The DVD drive just disappeared, cannot see or access it at all (I can still see my CD-ROM). I believe it's a registry problem, but I might be wrong. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Dénes

Is the DVD drive properly identified during the POST when you start your computer? Watch for it as the screens go by.

If the bios sees it OK then you may need to install/reinstall the motherboard drivers. Open CONTROL PANEL--SYSTEM--PERFORMANCE and see if it's running in msdos compatibility mode. Also check CONTROL PANEL--SYSTEM--DEVICE MANAGER and see if any problem shows with the hard disk controllers. If a problem shows with either of the above and the motherboard/chipset drivers were already installed, restoring a registry from before the problem started may fix it. To do that, boot to dos by starting the PC and tap F8 before the OS starts to load. Choose 'command prompt only' from the menu. At the prompt type scanreg/restore and enter. Choose a registry to restore with a date that precedes the problem. If you haven't installed the chipset drivers or aren't sure then installing them may fix it.

"The DVD drive just disappeared, cannot see or access it at all (I can still see my CD-ROM). I believe it's a registry problem, but I might be wrong." I was expecting something about its status in the device manager but did not read that - how is it listed in there? (if at all) If it is then it might be a Windows or driver issue, the advice about scanreg restore is a very good and easy one if you do recall when all this began. If that is not an option or the problem persists afterwards let us know. At this time my advice is to go into real DOS via a boot diskette and see if the drive is accesible after changing directory to the optical (DVD) drive. If you are unable to read from it even from that environment, then something may be physically wrong with the drive or its connection in the case.