WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\ is empty no drivers plug and play will not recognize drivers for any devices running XP

Make sure you can see system files, go to tools, folder options, view tab

Uncheck the 2 hide boxes and check and make sure that Show all files and folders is checked

If still empty, is this something new that just happened.

Anything new or changed on computer since this happened?

If recent and you know that files were there and not there now, you can do a system restore back to earlier time when all files were there.

System Restore
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How to use System Restore to restore Windows XP to a previous state
How to restore Windows XP to a previous state

There was a power outage for about three hours. When the power came back up the system would no longer recognize my external CDROM drive. I tried to add it back in manually but the wizard could not find my driver. I searched for thew drivers. They were suppose to be in C:\Windows\system32\Drivers\ATAPI.sys. It could not find the path. I tried the system restore back to just after Christmas. I found the drivers in the previous location but when I tried to install the CDrom again it still could not find the path.

Did your ext drive come with any software or driver disks?

When you install manually, you should be able to browse to the location where they are actually at and install from that location.

If that does not work, you can try and move/copy the files where you found them to the C:\Windows\system32\Drivers folder and try again.

If still no go, try to download the drivers from the cd-rom mfg website if avail and install those.