What's the front look like? Usally there's some little symbol indicated what the drive is capable of...
Here's my drive. The left two badges basically mean it's a DVD-RW. This particular model has a few extra formats than most, but you should see something similar. The center is on basically any DVD-Burner. If you only see the badge similar to what's on the right, you just have a CD-Burner...
Now if you have confirmed you have a DVD recorder, make sure everything's updated with windows. Be sure you have Service Pack two installed, and any other updates. It's a good practice anyway. Keeps your computer much more secure and sometimes stable.