computer troubles

[lee92 2]

alrighty, i'm having some serious problems with my laptop. i just tried to pop in a dvd to watch a movie, but the disc drive isn't there. i clicked on my computer, and there is no disc drive. it's odd, as i remember seeing it there last night when i was on my computer. i've tried many things, such as restarting and turning off and on the computer, but the drive never shows up. i went to the help spot on the laptop for this type of problem and the method they listed said that it has teh potential to have a serious negative side affect, or i can reboot my computer. only problem with rebooting is that i can't burn off all my stuff from the computer on to dvds to put back on after it's been rebooted. does anyone have ANY ideas or help for me?

[Chadd 916]

What OS are you using?

[lee92 2]

what do you mean by OS?

if it means anything to you, the computers a compaq presario r4000

[Geeno_56 1]

OS is Operating System like windows xp home, pro, windows 98 etc

[lee92 2]

ohhh, windows xp

[lee92 2]

if i uninstall the driver, can i reinstall it, without having to reboot the computer?

[sikocycles 1]

Right click My Computer>properties

Hardware tab

Device manager and see if it is there. It may be disabled? You can uninstall it and reboot and hope that XP reinstalls it. If not go to the devices website and download it. If you still have the CDs it will have the drivers

[Chadd 916]

Right click My Computer>properties

Hardware tab

Device manager and see if it is there. It may be disabled? You can uninstall it and reboot and hope that XP reinstalls it. If not go to the devices website and download it. If you still have the CDs it will have the drivers

If it's not there there are a ton of potential causes and a trip to someone who knows what they're doing is in order.

[Icedog03 0]

what about restoring the computer to the last time you knew it was there.

[Miike 1]

or it may not even be connected inside the case.

[lee92 2]

i fixed the problem, or at least i think i did for now. i flipped through one of the books that came with the computer, and ended up going back to a restore point, so everythings up and running now.