iTunes blocks CD-ROM recognition...

I installed iTunes on my Gateway Notebook running WinXP. After the installation, the computer stops recognizing the CD-ROM drive (the drive is not seen in device manager or My Computer).

To repair this, according to Microsoft, I then need to delete the upper and lower limit keys in the system registry for the device. This works, and the CD drive is recognized again in WinXP. But the iTunes will not work, says the "registry keys needed to import CDs are missing, please reinstall iTunes."

Re-installing iTunes then leads to WinXP not recognizing the CD-Rom drive again...the cycle begins again.

Any help is much appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

Thanks, unfortunately I do not remember, since I have gone back and forth with the process so many times. But I read in the iTunes forum that I had to modify the upper limit key to the one they suggested from iTunes, so I did that.

Now iTunes will open without the error message, but I have no upper or lower limit keys at all in the appropriate folder. But win xp doesn't see the CD-ROM and although iTunes opens without displaying the error message, it doesn't see the CD-ROM either.

I thought rebooting manually would restore the original keys, but that didn't happen this time, although it has happened this way before.

 

Here's a script to fix the "proper" keys for most missing CD/DVD drive issues.

Are you sure the drive is not in Device Manager with an error code? If it totally disappears from Device Manager, that's a different issue than the normal one I'm thinking of.

Of course, in editing the registry, it's possible you killed something incorrectly, which could explain why Windows can't find the hardware now.

If that's the case, try physically disconnecting the CD and rebooting. Shutdown, reconnect the CD and boot again.

Fix for missing DVD/CD drives.

Create a text file with NOTEPAD containing the following data exactly as below and name it FIXCD.REG
You should have 3 boxes on the bottom in NOTEPAD.
1)Filename : fixcd.reg
2)Save as type: all files
3)Encoding: ANSI
If you do not change it from txt type to All files type, then the file will actually be fixcd.reg.txt, this won't accomplish the desired result

Double click on the file and say yes to the merge into registry question.

----------------------- Use text after this line, contents of FIXCD.REG -----------------------------
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}]
"UpperFilters"=-
"LowerFilters"=-

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdr4_2K]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdralw2k]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdudf]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UdfReadr]
------------------------------ Use text before this line --------------------------------

 

Thanks, I will try this. The drive is not in device manager at all...

 

Not being in Device Manager is a bad sign.

 

Yes, it is. The steps above also did not restore the drive recognition in Win XP after rebooting, either. However, this has happened to me with this computer at least 5-6 times previously. After multiple reboots, system restores, resetting the BIOS to defaults, editing the registry, nothing seems to consistently work to restore recognition of the drive.

The weird thing is, the device always "reappears" in My Computer and the device manager- and works fine- at some point down the road. Sometimes this happens days after the device is "lost", but it has always happened.

It even happened again recently with this issue, but didn't work with iTunes, and upon re-installing iTunes (as the program prompted to do) the CD drive "disappeared" again from Win XP.

 

I'm thinking that what you really have is a hardware issue. The drive not showing up in Device Manager indicates that Windows isn't seeing it at all. If it magically "appears" at some time in the future, that would be an indication to me that it's probably not a software issue.

 

I've thought that too, but the "disappearance" always follows the use of some CD recording/burning issue (iTunes or Nero).

 

If the BIOS doesn't detect the drive during POST, it is not a software issue. So, do you see the drive during the POST, but not in Device Manager?

 

Yes, exactly.

 

Well, at this point I'd be trying the drive in another system, or sticking another drive in this one. Substitution is by far the easiest way to narrow this down at this point.

 

I tried using an external CD ROM drive via USB- again, no recognition. Other devices using this port (external hard drives) work fine and are recognized. So I re-installed the DVD/CD ROM drivers from gateway support- and there it was, in My Computer again. BUT, upon insertion of any CD (to read files, rip music, anything) it stops working within a few seconds and then the icon is gone from My Computer again!

 

Should any annoyed soul who had this problem recently care to understand how this problem was solved, here you go:

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION:

• Windows XP
• iTunes 7.5

ERRORS & CODES:

• Type: Error; Event ID: 7026; Source: Service Control Manager; Description: The following boot-start or system-start drivers failed to load...Cdrom, imapi, redbook
• Type: Warning; Event ID: 263; Source: PlugPlayManager; Description: The service "apple mobile device" may not have unregistered

With that background in place, I basically had a totally inoperative CD-ROM; in fact, Windows did not even recognize that I had a CD-ROM drive whatsoever.

So, after much trial and error, I discovered the root of the problem. In the process of (a) installing iTunes and (b) attempting to uninstall it after it didn't work, it appears that iTunes didn't really complete the uninstallation procedure correctly.

What iTunes forgot to do was remove the "GEAR driver" which basically helps iTunes burn & rip from the CD-ROM. So, what I had to do was manually remove the GEAR drivers. Here's how I did it:

Manual Removal – 32-bit
[edit]
Vista, Server 2003, Windows XP and Windows 2000

[↑]

WARNING: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system.
We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.

Select Run... in the START menu, and type in regedit
This will start up the Registry Editor.

Delete the following key from the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\GearAspiWDM

If present, delete the following key from the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\GEARSecurity

In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} key:
remove the GEARAspiWDM entry in the UpperFilters value. Note that the entries in this value are double byte.

In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{6D807884-7D21-11CF-801C-08002BE10318} key:
remove the GEARAspiWDM entry in the UpperFilters value. Note that the entries in this value are double byte.

In the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{CE5939AE-EBDE-11D0-B181-0000F8753EC4} key:
remove the GEARAspiWDM entry in the UpperFilters value. Note that the entries in this value are double byte.

Reboot

Delete GearAspi.dll from Windows\System32 folder

If present, delete Gearsec.exe from Windows\System32 folder

Delete GearAspiWDM.sys from Windows\System32\Drivers folder

Delete the Windows\System32\GEARAspi.dll value from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDLLs registry key

Delete the Windows\System32\Gearsec.exe value from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDLLs registry key

If present, delete the Windows\System32\Drivers\GearAspiWDM.sys value from the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\SharedDLLs registry key

Reboot ​

Those instructions were pulled from the GEAR website HERE.