My CD-Rom Drive doesn't show up anywhere. I reformatted my harddrive once and it reappeared for about a 24 hour period and then it was gone again. I insert CDs and otherwise and nothing shows up. At all. Any help would be appreciated

First make sure your CD-ROM drive is seen in the BIOS Setup. During the Power On Self Test, the screen usually displays the key like Del, F1 , F2 or some other key or key combinations to access the BIOS Setup. You need to press the appropriate key for your System and access the BIOS Setup and check the different Menus there to locate the item dealing with CD devices. If you see your CD device there, you can try software troubleshoot, otherwise you must open the Computer case to make sure that the CD-ROM drive is properly connected with working IDE cable with correct orientation and working Power Cable with the connector well seated. If neccessary try known good cables to rule out a cable related problem. If cables are OK, then the device itself may be damaged. If BIOS Setup shows the presence of the CD-ROM drive, try the troubleshoot from MSKB article: CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive appears to be missing after you install Windows XP How to ask a question