Is it firmware or media - Guidance would be appreciated

[tyders]

All,

I have had a Nec-1300A dvd-rw for about 6 months now.

Within the last 4 weeks I have had major issues burning x4 speed media at 4 speed. Everytime I try I get write errors straight away (using any burning software) and have to turn my PC off.

I ahve been told 2 things by friends,

1. Its the firmware - but I have no idea what this is or what to do
2. Its the media

I use Ritek dvdrs and everything has been fine up until now.

By the way I can still burn at x2 speed - weird or what.

Does anyone have any ideas or can explain what this firmware stuff is all about? I ahve read it upgrades software but a unsure what to do or where to get the upgrades from etc - dont even know if this will help.

Thanks all!

[rcb]

from the glossary:

>Firmware
The firmware of a device is the program code that is permanently stored in the device's memory. It contains all the necessary software routines to make the device fully functional. New updated firmware is sometimes distributed for dvd players, cd/dvd writers and many other computer devices to add features or fix bugs. <

Use caution when doing a firmware upgrade. In extreme situations, you can trash your burner. Make sure the upgrade comes from the mfgr and not some hacked version.

M/W, you say all was well up to about 4 weeks ago... look for something that changed about then - a new program installed, a different batch of media, etc. If you have a system restore point (date) that preceeds the problem, you might try that.

Do a defrag folowed by a hard drive error check - will take a little time, but can't hurt.
Use a rw disk until you have things sorted out to avoid the coaster pile..