All I can suggest is that you go to Device Manager, alight on the CD/DVD device, check its status and in any case re-install the drivers.

Then report.

The device manager says, "This device is working properly." I also uninstalled and then reinstalled the drivers, and it still won't work.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

How about the above link?

I tried to follow the instructions, but when I went to the registry subkey that it said, there was nothing called UpperFilters or LowerFilters.

How about uninstalling it in Device Manager. Then reboot and let Windows rediscover and reinstall the hardware.

Clear the CD/DVD drive's registry filters;
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11­CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

This is an age old fix for XP systems and still works on Vista and 7 systems.
1. Click on the start menu.
2. If this is a Vista machine in the search box type in “regedit” without the quotation marks.
3. Maximize the HKLM and then go ahead and browse until you reach the key listed above.
4. In the right panel you’ll see something along the lines of “UpperFilter” and “LowerFilter” you want to click on each “filter” key and hit delete. Click yes when it asks to confirm if you wish to delete the key.
5. Restart Windows.
6. Let me know if this works.

*Heads up for iTunes, Roxio and other pest software users; this process will disable CD-rom support for applications that "intercept" information going to-and-from your optical drives.

Jon Pienkowski
Pacific NorthWest Computers
www.pnwcomputers.com
pnwcomputers(at)gmail.com

I have already tried uninstalling and letting windows reinstall on its own after rebooting, but that didn't work either.

Also, this is all that is listed under that location in the registry.

Thank you for your help so far!

Maybe there is an IRQ conflict?
http://www.helpwithpcs.com/upgrading...q-settings.htm

Does the drive's performance improve when the system is plugged into a wall outlet?

Jon-Eric Pienkowski
_________________________
Pacific NorthWest Computers
pnwcomputers(at)gmail.com
1+360-818-4325
www.pnwcomputers.com
www.pnwcomputers.blogspot.com

The drive doesn't work regardless of whether my laptop is plugged in. It simply refuses to open or read CDs.

I opened up the IRQ list, but I didn't see anything that looked like it would correspond to a DVD drive. It had a ton of entries that said "Microsoft ACPI-Compliant System," though.