Cd-rom drive problems

Ok I never had a problem with my CDRom drive reading disks but it sure does now. I first noticed it when I went to burn files onto a blank cdr using nero. It kept telling me that the drive was empty. I then used some audio CD's to see if they would work but nada. When I insert a cd, the green light on the drive flashes that its reading but it never reads it. I checked device manager and everything seems to be in working order...anyone know what might be up?

You might need to update the firmware on the drive. More likely, however, is that it's dying.

If you have a disk cleaner, you should give that a whirl just to make sure there isn't any dust or rubbish inpairing the reading laser.

Really, though, it's more worth your time just to get a new CD drive and toss the old one. A good CD/DVD burning drive shouldn't cost you more than fifty bucks.