I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop, and the CD/RW drive is no longer being recognized for some reason. When I look in the device manager, the tell-tale yellow exclamation point is displayed over the driver ID. I've removed the driver and re-booted to machine to see if it might reset itself, but that hasn't worked. What's my next step?

Failed drive. Time to buy another.
But first, check all your points of the plug and socket for bent or worn components. Look for loose connectors, dirt on any copper, gold, or silver colored metal.
It would be a good investment to spend $5 or $6 for a can of dicluoroethane gas (dust off, or equivalent to blow out the computer thoroughly, but gently... as often these are dust, dirt, or hair related.
Check carefully for any aspect that does not slide or move smoothly, and look for dirt anywhere inside the drive, particularly over the little lense.

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