...DVD drive is it? I have heard of this problem before, mainly during the Beta phases, but apparently it is still ocurring for some drives.

I've installed Windows 8 of 5 different systems and not encountered this problem.

In anycase, there is a recent entry on this topic and a couple of solutions in the Microsoft Community forums at

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-hardware/missing-cddvd-drive-for-windows-8-professional/3d4b45cf-646f-4795-b66c-0e881ec87934?auth=1

Let us, know if either of the solutions work for you,