may have an answer..really late but might help somone later on...
i had this issue, at first didn't even realize that the dvd drive was what was slowing things down until i tried using freemake to burn a dvd and noticed it sped right up (as did everything else) when i ejected the disc. then i proceded to try every program (most of which are scams and/or malware including all of them recomended here) until finally i said "hmm, maybe it's the obvious i thought was too dumb to work" and tried a different disc like the one fella suggested, and poof, low and behold it worked! then of course, being the parinoid i am, i started dreaming up an evil plot against me involving chinese terrorists manufacturing malware infected sony discs (which are not made in china, but whatever) NOPE upon further inspection of the disc i noticed a HUGE deep scratch, i had no idea a scratched dvd could wreak such havoc on the O.S. but apparently it can. so if anyone else has this issue CHECK THE DISC IT'S PROBABLY SCRATCHED OR HAS A FACTORY DEFECT! hope that helps somone someday:sarc:
