CD/DVD drive disappears completely - worn out or internal issue?

Hello, I've had issues with my optical disk drive over the summer, happening more and more frequently until now, if I can get the drive to appear in File Explorer, it disappears within minutes. I have run Windows Update; my system's up to date. I've searched for updates to the driver--it's up to date. I've uninstalled and reinstalled it. I did Troubleshooting/Configure a Device and it said something was fixed, so I restarted and it worked--but the drive disappeared again later. So then I tried to manually fix corrupted registry entries, but there were no UpperFilters or LowerFilters to delete, so I created a registry subkey. That hasn't helped the issue either. An important factor to consider is that I frequently borrow audiobooks on CD from the library and rip them into iTunes to listen and then delete later. I listen to A LOT of audiobooks...maybe fifty or sixty a year, maybe more depending. I realize that's a lot of work for a dinky little disk drive; almost two years ago I had to replace the physical drive completely on a one-year-old laptop because it was worn out and no longer reading disks. This one has worked fine since, but I'm wondering if it's getting worn out, too. HOWEVER I don't remember having the problem of the computer recognizing or not recognizing the drive before. I was running Windows 7 then, and I've been running Windows 10 for a year now and this issue is only recently. Maybe it's a combination of both issues? Maybe I should install a new physical drive and see what happens...

I also unchecked "Hide Empty Drives" in folder options and the issue remains.

What is the status of the drive in the Device Manager? Does it show an error code or does it show working OK?

If the drive is shot, consider a USB connected drive. The price on them is very reasonable ($25 at Computer Parts, Laptops, Electronics, and More - Newegg.com)
usb optical drive - Newegg.com

I also tried putting in some command (can't remember what it was) as the administrator and that didn't work either.

I'm just SO confused. I can't even figure out what exactly the problem is so I can fix it. I've read that some people with this problem were told that their D: drive isn't compatible with Windows 10 and that's why the system won't recognize it. Is that even possible? At first I was skeptical, but when I was shopping for a new drive on newegg, the specs listed all Windows systems except 10...so now I don't want to bother buying a new drive that won't work with Windows 10. But then how do I find a 10-compatible drive that will work for a laptop built to run Windows 7 and 8? I just don't frigging understand. I want to go back to 7, but it's way too late for that.

Sometimes upper and lower filter drivers get messed up........you might try this and see if it helps....

The burning program ImgBurn is an easy way to remove these filters.....

Open Imgburn and under "Tools" select "Filter Driver Load Order"..........if you have any filters listed in Upper and Lowers you can delete them here..........

Note: you might have to reinstall any of your CD/DVD burning software .....

Not in my computer. It’s there if I start up with the drive empty. It stays there while I take out one CD and put in another a few minutes later (when it was working properly). Anyway, it usually disappears while I’m using it. In the middle of ripping a CD, the drive will just go poof. The CD keeps humming and spinning, I can hear it, but any acknowledgment of it disappears from iTunes and the computer. Not always, though; sometimes I'll boot up in the morning and it's not there at all to begin with.

“Recently” as in this spring, so maybe not so recent. It happened more and more frequently until I can’t make use of it at all.

a. No, I have not done anything that requires opening my computer and fiddling with the insides. I would have no idea what the heck I'm doing, and would probably make it worse.
b. Same in Safe Mode. I was able to import one disc, but halfway through the second, an error message appeared in iTunes saying that the file could not be found. No drive in File Explorer.

All three of those links gave the same solution, and reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001 is the command I ran before. I did it again just for giggles, and I think I imported maybe two tracks before the drive disappeared.

I bought a new external drive and it arrived today. I ripped two audiobooks, some twenty disks, without a problem. I'm still convinced there was something fishy with the system, but for now the external does what I need it to. Thanks for the advice, all :)