prob with nero and dc backups

[Ferris]

i have been able to copy DC backups with Nero 5.5 basically since i got a DC a couple of months ago, with no problems.

my CD writer (Creative 8435E) never read backups properly, but writes them fine, so i use my DVD rom (Creative 6240E) to read the backup, create an image, and then burn with my writer.

for some strange reason, when i now insert one of my backups into the dvd-rom to be written, it usually only finds 1 track ("track1.cda" or something). clicking on "cd info" in Nero will say that there is only 1mb of data on the disc. these backups work fine on my DC by the way, even though their content is not recognised in Nero. if i try and read to image from my CD writer, it says the disk content is 808mb and cannot be burned, so thats why i never used my writer to read, only burn.

i only use Nero because
(a) it works for me (or did!)
(b) Clone CD is not compatable with my writer
(c) Disk Juggler 3 never burned any of my backups properly, even now, it ceases to read any backup disk fully, same problems now as Nero.

my prob has to be a hardware one, there must be some setting or something im missing. tried removing my DVD and CDRW from Win98SE and let windows reinstall, uninstalled & reinstalled Nero, disabled DMA etc. i can only find software updates on the Creative site, no specific driver updates for my CD Roms.

why the hell did this work a couple of days ago, and now doesn't!

the strangest thing is this. my mates backups will copy fine on my PC. my own personal backups were largely copied from his collection, and they are now the problem. but they play fine on the DC!

help?!