not sure how this problem has occurred as it has just happened...i cannot
restore has i had the option switched off

here is the problem...My system is windows XP SP2...

when i insert any media into any of my cd/dvd drives (audio, video or
software discs) they do not show as being in the drive. No icon appears but
when i place the cursor over the cd or dvd drive the disc is in it shows how
much space is actually on the disc the auto run doesn't work either.In some
instances i find the inserted disc opens up in explorer just showing the
contents. If i want to start either a installation or play some music i have
to right click on the drive the disc is inserted in and click on
explore...this is becoming a pain now,

Something else which may also help...or maybe not!!!

i have an external usb hard drive which as a autorun file in it and a custom
icon that should appear when it is switched on,when i switch it on whilst the
pc is running it seems the computer is not recognizing it . when i reboot my
pc with the drive switched on it appears with the custom icon...and also any
discs in the cd/dvd drives show but as soon as i eject ant insert again the
icons disappear again

I have tried a number of autoplay fixers but none have solved the
problem...i have checked the registry to and autoplay is set to on

T.I.A

something else that has occurred ...

i uninstalled one of the DVD drives and then re-installed it....once that
was done the drive was shown as CD-ROM drive, not a DVD Drive...

i went back to windows reg and switched off the autoplay (changed the value
from 1 to 0) and when i inserted a disc now the autoplay starts!!! still no
icons though...

any ideas how i could fix this..