Error Code -43 : unable to burn a CD in Jaguar 10.2.8

Question

Hello everyone - good to be here. I hope someone can help me.
I'm trying to back up a folder (contains JPEG images) on to a CD-RW (or CD-R).
I recently upgraded from OSX 10.1 to 10.2 (and then to 10.2.8 via the online update) without any problems. About 6 weeks ago, I burned a similar folder to CD when I was still on OSX 10.1 and that was fine - the CD image appeared on the desktop, I prepared it, dragged the folder over, and it burned and self-verified.
Now this is my first attempt at burning a CD via OSX 10.2: no CD appeared on the Desktop, although the Finder preferences indicate that it should(?), and a box appeared saying 'You inserted a blank CD...choose from the pop-up menu (Open Finder/iTunes/Disk Copy)'. I believe this message is new to OSX 10.2 but quite normal?
The trouble is, I'm not sure where to go from there, because when I opt for 'Open Finder', the message disappears, the CD ejects, and an error message appears:
"The operation could not be completed. An unexpected error occurred (error code -43)"
I've tried searching these discussions threads for that error code, and CD burning issues, but nothing precisely relevant is turning up. (A Google search says that code -43 means something like 'File or Folder not found', but I don't know how accurate or up-to-date that is, or what it could signify.)
The drive still reads and plays my existing CDs without any problems.
My 600MHz G3 Power PC iMac has 384Mb memory, and when I open the MacHD icon, the status bar says 31.14Gb available.
I'd quite like to get to the root of this, because my new job is going to involve having to back-up a lot of written work at regular intervals.
Sorry if this query is a bit dull, and my operating system (and computer knowledge!) is behind the times, but I would be very grateful for any help.
Thank you.
iMac PowerPC G3 600 MHz Mac OS X (10.2.x)
iMac PowerPC G3 600 MHz   Mac OS X (10.2.x)  

Answer 1

Hi, I'm back as promised. [sound of collective groaning]
The good news is that, because the CD-R icon had started to reappear on the desktop, I tried to burn a file and (with one exception - see later) the CD burned fine. I then Repaired Permissions as advised; quite a few items appeared on the list of repairs, but it completed successfully. However, it didn't solve the problem of the CD-RW icon not appearing and it still produces the Error Message 'Error Code -43'. However, I'm slightly less worried now, because I've managed to backup to a CD-R and hopefully that'll continue to work.
Thank you for your advice on the above - maybe it's a media problem after all.
But just out of interest: There were three other irritating problems, two of which I've had for a while, and which are still there after Repairing Permissions, and one that's come to light since I burned the CD-R. The first two I didn't mention before because they're unimportant compared to the potential failure to back-up to CD, but I'll mention these now in case there's a really obvious solution, and they may shed some light on the original problem:
1. When I access youtube.com (or any forum/messageboard that has a YouTube video embedded), I get an alert box showing an exclamation point and the message 'Javascript Application [Type Function]' (or 'IE Script Alert [type function]' depending on the browser) and underneath that
two windows saying '404 Not Found'. When I close those and select a YouTube clip, I get the message that I've either got Javascript switched off (I haven't!) or I have an outdated Flash version. Well, I've got Flash OSX version 9, but when I remount it, first it appears to think I've got an Intel Mac not a PowerPC, but when I override that it installs almost fully before producing the Flash messages 'Error Creating File 1008:5; - 5000 Access denied error' and 'You do not have enough access privileges for this installation'.
2. All my folders have started opening in new windows, rather than superseding each other as they used to. I've no idea why, because my Finder Preferences doesn't have that box checked at all.
3a. When I Trash an item, it doesn't go to rest in the Trash, instead it produces a message saying the item will be immediately deleted, do I want to continue? I'm not sure why this is happening now, it never did before;
3b. I wanted to Trash an individual JPEG image but I got a message saying 'The operation cannot be completed because you do not have sufficient privileges for [JPEG name]'. No other JPEG images are affected by this.
As I say, the above 3 problems I can live with if they can't be solved (though I do miss YouTube!), but I just wondered if they might ring a bell with anyone in the light of my original unsolved problem. I suspect my iMac may be going a little mad in its old age.
Thanks again, and sorry to take up more of your time.
iMac PowerPC G3 600 MHz   Mac OS X (10.2.x)