I got the following error today.

"Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware. The driver may be corrupted or missing. (Code 39)"

Because of this error, the drive did not show up in My Computer and I was unable to burn CDs or read any CDs.

This error is mostly caused due to registry issues. To resolve this issue follow the given steps:

• 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.

UpperFilters 
LowerFilters 
UpperFilters.bak 
LowerFilters.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.