My internal burner that came with my Sony Vaio VGC-RB43 (I assume) is broken since it won't detect blank cds and everytime I burn a dvd, it becomes a coaster. I've been using that burner a lot for the past 2-3 years, so I'm guessing it's burned out. So I need to get a new burner now, but I don't know whether I should get an external burner or internal burner. I'm not good with computers, so I'm really afraid of screwing anything up if I were to get an internal burner and have to switch that out with my old burner. I have opened up a computer and have taken a drive out before on one of my old computers, but I'm not afraid to mess around with that one since I don't need it, but I have a lot of important data on my current computer and really don't want to lose anything. With the little knowledge I have, is it possible for me to install an internal burner myself without screwing anything up? And also, by replacing my dvd burner, does it affect anything saved on my C drive, cuz that's where I store most of data? Which internal burner would you recommend for a noob like me, that doesn't really require much work, besides simply replacing the drive and price is reasonable (anything less than $150, shipping included)? Though, I'd really prefer to get an internal burner for the advantages it has over external burners, but if it's really impossible for me to install one, which external burner would you recommend me get? Thank you for your help.
You should have no problem installing a new DVD burner. It won't mess up your hard drives. Just make sure that the jumper pin, on the back of the new DVD burner, is in the same place as the jumper pin on the one you are taking out. Meaning, if the old one is set to master, then jumper the new one as master.
Thanks for the reply. Hopefully I won't have any problems installing the burner, but which burner would you recommend me get? I've heard that Liteon and Pioneer are a good choice, but I'm not sure whether they'll be easy for me to install, or if there's other stuff that I should be aware of after the installation. Also right after I replace my old burner, can I immediately burn dvds/cds?
The Lite-ons are good, and the new Samsungs look like they may be top of the heap in short order. You should have no problem burning as soon as you install the new burner. Go to the manufacturer's website, and get the latest firmware update once he new burner is installed.
