CD Drive Not Appearing

You should not have contact the manufacturer (microsoft)
one of these will help you

SP3 is the third and final service pack released for Microsoft Windows XP, and it eliminates many of the security holes that previously affected XP. While Microsoft recommends that users download SP3 using Windows Update, some users are unable to do so. However, it's easy to create a Windows XP SP3 installation CD; it requires only that you download the pack from the website and burn it to a CD-R/DVD-R using an ISO burner program.
Download the SP3 installation ISO by visiting the first link listed in the "Resources" section of this article. Save it to your Desktop. Download ImgBurn and save it to your Desktop. Double-click the installation executable for ImgBurn and click "Next." Follow the remaining onscreen prompts and click "Finish" to complete installation of ImgBurn. Insert a blank CD-R/DVD-R into your DVD drive. Open ImgBurn by going to "Start," "Programs" and "ImgBurn." Click "File," then "Browse for a source file." Navigate to your Desktop and select the SP3 ISO file. Click "Open." Click the blue "ISO to CD" button located on the bottom left of ImgBurn. The program will begin creating the Windows XP SP3 installation CD. This process may take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to complete depending on the speed at which the CD-R/DVD-R is being burned. Click "OK" once the CD-R/DVD-R has finished burning. You've successfully created a Windows XP SP3 installation CD.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2fcde6ce-b5fb-4488-8c50-fe22559d164e&displaylang=en XP PRO SP3 ISO Download the iso also download the imageburn http://www.imgburn.com/
http://windows-xp-pro-startup-disk.soft32.com/ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389 http://windows-xp-pro-startup-disk.soft32.com/free-download?gclid windows xp pro start up disc

post a reply if you need more help with this

Step 1:
SP3 is the third and final service pack released for Microsoft Windows XP, and it eliminates many of the security holes that previously affected XP. While Microsoft recommends that users download SP3 using Windows Update, some users are unable to do so. However, it's easy to create a Windows XP SP3 installation CD; it requires only that you download the pack from the website and burn it to a CD-R/DVD-R using an ISO burner program.
Download the SP3 installation ISO by visiting the first link listed in the "Resources" section of this article. Save it to your Desktop. Download ImgBurn and save it to your Desktop. Double-click the installation executable for ImgBurn and click "Next." Follow the remaining onscreen prompts and click "Finish" to complete installation of ImgBurn. Insert a blank CD-R/DVD-R into your DVD drive. Open ImgBurn by going to "Start," "Programs" and "ImgBurn." Click "File," then "Browse for a source file." Navigate to your Desktop and select the SP3 ISO file. Click "Open." Click the blue "ISO to CD" button located on the bottom left of ImgBurn. The program will begin creating the Windows XP SP3 installation CD. This process may take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to complete depending on the speed at which the CD-R/DVD-R is being burned. Click "OK" once the CD-R/DVD-R has finished burning. You've successfully created a Windows XP SP3 installation CD.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2fcde6ce-b5fb-4488-8c50-fe22559d164e&displaylang=en XP PRO SP3 ISO Download the iso also download the imageburn http://www.imgburn.com/
http://windows-xp-pro-startup-disk.soft32.com/ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389

Step 1:
SP3 is the third and final service pack released for Microsoft Windows XP, and it eliminates many of the security holes that previously affected XP. While Microsoft recommends that users download SP3 using Windows Update, some users are unable to do so. However, it's easy to create a Windows XP SP3 installation CD; it requires only that you download the pack from the website and burn it to a CD-R/DVD-R using an ISO burner program.
Download the SP3 installation ISO by visiting the first link listed in the "Resources" section of this article. Save it to your Desktop. Download ImgBurn and save it to your Desktop. Double-click the installation executable for ImgBurn and click "Next." Follow the remaining onscreen prompts and click "Finish" to complete installation of ImgBurn. Insert a blank CD-R/DVD-R into your DVD drive. Open ImgBurn by going to "Start," "Programs" and "ImgBurn." Click "File," then "Browse for a source file." Navigate to your Desktop and select the SP3 ISO file. Click "Open." Click the blue "ISO to CD" button located on the bottom left of ImgBurn. The program will begin creating the Windows XP SP3 installation CD. This process may take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes to complete depending on the speed at which the CD-R/DVD-R is being burned. Click "OK" once the CD-R/DVD-R has finished burning. You've successfully created a Windows XP SP3 installation CD.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2fcde6ce-b5fb-4488-8c50-fe22559d164e&displaylang=en XP PRO SP3 ISO Download the iso also download the imageburn http://www.imgburn.com/
http://windows-xp-pro-startup-disk.soft32.com/ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322389

go to this link http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24 download winxp sp3 exe follow instructions disregard for IT professionals and developers this is the download you need after installing goto windows update and download and install updates

Try the ultimate boot CD, there you can use may hard drive diagnostic utilities, perhaps Test Disk will suit your needs, here;s a link

http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html


Hope that helps

Christopher

I was able to dig this up.
Reference: http://4sysops.com/archives/tip-how-to-install-and-uninstall-a-program-in-safe-mode/

Run Windows in safe mode.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SafeBoot\Minimal\
Create a registry key REG_SZ key and call it MSIService and value data and call it Service, which is the windows installer. This will give you permission to uninstall windows service Pack 3 from add/remove programs while in safe mode.

Well if you have it installed on the computer and cant get past the Windows logo. Put the SP3 disk in and do a repair. Make sure you hit -R and not the repair button after clicking continue. Well the directions for a repair will be on the screen. That is my thoughts on what you should do. If you have already done this, then I'm not sure where you should head to next. Hope this helps!!

Common problem associated with XP SP3. After updating to SP3 there's a probem with CD/DVD recognition. Here's the Microsoft patch below:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925196#fixit4me

Best of Luck!
Greg

Yes it can. Put the disk in and choose upgrade.

Nope.

Without the disk you cannot upgrade to Windows XP Pro, because both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional are two different edition / version.

So if you want to upgrade your current operating system from Windows XP Home then you have to spend money to buy Windows XP Pro

But if you want to upgrade the Service Pack then you can very well do it.

Click the link below to download Windows XP SP3 for your edition and install it. Before installing it make sure you have turned off your security programs or better install it from the SafeMode

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5b33b5a8-5e76-401f-be08-1e1555d4f3d4&displaylang=en

Good Luck