its a philips 5v04210dh01486 and its about 2 years old now i think about it......

I don't find that # but here is a list of user manuals:

philips electronics

& here a list of drives:

philips 5v04210dh01486

I was hoping they would have diagnostic software like HDD manufacturers do, but I guess not.

Just another wandering thought:
Do you have your BIOS set on a boot order that includes the CD?
If so perhaps set the BIOS NOT to boot from the CD; just to see.
If you can get into windows with the CD in maybe windows can detect errors.