My Computer won't read CD's

One day I was putting a Cd in the Drive and it didn't load? So I went in to My Computer to try and open it manually and there were only 4 icons insted of 5. the 5th I con the one where it says CD-RM or something wasn't there. Does anyone know what is wrong here? Do I have to re-boot or is there a way I can install games another way? Please help I am desperate to fix my computer

Thank you

You could try uninstalling the IDE channel that the Cd Rom is on in device manager then reboot windows will reinstall the IDe channel and the drive when it restarts.

Ok I uninstalled it..I have a Windows XP now how do I install it?

Probably too late by now, but just re-boot as iss stated. Windows will automatically install the IDE channel and the CD-ROM drive and driver.

how do I uninstall the ide?

You can find and uninstall the IDe channel in device manager under "IDE ATA|ATAPI Controllers" it should be the secondary IDE channel as your hard drive should be ont he primary. uninstall the secondary IDE channel and reboot. windows will automatically reinstall the Channel and the drive on start up.