The CDRW on a laptop wasn't appearing. The Device Manager saw that it was there, but reported:

Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration
information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)

A fix was found here:

Google Search for the phrase above.

The solution was in the file cdgone.zip, attached below.

The fix wipes out a few registry keys. The next time the CD was removed and reconnected, the OS had an opportunity to create new registry entries.