Registry is damaged...

try a newer drive
its dead now. if it can read CDDA store bought audio discs.
or the data cable port on the mobo end is bad, try another
this laptop can be 10 years old. 1st one was.
2007
what id do is ditch for used 5 year LT.
if that's no fun (is is best)
then upgrade it to newer, DVD or burner, level.
be best.,..,.

make sure the DVD internal connector has no damage

Most cd/dvd's don;t use a driver they rely on a atapi common driver. Usually when you get problems it means the drive itself is the issue. For now what I would try is simply to go under /control panel hardware manager and delete the drive then reboot. Windows will detect the drive and should re-install the device information and correct the registry.

make sure all leads that are attached to your cd/dvd floppy drives have secure connections and are not faulty or just replace them they are probably old and faulty ?
Click start control panel administrive tools,computer management,device manager scroll down cd-dvd rom drives you might see a yellow question mark ? right click you will have options to update driver,roll back driver,or select properties general troubleshoot, select driver click to reinstall drivers click update driver or uninstall then reinstall if this does not fix the problem it might be a registry problem if you cant see your disk drive in windows explorer
Close all open programs

Click on Start, Run, and type regedit and press Enter
Click on the plus signs (+) next to the following folders

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

SYSTEM

CurrentControlSet

Control

Class

{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

This folder is the DVD/CD-ROM Drive Class Description in the registry. Look for any of the following names in the right hand column.

Upper Filters

Lower Filters

Upper Filters.bak

Lower Filters.bak
If any of the above keys shown in step 4 are listed, right-click on them and choose Delete

After deleting the keys, close the registry editor
Reboot your computer
Open My Computer and check to see if your CD or DVD drives have returned. You may also want to open Device Manager and verify that the yellow exclamation and error code on the CD or DVD drive is gone.
hope this helps

Hello,

• "Windows could not start because the following file is missing or corrupt:
  <Windows root>\system32\hal.dll.
  Please re-install a copy of the above file."
  
  
• "<Winnt_root>\System32\Hal.dll missing or corrupt:
  Please re-install a copy of the above file."
  
  
• "Cannot find \Windows\System32\hal.dll"
  
  
• "Cannot find hal.dll"

The "missing or corrupt hal.dll" error displays shortly after the computer is first started. Windows XP has not yet fully loaded when this error message appears. CauseCauses of the "missing or corrupt hal.dll" error include, naturally, a damaged hal.dll DLL file or a hal.dll file that has been deleted or moved from its intended location.Additional causes may include a damaged or missing boot.ini file or possibly a physically damaged hard drive.

Please let me know you have any further questions or concerns.

Thanks.

After loading the Windows, the DVD/CD-ROM drives work properly, but we can not see the drives in “My Computer” (System can not recognize the drives.). When try to run the drives, it shows up a notice “Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code39).” Before solving this error, check the drives connection correctly, then follow the steps below:
Delete Device Manager. Most people will firstly think of Windows “Find New Hardware” when drives missed, but it does not always work out. To fix the problem: open “My Computer”’ “Control Panel” ’“System”’“Device Manager”’ “HDC(Hard Disk Controller) ”, then click “Delete”. Follow the note to reboot computer. After rebooting, the computer will find the Primary IDE Controller and Secondary IDE Controller again and install the drivers. Restart the computer again while the installation is completed. In this, we can get back our CD/DVD-ROM Drives.
The other way is by editing the registry to return the missed CD/DVD-ROM drives (Code 39 error.). Obviously, it is too risky to edit the registry if you are not familiar with it. To fix the error from the registry, carry out the following steps:
Exit and close all applications currently running on your PC.
Step1. Click Start > Run and type in Regedit, press Enter.
Step2. Look for the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\ {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
Delete any of the following registry entries under this key directory:
LowerFilters
LowerFilters.bak
UpperFilters
UpperFilters.bak
Step3. Reboot your PC and open My Computer to check that the CD-ROM drive is visible.
Also, have a look at the Device Manager to see if the yellow exclamation mark and the error code 39 are gone.
System errors are not welcome guests that bring up unhappy computing experience. Registry Easy (www.registryeasy.com) is a professional troubleshooting system maintenance tool that can help you to solve this error and many more.
Article Source: How to fix DVD/CD-ROM drives (Code 39 error) in Windows XP or Vista
Posted on 2 January '09 by , under TECH NEWS.

This worked for me.

Code 19 Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged.
This can occur when more than one service is defined for a device, if there is a failure opening the service subkey, or if the driver name cannot be obtained from the service subkey.
Recommended Solution :
Many third-party programs that control CD or DVD burning (as well as some player applications) install CD- or DVD-ROM filter device drivers into Windows. These filter drivers are meant to allow for low-level hooks into the hardware, to allow for functions such as packet writing (where a CD-R/W or DVD-/+RW can be written incrementally, like a hard disk).

These filter drivers sometimes have problems that can cause the CD or DVD drive to stop working correctly. The device entry for the CD or DVD drive in the Device Manager may show up with an error descriptor that reads "The device could not start." Additionally, there may be an error message that reads "One of the filter drivers for this device is invalid." The devices themselves do not show up in Explorer. Error codes for the device include code 31, code 32, code 19 or code 39, and sometimes the even more ominous warning "Your registry might be corrupted" appears.

Fixing the problem simply involves deleting the filter entries for the third-party device drivers. These entries can sometimes become damaged (which is what produces the "corrupt registry" warning).

To delete the offending keys, open the Registry and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlCl ***\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. . Delete the keys named UpperFilters and LowerFilters and reboot.

Several of the products made by Roxio are infamous for causing this problem, although in fairness to the company the most recent versions of their Roxio CD/DVD writing software (6.2 and higher) do not have these problems. Users of 5.0 or 6.0 editions of the Easy CD & DVD Creator product, which has been bundled with many new PCs in the past, should upgrade to 6.2 or better. Other programs can also cause this problem, with the same solution.

Note that after you do this, you may lose functionality in the program that uses the filter drivers, which may need to be reinstalled.
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That error and a number of other error codes can be reported for a DVD or CD writer if something has damaged one of the filter drivers, which are called Upper Filter and Lower Filter drivers in the Windows Registry. They can be installed by CD-writing software such as Roxio Easy CD, or by DVD players such as PowerDVD, or by programs such as Musicmatch Jukebox.
Microsoft describes the problem in MS Knowledge Base article 314060 - CD-ROM access is missing and messages cite error Code 31, Code 32, Code 19, or Code 39 after you remove Roxio Easy CD Creator in Windows XP at http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314060.
The article applies to Windows XP Home Edition and Windows XP Professional It implies that the problem is caused only by Roxio software, but the error can occur with any type of CD-writing or DVD software. Error messages that may occur when you try to access your CD or DVD drive include:
1. - Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the Registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)
2. - This device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31)
3. - A driver (service) for this device has been disabled. An alternate driver may be providing this functionality. (Code 32)
4. - Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)
5. - Windows successfully loaded the device driver for this hardware but cannot find the hardware device. (Code 41)
However, there are other causes for these and similar messages. The solution provided below applies mainly to CD or DVD drives. For other explanations, read this MS Knowledge Base article - http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310123.
Uninstalling and then reinstalling CD-writing and DVD software may cure the problem, but in other cases, such as yours, the Windows Registry has to be edited in order to fix it. Making erroneous changes to the Registry can render a computer unbootable, so before you edit it, use Windows XP's System Restore to create a restore point that will allow you to restore it in Safe Mode, or export the keys from the Registry editor by using its File => Export feature. For more information, enter the word Registry in the Search box of Start => Help and Support.
Enter regedit in the Start => Run box to run the Registry Editor and click on the + signs to expand and highlight the following keys:
H_KEY _LOCALMACHINE => SYSTEM => CurrentControlSet => Control => Class => {4D36E965E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE 1 0318}
There should be many keys called {4D36E965E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE 1 0318}
If you want to export a copy of the values, select File => Export and enter a suitable filename, which will be saved as a .reg file that can be restored just by clicking on it. When you select a particular key, in the right window, for some of them, you should see keys called UpperFilters and LowerFilters. Select each such entry in turn, right-click with the mouse on it, and click Delete. After closing the Registry Editor, you should be able to use the CD/DVD drive again. However, you may have to reinstall software that accesses the drive, such as CD writers and DVD players.

Try physically removing the player and fire up the laptop. Power down the laptop, replace the player and power back up. If that doesn't help, see if BIOS recognizes it.
If that doesn't work, get back to me.
Ron-

    Sounds like more of a software problem, I've had my dvd drive only show up as a cd drive but i think that was only in windows 98? Many problems will start showing up when your disk is very full. Try deleting some old files until you have 25% free space (only 75% full) or 20% free (80 full) at the minimum, then defragment. I recommend using a 3rd party program such as Diskeeper, since windows defrag Isn't very good.
    If you can not free up enough space because all of your things are too important to delete, think about buying an external hard drive to back up too, or simply look for a bigger hard drive of the laptop and copy the old hard drives contents to the new one using something like norton ghost.
    Most likely you would need a laptop hdd to desktop hdd converter, which is like $5 or less, so you can copy the contents since laptops can only have one hard drive (usually). If you can't do this or don't want to try it, bring your laptop to a pc repair shop and they will transfer your data to a bigger hdd for you for a nominal fee.
    Remember, I do not guarantee this to fix your dvd problem, but it is a good idea to do it anyways to increase performance and reliability. 

This drive shouldn't need a driver seperate to windows (versions after win 95) Here is the link to the troubleshooting in the user manual for the drive; http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=HardDrivesOpticalDrives/Documentation/2102trouble_archive2 If you have tried everything in there with no luck, then the next thing to try would be a registry cleaner/fixer. if you dont have one, there are several available with a free trial, this one is excellent (assuming you have windows XP), but there are many more; http://www.xp-tools.com/winutilities/index.htm If that doesn't solve the problem, then i suggest checking first the jumper settings on the drive - there should be a small plastic jumper clip across two of the terminals on the back - there should be a small picture on the drive nearby, maybe stamped into the case telling you what each possible position is - you want it to be set to SL (slave 1) or CS (cable select - if available) if it is set to master then it could possibly bring up this error. If none of that works, then please ask again and we can talk you through the things to check in your BIOS setup, just let us know what laptop you have. Hope this helps :)