Ideas in no particular order, particularly after reading the clue that it aborts when ready to write the CD:

Clean the CD drive +1. There are cleaning CDs that have a little brush on the surface and you run a short routine when prompted by the auto-play instructions.

Are you by any chance using blank DVD discs instead of Cd?

I never tried to burn MP3s, only WAV files because the CD red book standard is WAV 16-bit, 44.1K sampling.

Ten years is a long for for changes in OS. Did you check for updated or compatible drivers for your CD burner hardware? Updates to the burning software?

Sunspots? Squirrels chewed some cables?


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.