Smart Card Reader not working

[cmooney]

Hi - I've searched Google about this issue - and did not find an answer. Here is the issue:

My SD Card slot has not worked for a while. I tried downloading the driver to reinstall driver - but the smart card reader is not listed in my device list. I checked the BIOS - and there is no listing for the smartcard reader on the Device list in the BIOS either. There seems to be a spot for it - in the BIOS section where the touchpad is listed - but there is a blank spot - no entry at all. Does that mean there is a hardware problem? I'll call Tech Support... but just thot I'd try here first. Thanks