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I have a HP Pavilion p6180t with Windows seven. I've lost my multi-media optical drive. I've tried every online fix-it from running Mr. Fixit to removing the upper and lower filters in the registry, to a scan and repair through the command prompt, to checking for viruses to updating drivers on and uninstalling and re-installing the CD/ROM, to plain old cleaning. The CD ROM shows in the device manager and works perfectly, but the DVD/CD ROM drive is absent and the unit is totally unresponsive.

If the unit is bad will it not even be detected by windows? It doesn't even appear in the system bios. I don't know if I have a hardware issue, or a system issue.

Help anyone?

Thanks in advance.

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Does it work in a different machine? – rob Jul 14 '12 at 20:26
I second the motion of Gregory and would boot that system with a live Linux distro and check that way. Also as Lucas suggests I would flash the BIOS with the most recent version. – Darius Jul 14 '12 at 20:33

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If you don't see this drive in the BIOS, many chances it is dead.

If you think your Windows could be corrupted, you can download a live Linux to an USB device and boot from it. If Linux don't see it, you are certain it is dead.
Another way is to plug the drive into another computer. If Windows don't see anything, you are certain the drive is dead.

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Thanks Greg and all. My guess is that it is bad. I'll confirm it by trying it in another old computer of mine. I was just thinking that even if it was bad, it would show up in the device manager with the ominous exclamation point. I guess if it's really fried, windows can't communicate with it at all. – Roy M. Jul 14 '12 at 21:39
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If it's not showing up in the BIOS something is very bad with your machine. Try to update and re-install your BIOS. If that doesn't work I suggest trying to do an RMA.

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