Need recommendations on cd/dvd burning software (free and retail)

[Hardball]

I just got a new oem Samsung SH-223L Sata burner as my old Plextor 716 drive crapped out. The Plextor was an IDE drive and I think going to Sata may be causing a problem.

Quick background on the system in question:
It's 6 years old
The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-8INXP with the E7205 Granite Bay chipset. This board was one of the first offered that had Sata on it in the form of a Silicon Image chip that provides 2 Sata ports (Sata was not yet integrated into any of Intel's chipsets at this point)
I have Nero 5.5 retail installed
Windows XP Pro sp3

I took out the Plextor and installed the Samsung, but now when I launch Nero it does not see the Samsung as being dvd capable. It only gives the option for cd, as dvd is grayed out and not available. The Plextor, IDE, did not have this problem as both cd and dvd were available and functional. I'm sure the Samsung being Sata is the issue and I'm guessing that because this version of Nero is so old it probably has issues with Optical Sata drives.
The Sata ports work as I have my hard drive connected to the other port and I was able to burn a dvd from within Adobe Photoshop Album without a problem.

What are some good alternatives to my ancient Nero 5.5 as far as basic burning software goes, both free and retail?
Is there a way to get functionality from the Nero 5.5? There are no patches available from Nero to correct this. Maybe from Microsoft?

 

[Emulex]

upgrade to nero late7 or 8 - i got it free with $26 sony dvd+r DL burner. came in the box. 100% legal and well even after i swapped the sony out (it broke) nero still works. vista and windows 7 (and xp).

 

[UberNeuman]

http://www.imgburn.com/

 

[CurseTheSky]

I'll second ImgBurn. I love that little program, especially the price.

 

[lxskllr]

I use imgburn and infrarecorder.

 

[AFurryReptile]

Yep, imgBurn.

 

[MStele]

Easy CD & DVD Burner by Roxio is pretty good. It is only $30 and will pretty much do everything you would expect. Its also fully Windows 7 compatible which is a plus.

 

[bruceb]

Depends on how easy to use you need it.
If easy Roxio or Nero. Only issues here are
they are getting bloated and updates to newer
versions say from V8 to V9 etc, are not free.
If the user is computer savy, then either
IMGBURN (free and pretty good) or
UltraISO (pay, but very good) .. Only

 

[Loop2kil]

There was an offer recently for Ashampoo 2010 burning studio for free...I have had it for several months and can't see myself using anything else for those type of burning needs...even supports blu-ray.

 

[jlee]

There was an offer recently for Ashampoo 2010 burning studio for free...I have had it for several months and can't see myself using anything else for those type of burning needs...even supports blu-ray.

I use Ashampoo as well - love it.

 

[ImDonly1]

If free then Imgburn or Infrarecorder.

If pay and you like nero, then you can get the nero micro or lite which gets rid of the bloat at updatepack.nl (you still need a serial number).

 

[Chiefcrowe]

how about cd burner XP? that seems pretty good.

for another alternative, Nero is great.

 

[jae]

Umm Nero now has a lite version thats free. Otherwise, Imgburn or infrarecorder.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

I tried Nero Lite a few months ago. I remember it being the most limited, constrained and ridiculous 'Lite' version of any application, ever. The exact details elude me at this point but I think it would only let me burn images to disc and wouldn't let me make an Audio CD or a simple Data Disc. (I might be wrong, not trying to spread FUD, but I uninstalled it in less than 5 minutes due to something extremely limiting).

Infrarecorder gets the job done. And it's got shiny bells and whistles too.

 

[Rottie]

there is old version of nero you can try out do google check