>I was browsing my MSDN Sampler CD yesterday, when the computer hung due to a problem in another program. I had to reset the computer. Now whenever I try to browse that CD, the computer hangs again, or at least takes a very long time (over 5 minutes) to display the folders and files. For example, if I put the CD in the drive, the intro screen comes up ok, but if I try to go to another screen, the computer hangs. This is not a problem with other CD's.
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Have you tried cleaning the CD? While it doesn't happen often, dirt or grease can make sections of a CD unreadable. This sounds like one of your directory blocks is marginal.

FWIW, I use Kensington's CD Cleaner (their Model 51890A), which I picked up at a local Staples for about $10. Comes with a small bottle of cleaner and a cleaning tray that you crank by hand. Does a fine job when dirt is the problem; doesn't help a whit if you've badly scratched the surface of the CD.

>My PC is running Windows NT 4.1. Since it cannot write to the MSDN CD, I suppose there must be some directory or index of it store on my hard drive that got corrupted. How do I correct this? The CD did not install anything on the hard drive that I am aware of.

What is NT 4.1? The latest non-beta version I'm aware of is NT 4.0 Build 1381 Service Pack 4. The only product I know of that reports 4.1 is Windows 98 - the current build is 4.10.1998. Win98 is not NT; it's much closer to Win95 than WinNT.

If the problem is a temporary cache entry, restarting Windows should clear the cache; you might want to check Control Panel-Add/Remove Software to see if you accidentally installed something.