Vista - DVDMaker does not recognize drives

I'll add another one to the pile of similar messages.

I bought a new computer with Vista Home Ultimate installed.
The DVD burner in the system is on the HCL.

I normally use another program to burn DVDs and it works great.

However, I decided to play with Windows DVD maker for a project and I really
like the animaterd themes it has.

However, Windows DVD Maker does not recognize my drive.
Windows Vista saw it from day one - although I burned some photos to CD
using Windows Explorer and the disc couldn't be read by the photo lab. I
re-did the disc with my other program and it worked out fine.

I updated the drive's firmware and driver.
Still no luck with Win DVD Maker.

So, I yanked the burner from my old PC and put it into my new PC. It, too is
listed on the HCL.

Windows DVD does not recognize it either.

Does anyone have any hint at all as to what's going on?
I see there are many, many people having the same issue.

I'm a pretty technical person but when it comes to being creative - making
DVDs etc. - I need help from tools lile Win DVD Maker.

Is there a fix that anyone knows about?

Or, if there were a good guide to explain how to use the animated themes in
another program, I'd go that route. I'm not afraid of a little brute force
"mashing" to get things done.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Let's all face it. VISTA is the worst thing to ever happen in operating systems.