i installed the nero 7 demo and had lots of problems with it, so i was uninstalling it but the uninstaller froze and i shut it down with the task manager and did a system restore and now my computer isn't detecting my cd rom or dvd rom drives anymore. they don't even show up under My Computer. I tried uninstalling them in the device manager and rebooting and I got a little icon saying "New Hardware Detected" but i still get the same error in device manager. "Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)" Any help would be greatly appreciated.

KBT42, welcome to BC.
Click Start>Run. Type "regedit' (no quotes) in the run dialog box, click ok.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} delete the "UpperFilters" and Lowerfilters" value from that key only. Exit the reg and reboot.

Thank You Very Much! It worked and I appreciate the help! You're awesome!

No problem, my pleasure.

Ok I'm having more problems. Windows detects the hardware now but for some reason when i insert a disc windows no longer prompts me to choose an action like it used to even though I selected that it should under properties of the D drive. Also when I put in a blank CD-R the icon for the D drive shows that there is one in it but doesn't show me the specifications for it (free space, etc). Also, in my winamp I no longer have the option to send items to "CD burner on D:" like I used to and winamp recognizes and plays audio CDs but doesn't recognize blank CD-Rs as being in the drive. I checked the registry key above and last time i deleted upperfilters and lowerfilters like you said but I also had a registry key called upperfilters_1 as well, which i didn't delete. Should I delete that key too? As it stands I have upperfilters_1 and lowerfilters.
Thanks in advance!

Thank you hitsquad, i was having the same problems. I used your fix and it worked.

bump

Windows Media Player doesn't detect the drives at all either.

Can anyon help me?

Anyone? I'm about to delete the upperfilters_1 from that key unless someone tells me otherwise

I wouldn't delete anything until Hitsquad or someone else expert in the registry advises.

If Hitsquad doesn't reply to this try messaging him.

Ok I did. Thank you.

Hi KBT42.
Sorry it took me acouple days to get back with you but this darn heatwave caused a power outage and my wife has my laptop at work with her.
Anyway, go ahead and delete that value.
You have more then a simple upper and lower filters value issue here however.
Also, the missing context menu has nothing to do with those reg values.
Your going to need to do some software cleanup and re-installs as well for starters.
Start with the following steps in order:

1. Delete that reg value.
2. Download and run the Nero 7 Clean Tool to remove any leftovers the uninstall may have left behind.
3. Do the "Full" uninstall of Winamp described here (not the "quick and dirty").
4. Remove your cd drive from device manager then reboot to let windows re-detect it again.
5. Reinstall Winamp if that is your only burning software.

If you have any other burning software, remove it as well before step 4.
It's not a good idea to install multiple burning programs and Winamp is very limited.
Afterwards, if your still missing the right click > send to option, that's an easy fix.
Let us know.

Thanks again HitSquad! Everything seems to be back to normal!

You're welcome KBT42.


Knock on wood.