how to activate the DVD drive on a Laptop 5050

I have had this laptop for three months and only now have I tried to use the DVD drive. I inserted a DVD-RW disc and closed the drive door expecting the disc to be recognized. It wasn't. Apparently there is no operational manual? Only a quick start which shows where the DVD drive is. Duh! And there is a manual if I want to repair the thing. Can someone explain how to activate the drive? I search files for the DVD drive but cannot find it. Why doesn't the drive self recognize and start as desk tops do.  Or is it a problem with this problematic Windows 10?