CD-ROM has problems installing software

I have a Dell Inspiron E1505/6400 and FREQUENTLY have problems installing software. Sometimes the software will get close to being done installing and then will lock up. Other times I have to reboot the computer before my CD/DVD drive will even read the disk. I don't have this problem on my desktop and never used to have this problem with my old Dell Inspiron. Is this a common issue? The hardware in question is a TSSTcorp CDRW/DVD TSL462D. Would it help to replace it with something else? Really, this is incredibly annoying.