dvd burner no burner

this is both a question and an answer since someone on another forum solved
it for me after a year of frustration but I am wondering if it is a vista
problem or a wireless broadband glitch and if microsoft could fix it in
future verions.
when I use windows DVD maker my burner is absent that is drive E does not
appear in the choose burner box, that is until I unplug my wireless broadband
dongle then hello IT"S BACK!!! I rebooted vista and searched fruitlessly for
a year resorting to buying real player plus to burn DVD's and it was this
simple but impossible to guess, I hope in the meantime this helps someone
else, it is a bug that needs fixing.
--
wendy