External Sony d26a device not detected....PLEASE HELP

I recently bought a SONY DVD Burner, and i hooked it up to my labtop usb... I burned a DVD yeterday with no problems, but when I turned my computer on today the drive wasn't detected by windows... I turned the computer off and on and suddenly the drive works! I then turned it off and on again to make sure it was working, and once more it isn't detected... And it hasnt been detected for several attempts now..MY burner is only detected about 10 percent of the time..I'm so fustrated..I don't know what's wrong, because sometimes windows will detect the drive and sometimes it won't. There are no loose connections! Please help me with my problem.

We need to know what opperating system you are running and if you used drivers supplied with the burner.

The operating system I am running is Windows XP on a sony labtop and im assuming im using the burners driver...im sorry..i really don't know much about this stufff

A couple of simple things to check:

1) Make sure the DVD burner is always plugged in and on before you start up the laptop.
2) When you say you turn off and on the laptop, I hope you mean you shut it down via Windows and not by holding down the power switch.
3) If the laptop is on and the burner is not detected, try unplugging the USB cable, unplug power to the drive (or turn it off, if it has a switch), plug the USB cable back in, and then power the drive back on. See if Windows detects it.