DVD drive: Now I see it, now I don't!

Win 7 64 on a custom built. I installed Win 7 2 days ago. After start-up, I can see the dvd drive icon (ATA device) in "my computer" and in Device Manager. As soon as I put in a disk, the drive is gone, pooof magic! I can only use it if I reboot with a disk in the drive, if I swap the disk afterwards, same thing happens, and it's reboot time again...and frustrate time again! The drive is not faulty, it worked just fine with the previous XP 32 installation.
Before asking for help here, I tried the following to no avail:
1. Clean reinstall Win 7
2. followed MS KB article 982116 by using FIX-IT trouble shooter, and the manual solution (delete upper and lower filters from Registry, except there was nothing to delete)
3. Disconnected power and data cable from drive, rebooted, shut down, reconnected, shut down, booted.
I still have the same problem described above.
Anyone have any ideas...?
thanks

Thanks for your suggestions, tried them, still no joy...

Thank you ICit2lol,
I did run System File Checker, and it fixed a bunch of stuff...then Disk Check, no problems...then both malware checkers you recommended, no infections. Then I tried again to get my DVD drive to work, but after loading a DVD I still loose the drive, also from device mgr. I found a firmware update on the manufacturer site, and still same problem. I guess I have to get a new drive...

SIW2 said:

I can see the dvd drive icon (ATA device) in "my computer" and in Device Manager. As soon as I put in a disk, the drive is gone


Is there anything in devmgr under ide/ata controllers that looks odd or is disabled?

no, nothing odd or disabled. It's there, device mgr says device is working properly. When I put disk in the drive, the drive disappears...

Yes, I will buy a new drive. This one is just a year old and therefore out of warranty...funny coincidence, maybe not. My guess is that the laser does not align correctly anymore...