Have either of you done any Hardware updates from Microsoft? Reason I ask is at least with Hoster we have found among the beta testers that Microsoft's hardware updates that they list don't work and usually end up keeping the equipment from working right. If you have be sure to go back to the MFG of the item or your computer's MFG website and get the correct drivers.
I have played the same game you guys have with a Plextor drive. It quit working for me and would tell me to insert a disk when one was already there. I thought the drive had gone south on me, but I had another (NEC drive that was working so didn't pull it out. One day (after some updates from Microsoft) it started working again. I guess nobody is perfect including Microsoft.
Anyway, Vince, are your Microstudio and Hoster on the same computer? If not are the two computers networked?
You can control the speed by right clicking on the drive and going to Properties then going to the Recording tab. The rate can be set in this.