So he tried writing to a CD without any CD-writing program? That won't work well, you can't just drag files to a writable CD like you would to a floppy (Windows XP can do that, but as I said earlier, I do not recommend it).
I suppose the cd-writer was included with the computer when he bought it. If so, the manufacturer should have enclosed some software - most popular is: Nero and EZ CD Creator. Look for those names. Some others to look for: Blindwrite, CloneCD, can't think of others right now
The CDRW drive that your brother has is a little older, and quite slow by today's standards. If he's using high-speed rated CDRs, they may not work well (it should be marked on a CD something like 2x, 8x, 12x, etc). The drive is rated as being able to write CD's at 8x speed, thus faster-rated CDRs may not work well (or may not work at all).
First thing that he could try is to download the Nero demo version, and try writing the CDRs with it - it's quite easy. Once the software starts, let hinm choose the CD_ROM (ISO) icon, on the "multisession" tab choose "no multisession", on the "burn" tab choose "write", "finalize the cd" and write speed "8x" (once he's familiar with what each setting does, he can change them, but for a test this should be ok). Then click "new" button. After doing this, he'll be presented with a screen divided in 2 sides: left side will be blank, right side will look something like windows explorer. To select files for writing, you have to drag them from right side to the left side. When done, choose "file->write CD", click "write", and it'll start
LMK if this helps any, or if there are any other problems.
Linear Mode
