Ausatco,
You would think it would at least run in Safe Mode. Could have just been a bad day on the Net. Have you tried downloading them again, just in case?
Since you already tried Safe Mode, this might not help, but in Normal Mode, try hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del and stop all the extra processes before running the Driver and Nero.
Which Driver are you using? Also which Mobo do you have, my guess is the Audio is onboard and not a PCI Card.
Take Care,
Richard