Optical drive is no longer visible after installing iTunes for Windows
Symptoms
If you are running Windows Vista, you may experience some of the following symptoms after installing iTunes for Windows:
- Your computer's optical drive may no longer be recognized
- The optical drive may not appear in My Computer, but may appear in Device Manager with a yellow "!" (exclamation mark) beside the optical drive
- The following dialog may appear when attempting to use the optical drive "This device cannot start: code 10, device type DVD/CD ROM Drive"
- You receive the error message "Disc burner or software not found"
Products Affected
iTunes 7 for Windows, Windows Vista, iTunes 8 for Windows
Resolution
Solution 1
Check with your manufacturer to see if there are updated software drivers for your optical drive. For more information about updating the firmware of your CD or DVD drive, see article HT3206.
Solution 2
- Launch Windows Explorer.
- Navigate to C:\Windows\system32\drivers\.
- Check to see if either of the following 2 files are present. These files from a third-party software vendor are not supported by Windows Vista and can cause driver conflicts with optical drives:
- afs.sys
- afs2k.sys
- If either of the files in Step 3 are present, move them out of the system32 folder. You should keep these files stored somewhere on your hard drive, as some of your older peripherals may require them. If you find that they are required in the future to use a device, you may move them back into the system32 folder temporarily.
- Reboot Windows Vista.
Solution 3
- Quit iTunes.
- Manually remove the GEAR driver software using the steps found here.
- Remove any stand alone GEAR software installers from the Programs and Features control panel, if present.
- Install the updated GEAR driver.
Additional Information
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