hi guys. i need some serious help.
i'm running an HP Pavilion zx5000 laptop.

all of a sudden, my DVD Drive icon thing is not appearing in 'My Computer' or anywhere else, for that matter. I've popped in a disc into the drive. the light flickers, i can hear it rotate but nothing happens. no automatic prompt or anything.

i haven't tried restarting my computer yet. will do that after this post.
i really need help guys.
will appreciate any idea.

i hope there's someone out there who can help.
thanks,
Amer

The light and the functional drive mechanism means is it is getting power, so that's good. But the data is sent across another cable. If it does not work after the reboot, I would shut down Windows, power off the PC, and UNPLUG the computer. Then pop the side off the case, touch bare metal of the case to discharge any static in your body, then make sure the data cable for the drive is securely attached to the drive, and the other end to the motherboard.

While in there, clean the computer of dust and other debris. I use a soft paint brush and a vacuum cleaner, or take it outside and blast with compressed air if real dirty. Make sure all fans are clean and spin freely - do not blast the fans with compressed air to see how fast they can go - it will prematurely ruin the bearings. Then press on ALL connections to ensure all are attached securely.

Note whether that drive is alone on the cable, or if the cable is connected to another drive too.

Put it all back together fire it up, but go into the BIOS setup menu. Once there, make sure the DVD is recognized. If so, exit without saving, and let it boot into Windows, then see if it appears under my computer.

If it is not listed in the BIOS Menu, then it would seem the drive or the cable are bad. If the drive is alone on the cable, then we don't know if the controller on the motherboard is bad - and that would not be good.