Should I read at lower speeds?

[IceBreaker]

I checked all my background services, and startup - nothing new. This ATIP thing is hidden by editing registry settings, I am sure.

Not everything shows up in the services list (ie. loaded DLLs). 4 example, if you set one Virtual drive in Alcohol - and even mount an image - and exit Alcohol, this drive will be available in Windows without having to run Alcohol and without your being able to find anything in the taskbar/services list!!!

How can a program tell whether the CD is a CD-R or CD-ROM?

You just said it in your previous post: the prog simply reads the ATIP (if CD is in a burner). ATIP contains information on CD media type, etc... Quite simple in fact, there is no need for a built-in subatomic particle-analyser or whatever to check metal/plastic

They say it does read pre-gap in a way, maybe not like other programs.

The Alcohol guy who told U that must have been at the bottle all right . There is no such thing as reading data 'in a way' - either it is read 1:1, or it is not. Simple, non?