How do I get my DVDROM drive to read (extract audio/data) faster?
 

I have a sony dvdrom that is capable of up to I think about 40x, but it seems to only read cds at a top speed of around 6x. I recently had to format my computer, but before the format it would extract data at no less than 12x. Does anybody know how I could possibly fix this?

Talking about audio, the bitrate you extract it at will affect the speed. You're processing power and whether or not you're HD is fragmented will also affect it.
What are your specs? What data are you trying to extract? What programs do you use?

Let's see, for hardware:

P3 600EB
896 MB RAM
4x Sony DVD-ROM capable of about 40x CD

The program I am using is actually an MP3 ripper called Exact Audio Copy. It used to copy WAVs onto my hard drive at like ~12x, but now it only goes like 4x. This is also causing a problem with my cd burner with direct driver-to-drive cd burning. I believe I need some kind of new aspi drivers.

maybe you enabled secure mode?