My cd burner/player won't play cd's or burn it won't detect them either. I tried updating the drive and nothing helps. Any ideas??

How old is it? Have you checked to see if the cables are still attached in the back (data and power)?

Seems like the drives don't last more than 2-3 years anymore. Also, if you play a lot of games, there is this ting called Ubisoft/Starforce that is installed without your permission and is known to nuke drives. Info on how to detect that is here:

http://www.glop.org/starforce/detect.php

A list of games that use Starforce is here:

http://www.similarities.org/starforce.html

This Starforce thing may not even be related, but I'm gonna mention it anyway :D