i have posted this problem here before, but everybody thought it was the media i tried burning onto... now i know for a fact that it is my drive. how? lets see... 4 failed attempts to burn IN A ROW... dvd drive refuses to read burned dvds... but will read everytihng else just fine.

now the reason why i posted again is that my physics teacher (shes a great help) gave me a weird but possible suggestion. can i take the laser out and recharge it so that it is fully operational?

You may have a dirty laser dioide or the laser write element is burned out.

So, my choice is clean it then see if it burns correctly. If it doesn't, ten out goes my burner and in comes a new one. I still can't believe I overlooked cleaning the lens.

Yes, clean first. That is all I can see. You could ask for second opinions. Sorry.