Problem with burning audio CDs

I have a client's laptop here.... and when burning audio CDs from MP3 files, the CD will burn the whole CD, but when playing back the songs start to pop and crackle after about the 3rd or 4th song. This happens with different brands of blank discs, and with different burning programs. I'm pretty sure the drive is faulty, but I'm looking for a way to test the internal drive without having to burn a bunch of discs.....

(Compaq C700 laptop, running Vista)

 

You might find one of the tools listed here to be helpful:

How to test a computer CD-ROM / DVD drive for failures

I have CDCheck installed, but haven't found how to check the CD/DVD combo drive (may not be compatible?). It does a good job of checking disks, though.

This one looks promising:
DISCInfo
DVD-IDE-SCSI-CD Information Program
DISCInfo

 

I'm assuming you've tried the 'uninstall and reboot' routine. Do you have access to an external disc burner? That would isolate hardware and software problems.

 

You might also look for a firmware update for the drive.

 

I ripped a store-bought CD to MP3 on a different PC, copied the MP3 files to the PC in question, and burned the audio CD using Windows Media Player (in Vista; not sure which version of WMP). I then played it back on a 3rd different PC and didn't notice any pops or cracks, but after about 5-6 songs, it sounded like there was a much-higher-than-normal amount of "static" or "white noise" in the background.... BUT - I didn't listen that closely through-out the entire disc (I was at work and had MANY other things to do ), so I'll give it another listen with some good speakers tomorrow and we'll see what happens.

Thanks for the input so far EVERYONE! I do appreciate it!!!