CD RW Missing in Home XP

Okay, this is what happened. All of a sudden the CD RW drive letter (E) is missing and I can't install software, run CD software or play music. It seems to have happened when I installed the WinXP updates/Office XP updates/uninstalled the office XP. In other words, I did a lot of updating and uninstalling software that MS related.
IT seems that the CDRW drive was knocked out.
I was at another site and it was stated to solve the problem: go to device manager/ide ata controller/select the drive controller and right click it/uninstall.

Okay, has anybody ever tried this to get the CDRW to work?
Or should I just go buy another CDRW and forget about troubleshooting? Thanks in advance.The computer has had this "humming" sound on startup for quite a while, but always got to the desktop. I think the vibrating hum sound is caused by the position of the case, because when I tilt it to the side the hum goes away.
Addendum: I'm tinkering with the computer--I removed the connectors and reconnected and tilted the case, the CDRW E: drive is in My computer. But the CD doesn't play.

 

The device manager suggestion is a good one. The idea is that if you remove the entry, at next reboot XP will see the hardware and attempt to set it up again. This will often fix things if you simply have some errors in the software. At worst, it is harmless and will leave you no better and no worse than you are now.