windows 7 lost the DVD drives!

Hi all, this is my first time posting in Majorgeeks although i have been here before to download a few programs to get rid of some nasty malwares (a few years ago now - & worked like a charm thank you! :cool ) but now i have a new problem, and from what i have researched its not an isolated problem.

as stated windows 7 keeps loosing the DVD drives! i have downloaded and ran the microsoft dvd fix program and that usually fixes it (after at least 2hrs!) but this time it keeps coming up as "windows did not detect an optical disk drive" - a restart and a retry came up with the same result. i turned the PC off and opened it up and sure enough the cable to the drive was loose, i plugged it back in and powered up but it STILL didnt see any drive GRRRR

i have tried the other microsoft fix where you type "regedit" and delete certain files but low and behold there were no files to delete (no upper and lower filters)

other things i have done include;

virus scan with both AVG and Avast (uninstalled one and installed the other) - nothing found by either

scans with both superantispyware & antimalware - nothing found

defrag and error check - Nothing again

system restore - nothing

other then all that, the only other thing i have done is yell at alot and threaten it & now im all out of ideas.

system specs;

Mid(ish) rank gaming machine

CPU: intel i7-2600 @ 3.40 - 3.70Ghz

mobo: Gigabyte P67A-UD3R

GPU: AMD RADEON HD 6800

ram: 4-gig

sorry if its been posted before but i can only really find information about windows xp and vista, there doesnt seem to be much about win7

 

thanks mate i'll let you know how things go

 

looks like it was a motherboard problem itself, i booted into safe mode and there was nothing there, i managed to get into BIOS & had a look and it didnt see it either, without changing anything i exited and restarted the computer, then very annoyingly the computer didnt see any of my drives at all! (hard drives or dvd drivers!)

i took it to a person who knows a heck of a lot about them and he had a look and said "its fried" so it looks like im gonna buy a new replacement (because i lost the darn reciept!!!!)

i have now gone back to my old first gen P4 as a stop gap untill i can get my other machine backup and running.

question is now;

i was running a Gigabyte P67A-UD3R i brought it new at the start of the year, im not sure of how much it cost since i have lost the receipt, but thats around about the budget for a new mobo or a bit more if its a good one!

whats a good motherboard i can get thats better then the old Gigabyte P67A-UD3R for around the same price (when new) im not looking to upgrade the CPU just yet (intel i7-2600 @ 3.40 - 3.70Ghz)

 

You said the HDD was also not detected when you rebooted into the OS. Does BIOS still detect the HDD? If it does, download Puppy linux and burn the iso with Imgburn. Boot the CD and if you can access the applications and see your HDD then your motherboard is probably okay and your CD/DVD drive is probably at fault.

Recover files from Windows 7 hard disk using Puppy Linux

If BIOS does not see the hard drive then hopefully somebody here will recommend a good replacement board.

 

that is correct, the BIOS did not detect the HDD when we managed to get back in.