Hi Powell,
Miles is correct about problems with RW disks - but if you want to use them, then it should be possible and while you may have some general problems (as he described), you should not be having the specific ones you have reported on such a consistent basis. I believe something beyond the general problem with RW disks is an issue here.
Are you using CD-RW, CD+RW, DVD-RW, or DVD+RW Disks? What is the brand of the disks? Have you used this brand of disk before? Try a different brand. Many drives have a list of suggested brands (and have troubles with other brands and/or with specific other brands) - try to find and use one of the suggested ones to see if that helps.
What is the manufacturer, make, and precise model of the computer AND of the CD/DVD Burner? Please include this in your next reply.
You say you are using the burning software in Vista and having trouble. Try a installing a different program (and these suggestion are free so there's no risk - if you don't like them or they don't work, just uninstall them and that's that - but I suspect you'll like either better than what Vista offers). As Miles suggested (and I agree), download and install ImgBurn:
The Official ImgBurn Website. As an alternative, you could also try Free Easy CD DVD Burner
Koyote Soft.
If you have another computer that can fit the Drive, try swapping drives in the computers and see if the problem moves. This will be extrememly valuable in telling if the problem is with the drive or with the computer (though it won't rule out the disks). Still, it's a step in the right direction to diagnosing the cause of the problem.
You may be having troubles with your device drivers, firmware, and/or software. Go to Device Manager by going to start / search box and type device manager and enter and then double-click on the program icon that appears. Check each device for a red x, yellow ! or white ?. These identify devices with problems (probably drivers, but also conflicts or something else). Click on each for further details and troubleshooting tips. If you need to get drivers, firmware and/or software (and you should at least get the most updated available for the CD/DVD Drive and your version of Vista even if it says they are working fine and even if it's what you have installed already), do so from the computer vendor or device manufacturer (NOT from Microsoft Updates). Proceed as follows to get the drivers: http://pcsupport.about.com/od/driverssupport/ht/driverdlmfgr.htm. Once you have the drivers, you can install them through Device Manager as follows: http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/193584-device-manager-install-driver.html.
If you still have a problem after all of the above (and you've confirmed it's the burner and not the computer), then chances are very high that there is a hardware problem of some sort with the drive. I don't know why it would work in some cases and not in others or work fine intermittently (I'm not an expert on that type of hardware), but at that point I would recommend replacing the drive (they're too inexpensive to spend money repairing them). If you can, try to find a dealer who will take the drive back with a full refund in case it has the same problem (and we then need to re-examine the other alternatives again since it would appear something was missed and the original drive may actually be OK). On the other hand, if the drive works fine in another computer running Vista and the same drivers, firmware, and/or software, then we need to look back to the computer for the cause - but that's getting ahead of ourselves and we'll deal with that if/when the time comes.
I hope this helps.
Good luck!
P.S. That tutorial you mentioned is for removable external hard drives and perhaps for removable, external CD/DVD drives, not for internal CD/DVD drives and involves access rights and not burning problems - so it does not apply here.
