I'm buying my sisters old computer, and her CD/DVD drive doesn't work. It doesn't recognize discs, it doesn't spin, nothing. I've googled this issue but I can't find anyway to download a CD drive driver.

Any advice?

Are you sure the drive itself isn't broken? You can test it if you have a bootable cd (like an o/s disc). Put it in and see if it boots. If it doesn't, the drive is probably bad or has a loose cable. Otherwise, drivers for the drive itself should be available from the website of the manufacturer.

Honestly, I'd just buy a new one. They're dirt cheap nowadays; you can get a good DVD-ROM for under fifteen dollars. Plus, it sounds like you've got faulty hardware, not bad software. To me, anyways.

well it's a laptop, and I have no experience installing such things. How difficult is it?

Ah. That...complicates matters. A lot. Installing them on your own with laptops is not a good idea; you'll want to get experienced help.

crap. How much will this end up costing me?

It depends. Go to a big box store, and they'll probably try to gouge you. If you're at or near a college town, you may want to ask around in the comp. sci. areas. Plenty of tech-heads have the know-how, and in my experience they're usually willing to work cheap. Apart from that, you'll have to hit the phone books and ask around. I'd be shocked if the labor alone cost under $60, though.

Wow. I gotta say, that blows. Maybe I won't buy it after all. Thanks for your help.

Maybe it's just a filters issue caused by removing some software - try this, but export the relevant registry keys for backup purposes in case you need them, or just set a system restore point first:

run regedit, then locate and delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters values under the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Then reboot

just remember to check for that EXACT key, many look similar, only one will be an exact match

Thanks Spankey, I actually did that just before you posted it. Between that and going medieval on it's ass (physically reinserting the drive), it's working again! Yaaaaaaay!