problem with LG dvd burner

[harderclock]

hi. I have this LG GSA-4040b dvd burner, all was well untill the other day it started having problems playing dvds or even reading files it was slaved off my only harddrive a 160 gig maxtor when it started having trouble. my system specs will be at the bottom.now my lg is set to master (secondary) i have tried updating the firmware with success still the same unrelyability it will chug when a new cd or dvd is inserted and take a long time to recognize it if at all.i have tried to burn with no success and tried backing up one of my dvds again no success.any help will be greatly appreciated. system is xp2500 - msi k7n2d 512 megs kingston ddr 3200 ati radeon 9500 using winxp(totally updated)

 

[Know Nuttin]

possible dirty laser. Have you tried cleaning the drive yet?

 

[harderclock]

whats the best method