Do you really think it could be a loose connection on both computers? They are networked...
A loose connection on two computers experiencing the same exact thing would be very far fetched, and I don't think so. It has to be something else then, "perhaps non-administrator permissions" which has caused people CD burning grief before and why some CD burning programs install a service to allow burning for non-admin accounts.
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm has a CD burning Allow/Disable download listed at #23 on the far right called Allow or Disable CD Burn Options. I don't know if it would allow you to burn discs or not, but hopefully it works.