little late on this one, but i think this info may helpful, also there may be an opinion in there.
backing up your own disc is great, as you can make sure that it actually works! alcohol 120 works amazingly, and nero ain't bad either but requires a little adjustment to get the perfect burn.
i have bad luck with the standard 700mb CD-Rs, so i use these
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00065DGGY/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&seller=burning as slow as possible is a silly myth, our fancy new drives are not made for that. writing data at a constant speed is most important. a good rule of thumb for me has been half of my fastest available speed. no coasters as long as the image is good.
if you have the option, burn ISO 96 (nero 10), otherwise disc at once (like in imgburn). if you are just copying the disc, your cd writing software should take care of it
hope this helpful to someone