Actually, it's my disc drive this time that has packed up. I have an Aspire 5000 laptop so I decided to get this usb external unit;

[www.tigerdirect.com]

I think it comes with software (forgot to ask the salesman hopefully the cd it comes with will be enough to get me rollin again)

Did I make a good choice?, I went on the net to find out what was involved replacing the in-unit disc machine and it sounded like a pain and expensive so I decided an external unit made sense (which I think I'll find handy down the road for other computers).

Thanks, Rick .... as he faces east and prays for no more breakdowns