Please give more info:
Are you trying to get it to read in win2k or a dos prompt using the win2k startup cd?
If it is a win2k driver issue then perhaps trying to read the cd from a dos prompt, which win2k uses when booting directly to the cd on startup, may read the drive ok.
If not, then get a win98 startup diskette and startup the laptop with that diskette and see if it'll read the drive from a win98 dos prompt.
If it won't read from win2k, win2k startup cd or win98 startup diskette then more than likely the laser reader on the drive has a little bit of dust on it. I've successfully cleaned the laser before but success rate is only 50 - 75%.
I don't konw enough about the inner workings of a computer to try to change anything