Doug, I often wonder if the bad disks might not be the result of having DVD burner that might need a firmware update. Just a thought. Check out your DVD player model in System Profiler. Once it is open go to the line on your left that says ATA. Click on that. Then click on the line that shows your DVD model. Just below that should appear some data about your DVD burner and it will tell you what revision your model is. Once that is done go to the web site of your model's manufacturer and check out what is the current firmware revision. Bill