I have a lap top which is in great condition, the 1st problem is that the dvd/cd drive does not write. The other problem is that the usb ports on most external writers are usb 2.0. i would like to be able to put my digital movies photos and music to disc. does anybody know where I can buy an external writer with the USB 1.0 interfaces which are fitted on my laptop.
You shouldn't really have that problem. USB 2 is faster, but, unless they have changed it which I doubt, all things USB 2 are backward compatible with USB 1. The only real difference (OK maybe aside from some technical stuff) that you would notice is the speed of data transfer.
Yes you can plug a USB 2 device into your USB 1 port and the only difference you will notice is that it is slower (Every time you connect it, Windows will probably pop up with a message telling you that you would get better performance if you connected it to a USB 2 port)