Dell Precision M6500 DVD Drive

The DVD drive in my Precision M6500 laptop does not appear in File Explorer or Device Manager. Is there a driver I can install to enable the drive to be used?
Thanks

 

You don't need a special driver. What might have happened is that Windows has treated the DVD drive as a removable device (some are) and it's been unintentionally removed.

In Device Manager go to your computer at the top of the list, right click and select Scan for Hardware Changes. This forces Windows to check all the connected hardware.

John

 

Is it showing in the BIOS setup? There should be a summary section that shows a list of connected devices and it should show up along with your hard drive.
If it is not showing up there, I'd say physically remove and re-attach it, it might not be connected well. (Or, it's plain gone bad.)

 

There's also an option, i think in View - Folder options, something along the lines of "Hide empty drives". See if your optical drive (re)appears, if you untick that.

 

Thanks, John - that seems to have sorted the problem.

Peter