I had replaced the original with one from a tech at work. The new one worked for a pretty good while (2 years) and now doesn't. I've done trouble shooting and it says it's OK. I've uninstalled it and checked for updated drivers and nothing works. I'm wondering if it's kaput but like I said, when troubleshooting it, it says it's working properly.

BTW, when I say it's not working means it doesn't recognise a disc and when clicking on the drive icon, it doesn't function (hour glass) and when closing says not responding.One of these may help:
1. Uninstall the drive through Device Manager.
Restart computer. The drive will be automatically reinstalled.
or...
2. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
Restart computer.
or...
3. Download, and run Restore Missing CD Drive patch
Double click on cdgone.zip to UNZIP it.
Right click on cdgone.reg, click Merge.
Accept registry merge.
Restart computer.
or...
4. Go to Device Manager, click a "+" sign next to IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
You'll see two items:
- ATA Channel0 (or Primary Channel)
- ATA Channel1 (or Secondary Channel)
Right click on each of them, and click Uninstall. Confirm.
Restart Windows. They'll be automatically reinstalled.

If none of the above works, most likely, you NEED a new drive.I was able to do most of the things mentioned, installing the patch didn't seem to go too smoothly. My drive is recognising some DISCS now as I installed a DVD burner PROGRAM. It also recognise a program called Dazzle, however, it fails to recognise Cd's with programs burned to them, Nero, Greetings workshop etc. Thanks for the help, it seems the drive may need replacing. Unfortunately, it looks like...