DVD drives missing

Thanks for responding. I already deleted the upper and lower filters. 

Hi, lboesen:

This problem can normally be solved by the olde upper and lower filter trick. Follow the procedure here.

Let me know if that worked.

When you said you tried the Dell resource disc, I wasn't sure what you were trying to do. If you were trying to use it to run the Dell diagnostics, that may not work. However, you should still be able to run the diagnostics from the hard drive. Hit F12 when booting up and choose the utility partition. Pick "custom test", which will allow you to test just the DVD drive. Run the READ test with the Dell resource CD in the drive.

Let me know if the test passes or if you get some sort of error.

I ran the tests.  Everything passed, but it wouldn't read the Drivers and Ultities Disk.  Which I am assuming is the Recourse Disk.  Is that correct?

Yes, that's the correct disc. If the read test does not even read the disc, the drive has failed. If your laptop is still under warranty, contact Dell and they'll replace the drive.

Good luck!

Even if it reads CD's and not DVD's, it still might need a new drive?  It isn't something to do with missing drivers,etc? 

Ok, in your first post you said, "It's not recognizing my DVD drive or writer." Now suddenly it is recognizing CD and DVD discs?

I'm officially confused.

Sorry for the confusion.

I have a DVD RW and CD RW Drive (TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-T633A ATA Device).  I used to be able to write/burn cd's and dvd's. 

Currently it will only recognize itself as a cd/dvd player.  For some reason, my "Dell Drivers and Ulitites disk" or blank dvd's are not recognizable.  When I am in my  Windows DVD maker it will say "please insert disk", when there is a blank disk in there already.

When I click iTunes, I get a warning "the registry settings used by the iTunes drivers for importing and burning cds and dvds are missing."

Ok, for that iTunes error message, see this article. When you delete the filters, it might require this little trick to fix things for iTunes, which uses different filters that are not always reinstalled by Windows.

Second issue, your Dell drivers disc and blank DVDs are not recognized. I assume you have Vista. Let's first check if this is a problem with the drive, the program or the disc. Go to Osprey's Toolbox (link below) and grab DVD Identifier. Install it and run that program with a blank DVD in the drive. Let me know if the program is able to view the disc properties.

Finally, you said you have a "DVD RW and CD RW Drive". Do you have two drives or just one? If you have two drives, does neither of them read that Dell drivers disc?