista 64-bit. I am using the HP upgrade disc with the upgrade option. I first ran into problems when the Windows 7 disc told me that some components would not be installed properly, namely that I needed to upgrade my keyboard filter driver. I did what I was told and when I tried to re-start the upgrade process the disc told me that I would need to re-start my computer. I did that and when it re-started, a message from HP popped up saying that my optical drive was no longer connected and that I needed to re-connect it in order for the upgrade to continue. So now my optical drive is not reading anything and I do not know what has happened or how to even fix it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

if you dont have a backup of your data, then call hp and find out what their solution is, otherwise re-start the install and choose "custom" and format the drive.

Upgrades are never the way to go, the only benefit is that you do not have to reinstall all of your programs. If you had any problems with the underlying OS; virus, corruption, malware, etc. you still have it. Plus the additional pop up more easily, such as the one in your situation.

Do a custom install, the extra time that is needed to reinstall your programs will be small in comparison to the additional time that will be needed with an upgrade. Already you had to come to this forum because of a problem.

Regardless of your decision, and it is yours, I wish you the best.

MS required those Upgrade Kits to include a clean copy Windows 7 DVD, so you can get the cleanest possible install by booting from the DVD, choosing Custom install, then Drive tools to delete all, create New partition(s) as you wish, then format before installing Windows 7.

Be sure to back up your files first. You'll also need to reinstall your programs, so gather the installers/disks.

The installer is nearly driver complete, with more arriving during install if you keep ethernet connected, then more via Windows Updates.

Any drivers then missing in Device Manager can be found on the drivers/apps CD included in the Upgrade kit, along with favorite apps. Any others can be found on the Support Downloads page for your model computer.

If you absolutely need to do the inferior in-Place Upgrade, or have other issues or questions, HP tech support is supposed to support these Upgrade Kit installs, so let us know how they perform. We are also here to help you along the way.