Thanks to all who responded. I was able to get the optical drive back by cut/pasting
reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001
at the admin command prompt as suggested by dalchina above.
So you had a registry goober to work out! Glad to hear you got that sorted out. I was saying before often it will be something you will feel was stupid from being one little simple item needing to be addressed!
That can happen easily with any upgrade type install which is where things at times simply do not go on fully including seeing the System Registry itself set up fully as it should be. "Buggy as all H" seems to be the standard end result seen often in some form whether on the spot or delayed when finally some bug gets revealed at a later date. I bet you are a bit relieved to find it wasn't the drive or cable that needed replacement! :)
Quote