am running windows xp pro. on gateway laptop. one fine day i switched it on and cd rw / dvd r drive was no more there. it was just gone, vanished.

this are some of the things that i did-
1) checked the devic manager in control panel. the cd drive was not present.
2) used nero > drive speed check, and it said no drive present.
3) i removed all the programs that i had installed last couple of days. restarted the comp-still no drive.
4) ran the adware and the anti virus. restarted again- still no drive.
5) used the registry cleaner. restarted- no drive
6) defraged and ran the scan disk- no drive
7) ran the windows restore to earlier date. it went to that date but still no drive
8) contacted gateway support and told them. according to them- reformat.

the problem lies is, as i cant read dvds anymore,i cant restore the drivers. for the same reason i cant run the gateway restore or xp restore.

somewhere during running of above programs, i came across some message saying that no drivers present for the cd drive.

have run out of ideas. what else can i do...