My computer had Vista on it and I upgraded to Windows 7. Now when I try and burn a DVD I only have the choise to write it to the Hard Drive and not the DVD burner. Any suggestions.

Was the Windows 7 installed from a clean slate or you upgraded from Vista to Windows 7? If you have upgraded from Vista to Windows 7, then this is definitely a driver problem. You can try to update the driver by going to Device Manager, check if the DVD drive is listed. Pull down the drop down list, and right click on the devices listed under DVD/CD-ROM Drives and choose Update Driver Software.
If the DVD drive came with a software bundle (e.g. Nero Burning Application) Try reinstalling these application under Windows 7 Environment.

One bad lead can cause a computer to continue on a cycle or to shutdown or fail to detect your hard drive

Test all leads that attach to your hard drive including electrical extensions,IDE,SATA

the leads from your ((motherboard to your hard drive)) make sure they have a secure connection and are not faulty or just replace them there probably old and faulty
make sure all leads that are attached to your drives dvd\cd 3 1/2 inch floppy have secure connections and are not faulty even the electic extensions or just replace them they are probably faulty a computer needs its connections to have an end so any faulty leads will end up with a computer error

The system disc probably did not come with the computer. You could burn one if the computer is functioning correctly. However, you may consider getting a full version of Windows 7 32 bit and trying to install it through the DVD drive.

You'll have to set the BIOS to boot from the DVD drive once you have the install DVD from Microsoft.

Luckily, Windows 7 can be used on many computers that came with Vista or XP originally, without upgrading the hardware.

The Windows 7 operating system costs about $119.99 depending on where you get it.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/compare/home-premium.aspx

This operating system can breath new life into your old laptop, which otherwise may require replacing.

If the hard disk drive actually crashed and is not recoverable, you may have to replace that hardware part, but hard drives aren't too expensive these days.

Good luck on this repair.

You cannot download windows 7. Windows 7 is an operating system you need to purchase at a retail store or thru Microsofts virtual store (you will get street mailed a disc). There is no download option.

Try shutting down your windows firewall. Sometimes the old windows will block the new windows installation. By disabling the firewall on vista that should allow to it to install. Becareful, there is not whole alot of drivers for windows 7 for printers just like windows vista problem.

You don't need to replace the Hard drive in the laptop, you can usually upgrade, or install vista from the CD-ROM / DVD-Rom.

If your laptop does not have a DVD drive to install vista, you may use file sharing to install it from another computer on the network. To do this follow these steps:

1) Place the Vista DVD in second computer
2) right-click on the DVD-drive that has the Vista DVD in it, and select " Share..."
3) You may need to press the "Advanced sharing" button to enable sharing, if so, do that, and just hit the " apply " button
4) OK out of all of those menues
5) on your laptop open " my computer" and click the " map network drive "
6) browse to the location of your drive on the other computer, and click " OK "
7) install Windows vista

If you do however need a new hard drive for your laptop, you can usually get them from any PC store such as Bestbuy, fry's, or online from places such as NewEGG.com, and Tigerdirect.com.

You will need to know what type of hard drive you have, and how to replace it. The manual for your laptop usually has this type of information.

SIDE NOTE:
When putting Vista on a laptop, be sure it meets the minimum requirements.

you cant play avi on normal dvd player,but you can convert avi to dvd format by use free softwere ( filmMachine )