In Windows Vista, the SATA (Serial-ATA) based optical drives such as a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive may disappear and not available right after the system boots up again after users enable and switch to use the Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) feature on AHCI chipset for the SATA ports in system BIOS configuration. Previously, the CD or DVD (ROM or RW or Writable) drive is working properly when the AHCI chipset is using Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment (PATA) or IDE emulation mode.

It seems like it’s a bug in Windows Vista that causes the missing CD/DVD optical drive problem in AHCI/SATA mode. Microsoft has released a hotfix under KB928253 that will correct the problem. However, no direct download of the KB928253 patch available online and you will need to request the hotfix from Microsoft Online Customer Services (no longer valid).

To make life easier for those who really need the hotfix to solve the missing and disappearing SATA CD/DVD drive problem, here is the direct download link for hot fix files released and downloaded from Microsoft.

For 32-bit x86 based system: Windows6.0-KB928253-x86.msu
For 64-bit x65 based system: Windows6.0-KB928253-x64.msu

Note: The hotfix is now included in Windows Vista service pack.

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