cd ripping dilemma on year old computer.

I am ripping cds to itunes for a trip out of the country for a couple weeks. I am leaving sunday. I've noticed during ripping that cds are not ripping correctly and stuttering during the ripping process. these are new cds. what is the chance of a internal dvd drive failure on a one year old cheapy dell computer? I probably have ripped daily for an entire year.

do I just run out and buy a new external dvd drive? are they idiot proof?

help!

 

It's possible the drive is failing. Maybe.
Is it a laptop or desktop type drive?
I occasionally open the drive door for the drive and blow in it with canned air. Sometimes dust and stuff can get inside. The canned air is to blow that out.

You could also try a different ripping program.
An easy one to try would be CUERipper. It's free. It's included in CUETools.
Go to the CUETools web site:http://www.cuetools.net/wiki/CUETools_Download
Download the 2.1.5 zip file.
Extract the ZIP file to a directory.
Doubleclick on CUERipper.exe
There is no installer for CUETools or CUERipper. You just extract the zip a directory and directly run the program.
It should be fairly easy to figure out. It can extract to FLAC, ALAC, AAC, MP3, and other formats.
For fast ripping set it to "Burst"
If you get errors in burst mode then change to "Secure"

 

That might be your issue right there - it's a cheap computer, and you've been using the heck out of it. I'd get a new USB CD drive.