If your optical drive is not showing up in Windows Explorer, please try the following tips to resolve the issue.

Eject The Tray
Try and eject the tray using the physical eject button located on the lower right of optical drive. If this fails, it would be an indication to you that the optical drive is not getting any power. You will then need to power down the computer using the OS or the power button then open the case and reconnect the power cable. If the tray opened during testing, then the data cable is the one that needs to be reconnected. Often, optical drive rest over hard disk drives so if the hard drive was upgraded or replaced, the cables may not have been put back correctly.

Switch the Cables
To see if the data cable went bad, switch it with the one connected to the hard disk drive after powering down the computer. If the Operating System loads when the data cable is switched, it indicates that the data cables are good and the issue is most likely a hardware related.

BIOS Settings
The SATA ports can be disabled so be sure to check the settings. SATA 0 is typically your boot drive while SATA 1 is the optical drive providing the system does not have multiple drives installed.

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Stephan Pringle

Chief Executive Officer at Sipylus

About The Author: Stephan Pringle is an Information Technology Specialist. He covers hardware and software and provides tips for you to troubleshoot and repair issues on your own. In his spare time, he writes articles about the State of New York on his Hackintosh and HackBook and that has helped him to become the top contributor of the New York City section of Yahoo! Answers.

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