CD drives disappeared from My Computer/wont play

I've had trouble with my cd-RW drive before losing power, but this is the first time I have had trouble with both of my drives. They both have power and can open and closethem, but neither show up in My Computer. If I put in a CD nothing happens. I tried flip-flopping the cables that connected the two but nothing changed.
The weirdest part though, is that sometimes when I turn on my computer, both drives exist again--only to disappear again later on, sometimes in the same day.
Im so confused. Is it possible my cords are bad? Or is the CD-RW itself bad and causing the cd-rom to go bad?
Any help is appreciated--keeping in mind i am a computer layman. Thanks!

Leolee yes it could be your cable, it could be the motherboard port into which the cable is plugged and yes it could be one of the drives is going bad and stopping the other one being recognized.

You need to get a spare 40 conductor ide cable and replace the one that is there. Then plug in just one of the drives at a time and see what happens.

which cable is the 40 conductor ide cable? Thanks!

Okay I changed the cable, and with both still connected the CD-rom drive exists and not the CD-RW. PLus, the cd-rw has no power going to it whatsoever now. I checked all the cables, and I didn't accidentally unplug the power cable. So, its sounding to me like the CD-RW drive is what is bad.
Before I switched the cables, neither we're recognized but both had power. Now, the cd-rom is recognized and has power, but the cd-rw has neither.
Haha, I think my computer is indecisive.
Any thoughts? Thanks :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by leolee7

Okay I changed the cable, and with both still connected the CD-rom drive exists and not the CD-RW. PLus, the cd-rw has no power going to it whatsoever now. I checked all the cables, and I didn't accidentally unplug the power cable. So, its sounding to me like the CD-RW drive is what is bad.
Before I switched the cables, neither we're recognized but both had power. Now, the cd-rom is recognized and has power, but the cd-rw has neither.
Haha, I think my computer is indecisive.
Any thoughts? Thanks :)

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Take it th RW drive is set to Master and the other Slave, if that won't work try using a CD Cleaner on both drives.

Good Luck

:) :)

I would connect them one at a time to ensure that one is not interfering with the other.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

I would connect them one at a time to ensure that one is not interfering with the other.

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Okay, I connected one at a time and here are the results:

just the cd-rw connected gives nothing. No power to the cd-rw and no drive in My Computer.

Just the cd-rom connected, it works fine. Has power and shows up in My Computer.

Conclusions?

cdrw is dead - bury it decently and buy a new one.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NooNoo

cdrw is dead - bury it decently and buy a new one.

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Haha, thank you so much for your help. This forum is amazing!
I will let you know what happens when I invest in a new CD-RW. I have no doubt that it will work without any problems.

Thanks!