My burner only burns 1x, not 4x like it should

[Max11185]

Hey!

I am not a pc expert, so please bare with me.

I have a Pioneer DVD-RW DVR-105 (4X dvd burn speed) burner . Since day 1 this thing has not burned at 4X, it only burns at 1x even if I set the burner to burn at 4X. I realize there are other threads like this one but none of those helped me. What could be wrong with my burner? or PC? or is this normal that my burner burns at 1x?

this is my pc spec

-Firmware is updated to the latest 1.33B (I think that was the name of it for my dvd-rw)
-I am using EasyCDCreator and Nero, I've tried updating both to the latest settings/versions, but still no change. (EasyCDCreator came with the retail kit, so shouldn't that work at least?)
-I've tried several brands of DVD-R 4x discs, no good.
-and yes, DMA is enabled and my hard drives and IDE cables don't have any problems (recently replaced to new ones, no changes).
-brief pc specs: Athlon XP2600 (2.1ghz), DDR512mb PC2700, windows xp (just installed few days ago, had 2000 before)

[jmet]

Re: your DMA settings, it might say "DMA if available" but does not necessarily mean that is is using DMA. What does "Current Transfer Mode" say ?

Here is a screen shot of mine below:

[Max11185]

Device 0 says Ultra DMA mode 6, the other is Ultra DMA mode 2

[cynthia]

Your Nero - is it a demo version?

[Max11185]

I know demos have lots of restrictions such as burning speed, and yes I've tried demos as well as hacked.

[FOQRS]

Are your blanks 4X compatable?

[cynthia]

Originally posted by Max11185
I know demos have lots of restrictions such as burning speed, and yes I've tried demos as well as hacked.