DVD CD Rom Optical drive not detected

Hello,
My HP Pavilion dv9700 laptop running Vista 64 bit, has stopped detecting the dvd/cd rom optical drive. It is not listed in device manager, it should be the E: drive.

I have been through the forums and tried the fixes listed, but nothing works.

1. The drive does not appear in device manager, so I cannot delete it and then let the system "rediscover" and install the driver.
2. When I go into the registry as suggested, there are NO upper or lower filters to delete.
3. Tried the MS Fixit auto solution utility, but it says no drive detected (like I already knew that)

I've been hitting dead ends trying to find a fix, any help would be appreciated. :-)
Thanks very much,
Diego