so when you try and rip from a cd, it keeps whirring and whirring, but never reads data. would these happen to be protected cd's? because this sounds EXACTLY like what happens when you try and image a safedisc cd with shitty software.
also, i have windows xp, and i never had an issue with it and burning using 3rd party apps. of course, maybe the bootleg version is to blame. all in all, i think bionic should fdisk his hd, format it nfts and install xp pro. no probs here
........yet