Creating Data and Music CD's - July 2006

Creating Data CD's

How Stuff Works articl on how CD Burning works . And a second article from them specific to CDR disks .

Windows XP aims to help simplify the process and does a reasonably good job at it. Here's how to burn a CD with Windows XP:

1. Go to the folder containing the files you want to copy to a CD (usually My Documents)

2. Find the files or folders you want to copy and RIGHT click on them (remember you can use Ctrl+Click to select multiple files or folders)

3. Click the Send To option, then your CDRW drive letter (may be D or E in most cases)

4. Repeat this process for any files and folders you want to copy (keeping in mind that the maximum storage available on a CD is 650-700 megabytes)

5. When you are finished, insert your blank disk (or previously copied disk)

6. Click 'cancel' on the windows that appears

7. Click Start ---> My Computer

8. Double-click your CD drive icon and a window will pop with the files and folders you selected. They will be in a section called "files ready to be written to CD)

9. Click the "write these files to CD" link in the left hand task panel and follow the on-screen wizard.

You can repeat this process over and over until the CD is full...yes, you can write and rewrite to a CDR using this method. Typically, the integrity of the CD is more secure if you only burn them once and use a new one the next time.

You will not be able to backup directly to this drive using only the Windows software. To backup financial or other info to a CD, first save it on your desktop or some other designated place and then follow above steps. However, an easier way of backing up this type of data is using USB Flash Drives.

Burning Music CD's

These steps outline burning music CD's using Windows Media Player which is included on every Windows computer. As already mentioned, there are many programs that can perform this function that can be purchased, downloaded or may already exist on your computer.

1. Click Start --> All Programs --> Windows Media Player
2. Insert a music CD into your computer (cancel any automatic window that may appear)
3. Click Copy from CD (or RIP on some versions of Media Player)
4. Uncheck the boxes of the songs you don't want to copy to your computer/custom CD
5. Click Copy Music (each song will take approximately 60-90 seconds to copy to your computer)
6. Repeat steps 2-5 for each music CD you want to use
7. Keep Windows Media Player open, and insert a blank CDR (must be CDR...don't use blank DVD's or CDRW's)
8. Click the Copy to CD or Device option (or Burn CD on some versions of Media Player)
9. In the Items to Copy column, click the drop down arrow at the top of the page and choose All Music
10. Uncheck the check box at the top of the music list to 'deselect' all the music
11. Check the boxes next to the songs you want to burn to CD (you will be able to fit between 12-18 songs on once CD depeding on the length of the songs)
12. Once you've checked the music you want, click Copy or Burn to start the process.

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