Start>Run> and type in regedit. Then cntrl F and type in {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}. Then you will see a few things. Delete the ones for your CD Rom and DVD Roms. You should always make a back up of your registry before you do anything.

EDIT: If you prefer, here is a step by step guide from Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out. I did this long ago, and it worked. Take your hard drive out, and put it in a ziploc bag, and stick that sucker in the freezer. Yeah I said it, freezer. Take it out after an hour and try it again, and back up what you need to keep onto another drive. I used that trick a couple of times, it worked for me both times. Make sure you put it in a ziploc bag or something similar to prevent condensation. Let me know if it works for you man.

EDIT: I forgot to mention, there is a company called Hard Drive Recovery Group that can repair a physically damaged drive. It's pretty cheap, and if they can't help you, there is no charge. Here is a link if you are interested: http://www.harddriverecovery.org/hard-drive-data-recovery.html

I have 2 internal and 1 external drives in my computer that worked fine for years. now when there is a CD in any one of them the computer says the trays are empty. why is it that all 3 drives dont work?M49907

I would try deleting the upper and lower filters in your registry. I had that problem some time ago and that took care of it just fine. However there is also a bug in Nero that used to cause that problem, updating to the latest final release (not beta) could fix it, if not, delete your filters. I beleive the registry key is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}