Curiousity makes me ask .... What brand and type of DVD media are you trying to burn?

What is the brand and model of the drive?

I have used Memorex DVD+R and Memorex DVD-R with the same results.  From the Dell parts list for my computer:

Hope this helps you.

John

Try another brand of media.  Memorex is troublesome for many users.
Consider some of the following information .............

http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm

Many users have great success with Verbatum.

I think if you obtain a better brand of media, it will be a big step to eliminating one of the variables.

Your drive model can be found in the Device Manager ......

Start | Control Panel | System in classic view | Hardware tab | Device Manager

Click on the (+) next to DVD/CD-ROM drives.

Alright, I read the review in the mentioned URL.  My local office supply store does not carry Verbatim, but they do have the second best (by the referenced review) of TDK.

I purchased both DVD-R and DVD+R TDK brand DVD's.  Guess what?  The same error still happens.  I am beginning to think the DVD burner hardware is at fault, but the only way to prove that would be to haul it out and install it in another machine with a functioning DVD burning solution.  Or spend the bucks and just blindly install another DVD burner in the hope that the original hardware somehow failed by NOT being used.

Here is the information in device manager: HL-DT-ST DVD+-RW GWA4164B

Using that I did some searching on the GWA4164B DVD ROM drive, looks like I would not be the first person to have one of those stop functioning.   I am going to see if the drive can still read a DVD, I know that is different optics then the burner, but at least some of the drive functionality could be checked out.  Any other suggestions on how to isolate this error would be appreciated.

John 

TDK can be variable, depending on the source.  The article includes
some tools to identify the media's source if curious.

You are correct about the GWA4164B being a poor drive.  It
has an infamous reputation. 

Run the Dell Diagnostics on the drive.  The Diagnostics should be on
your hard drive.  Press F12 at startup while the blue Dell is on the
screen.  This will take you to the boot menu where the Utility Partition
or Diagnostics will be a choice.  Run the Custom Test for the drive
and have a data DVD (not movie DVD) ready for the read test.

Here is how the story has ended, at least this time.  I tried playing DVD movie and the drive would not even recognize a disc had been inserted.  That pushed me over the edge, I purchased an LG 22X Super Multi DVD burner and installed it.  My first attempt using ImgBurn to burn the .iso file I had been trying for a week worked just fine.  My old DVD burner did manage to burn two DVD's after I installed Roxio Creatoer 2010 which made me keep thinking my issue was with the new Roxio software I had installed.  It appears those were the last two DVD's that old burner ever burned.  That alone is annoying since I think that drive only burned about 6 DVD's total in its life.  The new hardware appears to work with the new software.  Thanks to all for their assitance and suggestions.

John

A new drive is a way to solve the problem.  It appears the drive
(GWA4164B) likely failed.  The Dell Diagnostics may have verified
that.  Frankly, in my opinion, the GWA4164B was a "lemon" drive.
Enjoy your new drive.  Best regards.