just to be 100% sure this is an internal drive yeah?
also what OS are you using... correct me if im guessing wrong but xp?
Did this problem start to occur when you installed the tools you downloaded yesterday?
anyhow check the device manager check the drive is installed corectlly and showing as the correct drive
Dumb question have you tried more nthan one blank dvd (i know but its worth asking
)
Also go to the drive in my computer right click it, select properties and check for a "recording tab" to check if windows recognises this as a recordable device
Try removing the drivers and reinstalling the latest drivers and firmware for the device
if this doesnt work you can try manually removing the registry entries for the drive instructions in the following link
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060
in any case id guess this is an operating system going tits up problem so you could have a quick check in safe mode (press F8 when powering the system on) and see what happens also
if none of this works then well... lets hope something there works for now
hope this was of some use
worst case scenario you might have to just bite the bullet and reinstall (here's hoping not though)
