It is a Sony Viao. When I insert a CD or DVD, it attempts to read them. The light comes on and it sounds as well. Then it stops and the light switches off after a short while. No message apears. No CD / DVD drive shows in "My Computer". The CD/DVD Drive however is listed under the hardware list.

I get this problem a lot!

It might be that the Drive has no letter assigned to it. You can check in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management. If it does have a letter assigned to it then do the following...

This normally happens if your burning software goes corrupt or you have 2 burning programs installed. The solution is simple.

Click on Start then Run. (Vista users - Press the Windows key on your keyboard and the letter R simultaneously)

Now type REGEDIT in the box.

Now Expand HKEY_Local_ Machine, System, CurrentControlSet, Class, {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

In the right pannel, Delete the UpperFilter and LowerFilter keys.

Restart and it should be working.

Hello GrantHillsSA,

First of all, thanks for help re my problem.

I have checked in Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk Management. It does not have a letter assigned to the CD/DVD drive.

Please can assist further and tell me what to do next.

Many Thanks
Farsuz