FS VFR Scenery unrecognised prob.

[techniquest]

Hi, I'm new to this forum, so apologies if this is an inappropriate question, but I'm at the end of my tether...Can anyone help me here please?
Today I bought VFR Photographic Scenery for FS2002/4; I also bought Lock-On.
How angry was I when the VFR couldn't install due to the program not recognising the fact that the CD was in the drive. How much more angry was I when Lock-On installed without any problem, but on trying to play once again the program doesn't recognise that the CD is in the drive.
I've had this issue before - I can't use FS2004, nor SimCity 4 for the same reasons. No one has ever been able to tell me why. I am running XP on a fairly hi-spec machine, but there is something that is being put on these CD's that renders them useless in both my drives.
Therefore I use FS2002, which runs perfectly, as do the few other games I have (MSTS, SimCity3000, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, Simpsons Hit n Run...). I do not have SP2 installed as I still need the use of my printer/scanner.
Can anyone help me, or is a case of return to the shop and a refund?