You won't have any brand specific drivers for a BD drive -- just the generic drivers included in Windows [my Pioneer BDR-207D & my Optiarc DVD burner both use cdrom.sys & PxHlpa64.sys in win7 64]. Firmware is upgradeable, & there's a handy app called Media Code Speed Edit that lets you modify the OEM firmware a bit. Blu-Ray uses something like UDF 2.5 [at least that's what you set ImgBurn to], & XP doesn't support it out of the box -- win7 & 8 do. Microsoft has a couple of updates to fix that, & there's a hacked Toshiba driver that lots of people [& Aiseesoft Blu-Ray apps] use, but the older, modified version of PowerDVD that came with my 1st LG drive was what finally got Blu-Ray working in XP Pro for me -- nothing else would.

Windows itself can get mucked up when it comes to DVD &/or BD drives -- in older versions it was UDMA got switched off, but newer versions can have problems losing the drives or not working with them properly... *Usually* -- But Not Always -- I think it has something to do with registry entries for upper & lower filters http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314060

Some viruses, worms etc. do try to add themselves to any discs you burn, so I'd guess in theory anyway that might have something to to with it, since you posted you're still having problems. If you wanted to give it a quick try, Kaspersky has their free TDSSKiller -- couldn't hurt to run it at any rate http://support.kaspersky.com/5350?el=88446

Norton also has a free tool called Norton Power Eraser http://security.symantec.com/nbrt/npe.aspx?

"Norton Power Eraser is specially designed to aggressively target scamware. It uses our most thorough scanning technology to eliminate threats that traditional virus scanning doesn’t always detect, so you can get your PC back."

"Because Norton Power Eraser uses aggressive methods to detect threats, there is a risk that it can select some legitimate programs for removal. You should use this tool very carefully. If you accidently remove a legitimate program, you can run Norton Power Eraser to review past repair sessions and undo them. "

Since you're thinking of starting over, if it's win8 giving you problems don't forget there's a new feature designed to make it easier, though you might still be better off wiping everything as you posted to make sure you got rid of any viruses etc. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/restore-refresh-reset-pc

I had the same problem with my bundled software with my Blu-Ray Player (Pioneer). At the moment it's not even working because the driver has become corrupted (not been able to find the correct fdriver via Pioneers web site).

Whether its a side effect of the recent installation of SoundFrost I'm not sure, but it's not worked since I installed SoundFrost. (Incidentally, I thought I'd cleared SoundFrost and all its extras from my system, but it's reappeared and now things are as bad as ever. I'm thinking of just flashing my drive and starting afresh. :)

With the Aurora Player on BDJ went to do a quick test, & at the same time ran through a few other players for comparison.

The Aurora Blu-Ray Player & the recent GOTD Aiseesoft Blu-Ray player seem for the most part identical, & though the Aurora version has a few more options, including some undocumented tests included in the menus, the Aiseesoft player seemed more polished & had a subjectively better display. Both played the movie on a disc with DRM fine, allowed you to choose different titles, audio, & sub tracks, but neither would play the Blu-Ray menus. Note that in a great many cases title selection is useless -- you're not going to try 100 or so titles hoping to find the one you want. Both players have a decent full-screen view with disappearing controls.

The basic version of PowerDVD that came with my Blu-Ray burner wouldn't play the disc at all -- it couldn't handle the DRM. Cineplayer [no longer sold by Roxio] & Nero 12's Blu-Ray Player worked just like they were supposed to, though Cineplayer like PowerDVD switches the display to basic [turns off Aero] when playing HD. Display was subjectively the best overall, & these players handled everything the disc had to offer, meaning not only menus & special features, but a seemingly endless stream of trailers & promos before you got to the main movie menu. Note that a design weakness of Blu-Ray means you can't just mouse over menu items but have to use roughly simulated remotes -- both Cineplayer & Nero are a bit weak here, since you have to turn the remote display on/off, in Cineplayer to access the Next button, in Nero to get it off screen & out of the way of the movie.

Some people have mentioned VLC as a solution... As expected VLC would not play the disc due to DRM. Pointing VLC to a folder with the same files/folders you'd find on a Blu-Ray disc fared only a little better -- I had to point it to the folder holding the actual video streams, & then VLC had no idea which title to play, so it started with # 1... not much good if the title with the movie is 800, nor is it useful if several titles make up the movie. VLC is also a bit of a PITA to get to a good full-screen view, & won't go to a smaller Windowed mode unless you manually resize it each time you play a movie. In fairness if you make a non-DRM copy or were running AnyDVD HD to remove DRM on the fly, VLC might work OK with a disc.

MPC Home Cinema is a very popular player, allowing you to use Direct Show filters to improve playback & display. Like VLC it couldn't do anything with the disc because of DRM, but it can tell which title in a Blu-Ray folder on your HDD to play, & getting to a full-screen view & back is much nicer than with VLC.

Summary: the Aurora & Aiseesoft players do work, & I can understand them having to price the players as they do -- maintaining servers with directions on bypassing constantly changing DRM has costs. OTOH the Nero Blu-Ray player doesn't bypass anything, letting you play everything on the disc as intended, & again today I got an offer for Nero 12 Platinum bundled with 4 other apps for $39 -- nothing was mentioned about upgrades [I'd post the link but it includes my email address]. I've also seen Nero fairly often for $0 after MIR. Considering all you get with Nero or Nero Platinum, I can't justify recommending that anyone pay $50 for Aurora's Player.