When I insert my Sims 3 Disk into my drive, nothing pops up and when I go to my start menu it shows that there is nothing in my drive. Can anyone tell me what the problem is?

One thing to check would be whether your computer has a DVD drive. Though they're fairly standard these days and most games utilize DVDs, if your computer is old it may only have a CD drive. Back when the Sims 2 first came out, I had a similar problem. I had bought the DVD version and ran it on my dad's laptop while my computer was undergoing repair. When I attempted to install it on my computer, it didn't even recognize the disc. I was baffled, and ended up buying a second copy, that being the CD version, sometime later. This worked fine since I only had a CD drive (and I even got an extra copy of disc 4 somehow. I wonder if someone out there is missing one). Aside from the DVD version of the base game, the Sims 2 was largely CD based, so if your system is old but was fine with TS2, that might be your problem.

If it's not that, then hopefully another solution will arise. I figured I'd just mention as much since I encountered something similar back in the day, and old computers aren't completely unheard of (I ran a ten-year-old computer until just recently). Of course, I am a bit at a loss as to why the title of the thread is in regards to downloading if you're using a disc to install...