DVD Drive Repair

Pros

• Freeware
• Restores Windows recognition
• Restores application recognition

Cons

• Stability

DVD Drive Repair is a Windows utility to correct optical drive recognition issues.

If you have ever had an optical drive that is not recognized by Windows or a particular application consistently or at all, then you know how frustrating that can be. DVD Drive Repair is a tool to help with that. It repairs drives in Windows so that communication between the operating system and applications is optimized and consistent.

It is worth nothing that experienced computer users can often achieve the same without the use of a utility. Nevertheless, this is freeware, so it cost nothing to download and use. That makes it an excellent option for the person who may not know how to correct optical drive issues or just does not want to hassle with it. It is also worth noting that while the name of the program is DVD Drive Repair, it works with all optical drives. This includes CD, DVD, Blu-ray and so forth.

The program has a small footprint and does not require installation. That means that you can have it on a USB flash drive or an external hard drive. When you run, a small dialog with a simple and easy user interface will appear. The developer recommends creating a system restore point before allowing the program to take any actions. It even provides a handy link on the dialog to create that restore point. If your optical drive firmware is or may be outdated, the program also provides a link to update that firmware through FirmwareHQ.

There also a couple of options. Reset autorun settings is checked by default. There is no harm in leaving this active unless you purposefully disable the feature. If autorun has become disable or otherwise misconfigured, the program will attempt to fix it. The second option, which is disabled by default, is protect against autorun parasites. There are many reasons your drive settings may be wrong. If it happens to be a virus or other malware, then this option can help avoid that interference.

Once you have created a restore point, ensured that the firmware is current and chosen the appropriate settings, click the Repair DVD Drive button. The program will seek to restore recognition with Windows as well as applications, and this process is usually very fast. When it is complete, click the Close button, reboot your system and check to determine if your drive is now operating as expecting.

There is not much to dislike about DVD Drive Repair. There are some stability issues it seems, and it may hang with certain configurations. Crash the program. Restart it, and try again. Bugs are usually momentary rather than combability issues, and the program should eventually work.

Pros

• Freeware
• Restores Windows recognition
• Restores application recognition

Cons

• Stability