You realize that it's Apple Software that's at issue, right?

So, can't say I can think of anything regarding the slow CD import, other than try rebooting, or try having it import to a different location on the drive, or a different drive if available.

As for the library not being recognized...yeah, that happens. The only way I know of to recover is to either restore a previous version of the .xml file if you have backups. Or just re-add the drive/directory to the library (File->Add Folder to Library...). If your collections large, it'll take some time to process, and if you use the "Date Added" column for sorting, it blows that away, though "Date Modified" is usually an adequate substitute.