Hi MelodyL.

If you are running XP or Vista, the reason you may not be able to see the DVD drive at certain times is most likely due to the auto-play settings. Windows tries to pre-set how it will present specific items in the DVD drive, but if you give it something it is not pre-set for (like a DVD cleaner), or if there is a conflict (like with the decoder) then Windows does not know what to do, and so it does nothing. This is not always the case, but it is a likely possibility.

I can certainly talk you through finding your DVD drive, and possibly even talk you through your overall problem, but it would be impossible in this message board format. We would have to be able to message back and forth in real time, so that I could take you through it step by step and get your feedback. The chat option in this forum may work very well for talking you through this. If that is something you may want to do then just let me know and we can set up a time (I do a lot of this kind of stuff with my family).

I hope this was helpful. God Bless You.

Bernclay-