It would be very helpful to know what the problem is with the DVD writer. If the drive cannot play dvd's or write to disks then yes the drive is probably bad and can be replaced easily for a relatively cheap price. If you just cannot see the drive in my computer then it is likely that you have corrupted registry drive filters. Microsoft has released a FixIt program to alleviate this problem and can be located here. Simply download and run the program and it should help you resolve this situation.