How to fix “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)”
A client came to me this afternoon his problem was he cannot use his CD-ROM drive, He was unable to burn or even read CDs and his CD-ROM drive also did not show up on his My Computer.
While I was fixing it I ran across this error “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)”
What I did to correct this problem was I first uninstalled his CD-ROM drive from the device manager, I restarted the computer but unfortunately the problem still remains. The uninstallation didn’t work so obviously it has a registry issue.
Below are the steps that I did to resolve the issue. You can follow the steps below If you are receiving this Code 39 error and your CD or DVD drive is missing and has a yellow exclamation mark in Device Manager. Backup your Registry first before you do anything on your registry.
- Close all open programs
- Open registry editor by going to Start –> Run and typing REGEDIT and press Enter
- Navigate on following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/ Control/ Class
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
- Look for any of the following names in the right hand column.
UpperFilters
LowerFilters
UpperFilters.bak
LowerFilters.bak
- If any of those keys shown above are listed, right-click on them and choose Delete
- After deleting the keys, close your Registry Editor
- Reboot your computer
- Check if your CD or DVD drives have returned. Also check your Device Manager and verify if there is still a yellow exclamation and error code on your CD or DVD drive is.
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17 Comments
i checked on the registry but there are no UpperFilter and LowerFilter but there is still a yellow exclamation point on Device Manager. What do i do?
slavezero
I have the same problem but not just with the audio device but USB, network adapters, and modems. I followed the instructions mentioned before but exclamation sign is still there… Any other suggestions?
hmmm.. seems you have a more bigger problem than my client. Try fixing your windows installation. Follow the instruction here http://pcremix.com/how-to-repair-windows-xp-without-formatting-your-pc/ update me for anything that transpire
Thank you so much for your help! It fixed my problem! I cannot believe how detailed your instructions were. They were so good that a computer dummy like me fixed it myself. I followed each step exactly as you indicated and now I am up and running without having to take it to a repair shop! Thanks again and I will keep you in mind next time I have a problem.
Your welcome, come back anytime
thanks so much!!!! it totally fixed my cd drive!!!! thanks alot!!!!!!
thanks !!! it worked!!!!!!!!!!!!
thank you very very very very…. much.. I’m happy now
Genius. It worked. Detailed – very to follow instructions. Thank you!!!!!
hi thank u soo much for this, now the cd drive is workin, but it doesnt read any empty cd’s, so im not able to write anything onto a cd. so wat do u think i shud do?
thx again…
have you tried other cd-burning software?
Thanks a million man that really helped, my computer is back to normal. keep up the good work
I did this process before but I did not close the registry edior before restarting the pc so when I restarted my pc it would not start windows was not loading and I had to put the windows vista cd and finally was able to repair , do you think that has something to do with not closing the registry first ? i want to try it again but don’t wanna have same problem with windows not starting so can you please tell me exactly how to close registry editor ? Do I just exit out , type close . please advise thank you much
Thanks, you’re a bloody genius!
All I could get from Microsoft was to download drivers from hardware supplier.
Really helpful for a ten year old PC!
Any idea what causes this to happen?
Cheers,
Pedro.
BLOODY DAM AMAZING!!!
Thank you so much, I don’t need to use my Windows 7 Home Premium CD to repair the whole system for 1 hour!!!!
Thank you so much and your the best Information Technology Repair Assistant
Cheers
Thank you! It worked for me!
try uninstalling the device and then re-install it again. if you can provide me with a screenshot then much better. update me for any progress.