My DVDRW needs new driver (i think) but no drivers exist

I'm running a sony dvdrw (DW-U18A) and i thin k i've somehow messed it up badly. the PC only recognises it as a cd drive and not a dvdrw, thus meaning all writing to cd or dvd isn't happening. and I'm also having trouble reading cds as well i think.
This has happened before and i've fixed it by uninstalling and removing said drive then putting it back in and have XP recognise it and all is well. If that was to fail i'd uninstall nero and/or roxio remove the drive place my old cdrw in its place make sure that worked then reinstall the dvdrw and remove the cdrw.

Howver this is not a solution anymore, whichever cd drive i use i have the same problems. So i think there is either a problem with aspi corruption or drivers corruption. So i think i need the driver for my DW-U18A... problem is the drive is an oem and SONY don't support their OEM drives at all so i am up a certain creek without a paddle.

apparently the drive is the same as the sony DR530A and is actually a lite-on drive.

any ideas how i can get this working again.

Removing it and sticking it back in is not uninstalling it. That's just taking it out and putting it back in

Uninstall it from your Control Panel > Performance and Settings > System > Device Manager

Then look for hardware changes (right click, Detect hardware ... or whatever it says still in device manager)

It should find it, let XP do its thing. It's true plug and play, there are no drivers for XP.

been there done that.
i have uninstalled then subsequently removed it then put it back in again.
this used to be the answer which is why i am stuck because this method doesn't work anymore.

What you need is firmware, not the driver, I think. Your drive may have some defects, but sometimes it is improved by updating the firmware. Firmware is compared to bios for some device. Of course, all makers don't publish firmwares. Consult Makers.

You find driver software in the www.driversearch.com.