Major problems with 2 diff DVD drives

Hi. New here, but desperately needing help. I have a Samsung ts-h552 drive that will not open most of the time. When it does do so, a) it won't stay open for more than a split second b) it won't reopen easily unless there is a CD in it and c) almost any cd i put in it reboots the computer.....and keeps rebooting it until i manage to get the CD out.
The only cd I received with it is a user manual. I'm assuming its drivers are packaged with XP. I have searched online and have found nothing except firmware. I don't even know what that is. i did install it but it did nothing.
The problems were small at first; difficulty opening the drive, but have escalated to the current situation.
The problem is not just this drive, though. I also have a Lite-on sohc-5236v that doesn't open at all. Ever. The only software I received with it was some version of Nero. Again, a search for drivers revealed only firmware. And again, it did nothing.
Just for the heck of it I put a very old drive in. An LG CED-8083b. Only burns at 2x but, hey, at least it opens!
I have talked to lots of people. (Not many techs. Thought I'd try this first) Those who know anything at all, have no clue.
According to Device Manager everything is peachy-keen on my computer. I am at my wits' end very nearly with this. I only have a handleful of hair left to pull out, darn it. Please someone help??

Hello chellebean and welcome to Windrivers

It does sound like both of those drives are faulty. The best way to check this is to remove the drive from the computer and put it in another, if you get the same problem, it's the drive.

You don't need drivers for CDroms or DVDs because they use the same drivers that make your hard drives work.

here is a tutoria about fitting a cd drive. You could use it to check you have installed the drives correctly.

NooNoo is right, throw those drive in another PC and see what happens! Are the drives new or lightly used? I had a Cd/dvd combo drive and the door would open sometimes and other times it would flash the busy light till I opened it up again. It was the drive I put it in another PC same thing. Needless the say I bought a new one!