CD-RW suddenly not working

Sound advice is sorely needed :)

The computer is relatively new and has two removable devices:
CD-R/RW (D:)- master
and DVD-R/RW (E:)- slave

Problem 1) Recently the D:/ drive is unable to be used and has an exclamation next to it in My Computer. Upon checking in Device Manager, it shows there is an error (code 10). It's able to eject and green light comes on though. The drive also shows up in BIOS. I followed the steps in the article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060 and could not find the lower parameters but i deleted the higher param anyway and restarted, but still the same problem occurs. Can't play any Cds at all.

Problem 2) Thus I tried out a couple of solutions and somewhere along the way, noticed the DVD-RW in Device Mgr is listed as DVD-ROM instead. Is this normal, because I have never noticed it before? I am afraid if I have made changes to the DVD-RW unintentionally when trying to fix the D:/ drive. I have no problems playing DVD, but did not test if it's able to burn disks.

Notes: I have Nero 7 essentials, PowerDVD and PowerProducer installed.

Specs are as follows:
< Operating System(s) >
Windows System: Microsoft Windows XP (2002) Home 5.01.2600
(Service Pack 2)

< Processor >
Model: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6320 @
1.86GHz
Speed: 1.88GHz
Cores per Processor: 2 Unit(s)
Threads per Core: 1 Unit(s)
Type: Dual-Core
Internal Data Cache: 2x 32kB, Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way,
Inclusive, 64 byte line size
L2 On-board Cache: 4MB, ECC, Synchronous, ATC, 16-way, Inclusive,
64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing

< System >
System: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 945GCMX-S2
Mainboard: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 945GCMX-S2
Bus(es): PCI IMB USB i2c/SMBus
Multi-Processor (MP) Support: 1 Processor(s)
Multi-Processor Advanced PIC (:Yes
System BIOS: Award Software International, Inc. 255.255
Total Memory: 1015.97MB DDR2

< Chipset 1 >
Model: Giga-Byte 82945G Processor to I/O Controller
Front Side Bus Speed: 4x 268MHz (1.07GHz)
Total Memory: 1GB DDR2
Shared Memory: 8MB
Memory Bus Speed: 4x 168MHz (672MHz)

< Video System >
Monitor/Panel: COMPAQ MV540 Color Monitor
Monitor/Panel: COMPAQ MV540 Color Monitor
Adapter: Intel(R) 82945G Express Chipset Family

< Physical Storage Devices >
ST3250310AS 250GB (SATA150, NC:232.88GB (C:) (F:)
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H44N (ATAP:N/A (E:)

< Logical Storage Devices >
SYSTEM (C:): 99.51GB (86.79GB, 87% Free Space) (NTFS) @
ST3250310AS 250GB (SATA150, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
Backup (F:): 133.38GB (133.29GB, 100% Free Space) (NTFS) @
ST3250310AS 250GB (SATA150, NCQ, 8MB Cache)
CD-ROM/DVD (E:): N/A @ HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H44N (ATAPI66, 48x
CD-R, 48x CD-W, 6x DVD-R, 6x DVD-W, 2MB
Cache)
3.5" 1.44MB (A:): N/A @ ST3250310AS 250GB (SATA150, NCQ, 8MB
Cache)


[END REPORT]

As can be seen, the D drive is unlisted in the report. In DM, following is stated: TSSTCORP CDmR/RW TS-H292A

Help is appreciated.

Welcome to the forum. Yes this is normal as far as what is will display in windows as CDROM or DVDRAM etc. but try to unistall this drives driver then restart your computer. Hopefully this wil work, if not there are a few more things one of use can tell you next to try.

Thanks for replying. Before I uninstall the CD-RW from DM, I should mention that I don't have the install CD for it. Don't remember what happened to it. Will Windows automatically reinstall the same drivers?

CD and DVD drives don't require driver installation discs. Most likely what you got was software installation discs.

I've uninstalled the drive, restarted, the drive was reinstalled but still the same error. Then I tried to switch the DVD and CD slave/master settings, yet still only the CD-Rw had the error and has now fully disappeared from windows explorer. I did a clean uninstallation of all burning softwares (Nero,InCD, PowerProducer,PowerDVD) just in case of any conflict. I'm at my wits end. Any suggestions before I dump the thing?

Can you boot from the Samsung (TSSTcorp) CD burner? Just trying to see if it's a physical hardware problem or a Windows installation problem.

Nope can't boot from it either. It shows up on BIOS though.

And you can boot from the LG? Sounds like the drive is either poorly connected, cabling issues, or a dead drive. It might be time to try a new drive and see if it works.