"imapi cd burning com service" is not to be found in msconfig, you say? have you looked?
About manual vs automatic. If I have it set to manual and starts a burn in mediaplayer, it magically starts anyway
The question that should have been asked would have been pointed at drewski as to which version of Windows was this problem being seen on. For burning with WMP 10 in XP the following would apply.
To enable CD burning
1.
From the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and then click Open.
2.
In the Devices with Removable Storage area, right-click the CD drive, and then click Properties.
3.
If your CD drive is recognized, you will see a Recording tab. On the Recording tab, verify that the Enable CD recording on this drive check box is selected.
Next, verify that the Image Mastering API (IMAPI) CD-Burning COM service on your computer is enabled.
To enable IMAPI
1.
Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Services.
2.
Right-click IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service, and then click Properties.
3.
Set the Startup type to Automatic.
4.
Click Start to start the service, and then click OK. Note that you may have to log off and then log on for this change to take effect.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/mediaadvice/0091.mspx
The Imap cd burning COM service item is not seen in the msconfig if you happen to be running Vista. The previous instructions for typing in the services.msc command on the Start>Run apply to both versions there.