CD/DVD Drive Glitching/Fried?

First off, my system specs:

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Inspiron E1705:
Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 (2.00ghz)
2GB DDR2 667mhz Corsair RAM
80GB 5400RPM HD
Nvidia GO 7900GS 256mb
Windows Vista Home Premium

On my packing slip, it says I got the "8x DVD+-RW drive for E1705" and device manager identifies the hardware as "SONY DVD+-RW DW-Q58A ATA Device"

Now, on to my problem. The other day, I went to install AoE III after not using the disks for a while (ended up using a friends "disc 1" because I couldn't find mine) and it worked just fine. I found my install disc today, and popped it in to play, but for some reason the computer didn't recognize it. I figured the disc might be dirty (it shows no scratches, I'm too careful with CDs) and tried to clean it. To no avial.  Next, figuring if it was just the disc another one should work. I put my WiC DVD in and got the same thing: nothing happened. The icon for the drive under my computer (I think that's the window that shows the HD icon and all that) changed from the "empty drive" icon to the one that shows when you put a blank CD/DVD in, but when clicked on, it said it couldn't find a disc.

After this happened, I ran the Dell diagnostics which gave a "pass" result to everything in my computer, including the DVD drive. I then restarted my computer (the WiC DVD was still in the drive) and presto, the DVD was recognized and I could start WiC again. I then tried the AOE CD and it too started like normal.

Not wanting to play either game, I took the disc out and began using my computer (surfing the net, etc.) but didn't use the drive. About an hour later, I got the hankerin to play some WiC, and put the disc in. . . Nothing happened. I encountered the same issue as before.

I then tried restarting my computer with the WiC disc in the drive, since the restart after the diagnostics seemed to make it work. The second restart worked, and the drive now recognizes the WiC disc, and I would assume any other disc.

I can provide screenshots if necessary.

Is my drive going out? Is it just a Vista thing?

Thank you so much for any imput you can give.

    -Delta62