CD burner wont start

[sean english]

I am new to computers so please explain in simple language.
I have just bought a used computer. It has a dvd player and a cd burner installed on it.
But the cd burner does not work at all, let me explain:when I push the eject botton , it does not pop out. When I go to My Computer, it does not even have an icon there, as if it does not exist. Someone told me that maybe the previous owner has rebooted it (which he told me he has) and not istalled the driver back. Fine, but as far as I know the computer must
1)tell me that there is an unknown device installed in it and it wants to search the net to find the right driver for it
2)it should at least pop out when I pust the eject botton on the hardware.
But it does non of the above.
I just opened back of of the computer to check for loose connections. Everything was fine. There is a wide wire that goes from the mother board to the burner to the dvd player. That wire I suppose exchanges the info from the components. And there is a set of wires that go from the burner to the dvd player. (to feed the components power, I suppose. )
where is the problem? If the problem is the drivers , then why at least the component eject?
Thanks
Sean

[Pentium100]

"And there is a set of wires that go from the burner to the dvd player. (to feed the components power, I suppose. )"

There should be four (4) wires - one red, two black, one yellow going to the CDRW and DVD. And all should go to the PSU.

Does the CDRW's LED blink when you turn on your computer? Can you open it then (when Windows has not started up yet)?

If not then either there is a power problem (try changing the power connectors between CDRW and DVD) or a dead CDRW...

[sean english]

Thanks for the repy. The wires are as you said. they all go to somewhere, but I dont know what an PSU is. But it makes the dvd work, so should be correct. No, the led does not blink. Now, I dont know what you mean by can you open it when windows has not started up yet. you mean when I turn it on before windows starts running? I have to check that. but I have not noticed any form of life in it, either before or after.The "busy" light on my dvd goes on and off when i turn it on. and that works.
I have downloaded Nero for burning. but its good only for 1 month. Is there other alternattive? I dont want to have to pay.

[Pentium100]

Yes, I meant that you urn on your computer and try to press the "eject" button on CDRW before Windows are loaded. But there is another way.
If your CDRW drive has an "emergency open" hole in front, use it to pertially open the tray. When you turn on your computer, the tray should go back:).

PSU is where you connect the power to the computer (usually one end of a cable to an outlet, the other end to the PSU).

Try disconnecting the power connector from ypur DVD drive and conecting it to your CDRW drive. If that does not work, then CDRW is really dead.