Using windows XP. Had no problem moving data and movies from my hard drive to cd and dvd directly and using burning software. However, bought a dvd-ram disc and had zero luck trying to burn anything to it. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Try this...

Open your Device Manager
click on View ... Show hidden devices

Click on and Delete (with the Delete key) any devices that have a ? or ! in front of them.
If the Device Manager has an "Other" device category, open it and Delete any devices in the "Other" category.
Now, reboot.

The reboot will force Windows to refind the deleted devices and hopefully see them for what they are.
After rebooting, give Windows time to locate and properly install the deleted devices.

Go to the Device Manager and verify that all your devices are listed correctly.

Gandalf,

Thank you for the reply. I looked and found only one listed with a !serial(but didn't delete it yet). If I delete this how will it affect my pc? Since I'm a complete novice I'm worried it will do something I can't repair or get back to the previous settings.

If you are that concerned, then take your computer to a repair shop.
I hope you can afford it.

I am a little confused on this one?
What type of burner are you using?A re-writer but is it + ? - ? +/- ?

Then what are the disks you use?Write once?+/-?

A little more information on the software you use,type of DVD writer you are using,what disks are you actualy using?

This maybe a speed problem,try burning at a slower speed.

Jelly Bean, Suggestion: since the device that is in error has not been revealed nor corrected, it might affect any other attempts at a repair actions.

DVD-RAM is a type of disc not drive. It's basically a blank DVD that you can erase and reburn data on to it again if you want to.

Your problem pcrookie is most likely caused by the software you are using to burn.

Depending on what format your DVD-RAM disc is depends on what you have to use to burn to it. If it is UDF format you will need to use Nero InCD or Roxio Drag to Disc. See link below.

Nero – Applications Included