text: computer does not recognize the cd-rom drive. why? the cd-rom drive icon never appears under my computer or windows explorer. it was working a few days ago, and i could both read and burn cds. we noticed that the cd-rom icon disappeared 2 days back. popping in a cd etc does not help. the drivers seem ok, and control panel -> system -> drivers and disk drive (samsung) indicated status as ok. but the drive itself is not recognized and cd's inserted into it cannot be read. i am assuming you mean system > hardware > device manager > cd rom drives?  it is possible that the driver got corrupted.  the easiest thing to do is to right click and uninstall the cd rom.  if you uninstall andclose out you should shortly see "new hardware found" with the name of the cd that you have.  if this does not happen then you probably have a physical problem with the drive.  if it does, then it reinstalls and you can see if it works.  also, check to see it the drive led goes on when you insert a disk (getting power), does it open and close when you press the button?   if that does not work (assuming you have not made any other changes/additions to the hardware since it was last working) open up the computer (after diconnecting all power of course) and check to see if the cables are securly connected.  other things to try if it has power and appears to be visually working - change the ribbon cable. make sure it is jumpered correctly.  try setting it up on the second controller (there could be a problem with the controller card).  try connecting a different power cable to the cd.  after going through this "ttask" list and you are still failing then i am about 90% sure your drive is bad.  is it still under warranty?