My Philips CDRW 400 series came with the Easy CD creator 4.0 version. Now I own Windows XP and the software has compatibility issues. I wanted to know if I can simply buy another CD burning software and install it to work with my Philips burner? The upgrade of easy cd creator is very expensive :( Should I be looking at compatibily issues as well between independent softwares and my Philips hardware?

Get a trial version of Nero Burning Rom, and if u like it then buy it. I've been using Nero since ive got my burner 2 years ago, its acceptable, lots of options, low resources and quick updates from the producer. A must have.