phanson1,
The last machine that this process worked on was also an Acer (coincidence???). I have a couple more possibilities to list, right now. Please try these to see if they work. In the mean time, I am going to be researching another option that I remember seeing.

Let's try a couple of things. First:

1) Click Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Local Security Policy.
2) Click the + next to Local Policies to expand it, then click on Security Options.
3) Find "Devices: Restrict CD-ROM access to locally logged-on user only" and make sure that it is Disabled. This SHOULD not affect your ability to use the CD-ROM if you are at the computer, but it has done so in a few cases.
4) If it is Enabled, Disable it, and then shut down and reboot Windows.

If the last procedure did not help, try this:

1) Open the System Registry -- CAUTION: Do not do anything in here that you are not sure of. Changes here can be catastrophic if not done correctly. -- To open the Registry, click Start, Run, type REGEDIT, and then click OK.
2) Expand HKEY_LOCAL MACHINE
3) Expand SOFTWARE
4) Expand Microsoft
5) Expand Windows NT
6) Expand Current Version
7) Don't expand, but click on Winlogon
8) In the right pane, double-click on allocatecdroms, and then change the value to 0.
9) Close the Registry, close Local Security Settings, shut down and restart Windows (shutting down and restarting Windows may not be necessary, but it's better to be safe).

Let me know if this works so that I can stop researching. When I find the other potential answer, I will post it right away.

---

If your question has been answered, please click the ACCEPT button.

Please consider leaving positive FEEDBACK and/or a BONUS.

You can request me specifically by asking for shawnlam.

Have a great day,
Shawn