Resolution

Device filter entries exist to somehow modify the way a device works. If you are having trouble using CDs, follow these steps to temporarily disable the other third-party optical drive software entries.

Important: These steps involve making changes to the Windows registry using the Registry Editor (Regedit). Even if you are very comfortable editing the registry, you should make a backup of the registry prior to editing it. Making mistakes in Regedit can cause strange behavior and can even prevent Windows from starting. The changes may cause the software that installed the entries to not work correctly until you restore the entries.

How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Server 2003
How to back up, edit, and restore the registry in Windows 2000

To disable third-party device filters in Windows XP

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to expand the tree.
4. Click the plus sign next to SYSTEM.
5. Click the plus sign next to CurrentControlSet.
6. Click the plus sign next to Control.
7. Click the plus sign next to Class.
8. Click to select the heading that begins {4D36E965- (don't click the plus sign here).
   It should look like this:

   

9. On the File menu, click Export. 
10. In the dialog box that opens, make sure the "Selected branch" radio button is selected and save the file somewhere that you can find it.
11. Right-click the LowerFilters key and from the shortcut menu, click Delete. Note: If you don't see a LowerFilters key then continue to the next step.
12. Right-click the UpperFilters entry and from the shortcut menu, click Modify.
13. Select the entire contents of the text in the Value data text field.
14. Right-click the selected text and from the shortcut menu, click Cut.
15. Type GEARAspiWDM and press Return. Pressing Return adds a carriage return in the field and is important.
16. Click OK.
17. Restart the computer.

If this resolves the issue, that indicates that the device filter entry from some other piece of software was creating a conflict with the optical drive software installed with iTunes. At this point, other optical drive software may not work until it is reinstalled. In order to avoid running into the conflict again, check to see if there is an updated version of your other optical drive software before reinstalling.

If this does not resolve the issue, you can return your registry to the way it was before by following these steps:

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. Type regedit and click OK.
3. On the File menu, click Import. Locate the file that you exported above. 
4. Exit Registry Editor and restart the computer.

To disable third-party device filters in Windows 2000

1. On the Start menu, click Run.
2. Type regedit and click OK. This will open the Registry Editor.
3. Find the heading HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE. Double-click it.
4. Find the heading SYSTEM inside it. Double-click it.
5. Find the heading CurrentControlSet. Double-click it.
6. Find the heading Control. Double-click it.
7. Find the heading Class. Double-click it.
8. Find the heading that begins {4D36E965- click to select it.
9. On the Registry menu, click Export Registry File. 
10. In the dialog box that opens, make sure the "Selected branch" radio button is selected and save the file somewhere that you can find it.
11. Right-click the LowerFilters key and from the shortcut menu, click Delete. Note: If you don't see a LowerFilters key then continue to the next step.
12. Right-click the UpperFilters key and on the shortcut menu click Modify.  Edit that key so that it looks like this:

    GEARAspiWDM

    Pressing Return adds a carriage return in the field and is important.
13. Exit Registry Editor and restart the computer and see iTunes behaves differently.

If this resolves the issue, that indicates that the device filter entry from some other piece of software was creating a conflict with the optical drive software installed with iTunes. At this point, other optical drive software may not work until it is reinstalled. In order to avoid running into the conflict again, check to see if there is an updated version of your other optical drive software before reinstalling.

If this does not resolve the issue, you can return your registry to the way it was before by following these steps:

1. Run Regedit again.
2. On the Registry menu, click Import Registry File. Locate the file that you exported in step 10 above. 
3. Exit Registry Editor and restart the computer.