Need to reboot Itunes to read CD/DVD drive

Question

Hi!
I've been importing CDs into Itunes - audiobooks with 7 to 11 cds in the set. Since December, when I received an Ipod Touch for Christmas and had to update Itunes to whatever version that was, I'm having a problem getting Itunes to read CDs after importing the previous CD.
Here's what happens:
1) I'll put a CD into my Dell Insprion laptop (running Windows 7 64 bit), Itunes opens up and imports CD information.
2) I click "Import CD" and off it goes.
3) When it's done, I eject the CD using the keyboard eject button and replace with the next CD.
4) Next CD is inserted and laptop recognized the VD/CD as being loaded, but CD does not show up in Itunes - not in left hand column under "Devices" nor can I click on "Retrieve CD Names' as it's greyed out.
5) I have to close Itunes, reopen it and the the CD is there, waiting to be ripped.
Now, sometimes I can go 3 CDs in a row before I have to restart Itunes, but often it's one at a time.
The CD drive is recognized by Windows, Winamp, Media Player - every other program I have on the laptop regonizes that there is a CD in the drive except Itunes. Today I updated to 10.6, but this didn't solve the problem. Previously I had tried repairing Itunes, but that did nothing.
I'm getting very, very frustrated, but when I check online assuming that it's an Itunes issue as everything else sees the CD, but no one seems to be having any issue like this.
My husband it telling me to live with it - he doesn't have a problem with HIS Itunes, but he has a different computer - but it's very frustrating when ripping an 11 CD audiobook!
Thank you for any help you can give.

Answer 1

I have the exact same problem with an HP Pavilion notebook running Windows XP.  I cannot recall when it started but for at least the past year or so I have had to restart iTunes for it to recognize a CD in the drive (not the first one because that always works OK).  I have found numerous discussions on this issue in other forums, and tried EVERY suggested fix.  Nothing has worked.  Windows sees the disk but iTunes doesn't.  Just like you, it sometimes works OK for two or three disks in a row but sooner or later I have to restart iTunes to burn another disk.  I suspect it's a permissions issue: iTunes knows what it is supposed to do but Windows keeps taking away it's permission to see a disk.  Perhaps there is some application on my PC that would rather be the default app to look at CDs and is "stealing" iTunes' permission?  Dunno.  Apple needs to fix this problem.  I say that because the folks at Microsoft are totally incapable of doing anything right.  Windows itself is a mass of fixes and patches.  I often wonder how it works at all.  When this machine craps out, I am switching to a Mac; perhaps even sooner than that.  This is my LAST Windows PC.