CD drive problems?

Question

On my new Dell Dimension E520 the dual drives dont work.
I hardly use that pc because it doesnt have an internet connection yet. Recently the cd drives just stopped working. I think i might have done it when i tryed to uninstall windows messenger. I went to control panel, add/remove programs, uninstall windows componants. I have no clue if this could have done it. I went into bios and it still does not recocnize the drives. The drives themselves work, i can open and close them but windows wont recognize them.

In Bios, it asks which drives to use. It says ATA and SATA. I have no clue what to check. when i check them off, just before windows loads it says Cannot load drive or sumthiing

Answer 1

That the dual drives are not working is hardly a problem that could have originated from your attempt to uninstall windows messenger. While the uninstalling of some window components can affect performance, the likely-hood that this caused your problem is minute.
You asserted that the system was bought recently,"My new Dell Dimension E520." Therefore, you obviously had all the drives functioning at the time of delivery.
Entry into the bios demonstrated that you have some idea how to enter therein. Return there and ensure that you have the first boot sequence enabled-the CD Rom drive. After you have enabled the CD-ROM drive in the boot sequence, F10 to save.
Return to start, control panel, add/remove programs. Select the add/remove windows components option and ensure item 1,3,4,9,11,12,13 are checked.
Restart your computer ensuring no Cd's are in any of the drives. If the computer still does not recognize the drive, you likely have a secondary IDE failure. The motherboard needs repair or replace. You probably still have warranty coverage with Dell. Explore that option.

Answer 2

Try uninstalling the drive through "device manager", then reboot to see if they come back. If not, do a system restore to see if that fixes things, being that you have made some changes recently.