Well, I called Gateway cuz I have a gateway PC and i have a problem with my drives...after about an hour with a tech, they couldn't seem to find an answer and said they have never heard of this happening before...so, since every1 on here is so helpful...ive come to you :) OK, heres the problem. When I turn off my computer at night...then turn it on in the morning the computer starts up and the cd-rw drive is constantly flashing on the tower even though I have no cd in the drive. When XP comes up, the cd-rom and cd-rw drives are not listed under My Computer...neither are they in Device Manager, the "CD-ROM\CD-RW drives" folder in Device Mananger is not even there. Now here is where it gets even weirder. When I RESTART my computer, or shut it down then turn it right back on again, the cd-rw drive stops flashing on the tower and when XP starts, the cd drives are both listed in My Computer, and they are in Device Manager as well. I have changed the master, slave and secondary drives around and checked all the cables and all that jazz in the tower. I did that with the gateway tech. I also know that I have not installed any new programs or hardware, so it cant be that. These cd drives have worked before with XP...they just suddenly stopped working for some reason. It seems to me that if I shutdown ALL the power to the computer and then turn it back on again, the cd drives do not work. But if I turn off the computer and then turn it on again when there is still power connected to the computer, the cd drives work....it is unbelievably weird, and if any1 has any suggestions at all, they would be great appreciated! :) Thanks

Not sure if the following helps: CD-ROM ACCESS IS MISSING AFTER YOU REMOVE EASY CD CREATOR: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314060 -------------- How to Troubleshoot CD-ROM Problems in XP: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314096

this is hardware and probably mobo /bios going going soon to be gone!!!!!!!!!!! unless you have scsi or raid. if so try hooking them as master and slave to an ide channel. hard drives on ide 1 and cdroms on ide 2

Well, Chuck, ur's didn't work, sorry. And the last post...well, are you gonna try and help me out, or are you just saying that I'm screwed...lol I don't think i have scsi or raid cuz I got a gateway p4 1700 desktop. And, I already tried changing the ide cables around for the cd drives. Any1 help please

I have a Gateway and have similar problems after I have unplugged my computer. Only my light stays on the CD-ROM drive and the door won't open. It is not listed in MY computer or Device Manager. When this happens the computer is also SLOW to boot up. Gateway has been no help except to replace the CD-ROM when it first happened but it continues to happen to me. Some days I can use it and the next time it doesn't work. Wish someone could help with my problem !