Programs, such as decoders and CD burning software, sometimes register ‘filters’ that load either before or after the cd-rom subsystem in Windows.
Sometimes when uninstalling software, they will remove the filter that was registered but leave behind the reference to the filter in the registry.
End result: Yellow exclamation point on every CD and DVD-ROM on the system.
Brute force fix:
Run regedit and drill down to this location:
[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}]
Export the contents of this location to a registry file backup (right click entry->Export), if you want a backup.
Delete the keys “UpperFilters” and “LowerFilters”
You might have to reinstall CD burning software or DVD decoders, but it is better than a non working drive.
You can also delete the “0000”, “0001”, “0002”, “0003” subtrees if you want Windows to rescan/reload the related CD-ROM drivers. You might have to re-enable digital audio on the CD/DVD-ROM afterwards.
More elegant fix:
Go to the same location and if you know what filter file is missing, just remove the reference to it from either ‘UpperFilters’ or ‘LowerFilters’.
MS’s documentation on this problem:
KB 314060
Sometimes it is specifically related to a filter called GearAspiWDM by Gear Software. It usually comes bundled with software, like iTunes. It has also been known to blue screen 64-bit versions of Windows from time to time too. There are trojans out that register themselves as GearAspiWDM, unfortunately.
Here is Gear software's guide to removing GearAspiWDM if you suspect that filter is the cause of your CD-ROM/DVD problem.