XP, modem & cd problems

Installing a Creative modemblaster v.90 PCI with the driver from the CD gives me a "The data is invalid" error. I've tried forcing it to the win2k driver and winnt driver, same problem. Creative doesnt even have a date for when they'll have an xp driver for it. Can i force it to use a generic driver? It installs fine in my old winME machine (using it now), so the card works. I've tried it in several PCI slots in the new machine, same problem. Has anyone gotten one of these to work with XP? I also tried another PCI modem, from digicom i think, same problem. Could this be a motherboard issue? I have a gigabyte 7vtxe (VIA kt266a) with an athlon xp. Other PCI devices:
netgear fa311 NIC
SB audigy

It shouldnt be a PCI slot problem, the audigy is working fine in the slot where i first tried the modem. Can anyone recommend a cheap modem that will work with XP?

2nd problem: duplicate directory names on CD's. This is probably a windows bug, can anyone else try this?
Explore the CD drive, with the Folder view on the left (not the task view). Now use the right pane to navigate down 2 directory levels (in my case, f:/acrobat/help/) When i open the 2nd folder (/help), the directory structure pane on the left now has 2 entries for the parent window (/acrobat). Both copies work for navigating, but refreshing (hitting F5) removes the duplicates. The drive is a plextor 16/10/40 cdrw. is that anything to worry about?

thanks