Windows 10: Is My LG WH16NS40 Optical Drive There or Not?

I am using a LG WH16NS40 DVD/Blu-ray drive on a desktop system running Windows 10 Pro 2004. Suddenly the drive no longer appears in the navigation (left) pane in Windows File Explorer. It still appears in the right pane, but when I double-click on it, I get a dialog saying, "Insert a disc," even if there's already a disc in it. With or without a disc, the drive is listed in Disk Management with "No Media." Right-click > General tab there says, "This device is working properly." Attempts to update the driver result in, "The best drivers for your device are already installed." Likewise, no problems in Device Manager. I have run the manufacturer's firmware flasher and updated the firmware. That tool now recognizes the drive and indicates that I have firmware version 1.05. That is the latest version listed on the manufacturer's webpage. The tool does not support reverting to an earlier version or reflashing the current version. The drive has not been in heavy use. At six years, I'm not sure whether it qualifies for death due to old age. Any suggestions?

:)

 

Windows 10 does not recognize optical drive.

Thank you for replying, but did not work. Followed steps on this page https://support..
Also did not work. Optical drive is LG Blu-Ray HL-DT-ST BD-RE WH16NS40 16X RW burner. No driver conflicts are present, and drive worked perfectly before on Windows 7. I made no hardware changes when I upgraded to Windows 10, and I did a clean install onto
a formatted and re-partitioned drive.

 

LG Bluray Player, WH16NS40, very slow on a clean Win10 install


Folks,

I have an LG WH16NS40, SATA, in my rig. I've just performed a clean Win10 install. The drive (Bluray) is VERRRRY slow. I've got the latest firmware (released almost a year ago, v1.02). Device manager shows Win10 using driver version 10.0.10586.0 from June 21, 2006.

I've got to think that there's newer/better driver software available. (My understanding is that any DVD/BR drive uses Windows drivers and only firmware can be updated from the manufacturer.)

Is there a standard benchmark to run which would quantify the speed?

Is there a better/newer driver I could use?

Manufacturer's product link: LG Internal Blu Ray DVD Drive WH16NS40 | LG Electronics US

Thanks,
Ken

 

Optical Drive Issue

Hello Anak –

Appreciate your detailed return. Your added steps really helped.

Assuming I did the steps correctly, this is where I am now.

Screenshot 12 shows my CD Disc shortcut on my desktop.
Screenshot 10 shows the CD Drive shortcut listed in the “Send to” listing.
Screenshot 11 shows the “Send to” listing after the steps were taken, but the CD drive name is not listed.

So, it appears the steps did not work for me. And, I did try the steps, “If it still won’t do ……” and still no luck.

What do you think?

JerryA