If you use Nero Burning ROM, you’d notice that the write speed that’s displayed when burning stuff is constant at the write speed you selected. Well, you can change it so that it updates to show the actual write speed in (almost) real-time if you are open to simple registry “hacking”. Yes, we are such geeks to want to sit there staring at the write speed going up (yay!) and down (hiss!). Unfortunately, I only hit 8.1x on my new TDK DVD-writer (media: Sony 4x DVD+R, RICOHJPNR01).

You can follow the instructions in the thread, or copy and paste the following code into a .reg file and run it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Ahead\Nero - Burning Rom\Recorder]
“ShowSingleRecorderSpeed”=dword:00000001

Or grab this .reg file we’ve helpfully prepared for you and run it (it’ll prompt you to add the key to the registry).