Webslinger,
I will proceed with your suggestions, but I gotta admit that your description of it being "an absolute mess" seemed a bit condescending. I am not an IT professional. I am not an employee of "Geek Squad." I am an end user of software and hardware. I am a professional photographer and videographer, and not an advanced user like yourself, but certainly not a novice.
One thing that
all people need to understand when it comes to software on computers is that programmers cannot possibly with 100% certainty predict compatibility issues when their software is installed on all systems. There is simply no way for them to know every software program, driver, or what hardware combinations that comprise the system of the person installing their software. As much as possible is generally done but there are some companies out there (ie Roxio) who are known to do things poorly.
AnyDVD cannot cause physical damage or the death of a DVD drive but it's possible there's a compatibility problem and this likely
is. As such, Webslinger gave you a checklist to run through. This checklist has, in fact, solved a
lot of peoples' problems hence why it exists.
Quite a few people do have similar problems but in the end I would say that 90% of people reporting problems end up having some form or packet writing software installed and once it is removed the problem vanishes. Nero InCD shouldn't, to my knowledge cause problems, but I
highly discourage its use on any system even if a person doesn't use AnyDVD. As for Roxio software... I cannot condone or recommend its use and I was, at one time, a registered customer of theirs many years ago.
A quick glance through the forums and a bit of searching and all of the issues discussed in this thread will show up at one point or another along with the methodology to try and resolve the problem. Many [but not all] people simply refuse to do any reading first. The people who do offer help are doing so on their own behalf for no other reason than to maybe get that warm happy fuzzy feeling inside they help a person solve a problem.
Just keep in mind that it can be just as frustrating helping a person, at times, as it is being a person who is having a problem, themselves.
And, no, this entire post is not meant as an insult, lecture, or some form of chastising.
And, just for the record, I've used AnyDVD since October 7th, 2003 and never had a problem installing or upgrading. This includes all the betas released to the public.
Hopefully your problem is resolved soon and you can get back to exercising your
Fair Use rights and backing up your legally owned & purchased DVDs!
PS: I'm not offering assistance because too many cooks in the kitchen can be a very bad thing.