How to Burn a CD
Open your optical drive drawer., Get a recordable CD disc., Decide on the type of CD you plan to burn., Decide on what software you will use to burn your CD., Burn your CD.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Open your optical drive drawer.
On the front of the computer (or side of your laptop), there will be a small "drawer," with a rectangular button to the lower right.
This is your CD-burning device (It might be a CD or it might be a DVD, which can burn both).
If you don't see this, your computer doesn't have the capability of burning a CD directly.
However, an external CD or DVD burner can easily be hooked up through the USB slot. -
Step 2: Get a recordable CD disc.
There are two types of CDs that you can use.
A CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) can be burned once, and can not be erased.
This type disc is usually used for permanent storage.
For example; a music CD, a picture CD, or any other type of data that you want to keep permanently.
A CD-RW (Compact Disc Re-Writable) is a rewritable optical disc format.
This type of disc can be burned, erased, and then burned again.
This type disc is usually used for temporary data storage. , There are many different types of CDs that can be burned and how you proceed depends on which type you are going to burn:
Music.
This is the type of CD that is normally burned for use in a home or automobile CD player.
Data.
This type of CD is most often used to store files that can be used by a computer, and is similar to a standard hard disk.
Use it to store writing docs, spreadsheets, databases, and any other file type.
Note that while you can store music files on a data CD, you cannot use it in a standard home or automobile CD player.
MP3.
This is a data CD containing only .mp3 compressed music files.
Because it is actually a standard data CD, only CD players that specifically support .mp3 playback will be able to play the music on this CD.
The advantage is that you can fit about five times as many .mp3s on a data CD as you can on a music CD.
Disk image.
A disk image file is a file that contains an exact copy of a disk.
The most common type of disk image is an .ISO image (International Standards Organisation) , which simply means an exact copy of the original disc, stored on your hard drive.
One can then burn a CD from the .ISO image and create a usable CD. , There are many different programs that are designed to burn CDs.
Some are built into the computer's operating system, while others are individual programs.
These programs range from very simple to very complex.
Some of these are free, while others have to be purchased.
As this varies by manufacturer, it's best to check the documentation that came with your computer to get the details from the user's guide., Once you've figured out that you can burn a disc, and that you've got the software to do it, it's time to get down to the actual burning.
The actual steps will vary depending on what software you use, but the general process goes like this:
Open your CD drive drawer.
Press on the small rectangular button on the lower right of the drive, on the front of your computer.
Place the CD-R into the tray, face up.
Press the drawer to close it.
Launch your CD-burning software.
Follow the on-screen instructions to add content to the CD-burning software.
Click the "burn" button, and wait while the computer does its CD-burning thing. -
Step 3: Decide on the type of CD you plan to burn.
-
Step 4: Decide on what software you will use to burn your CD.
-
Step 5: Burn your CD.
Detailed Guide
On the front of the computer (or side of your laptop), there will be a small "drawer," with a rectangular button to the lower right.
This is your CD-burning device (It might be a CD or it might be a DVD, which can burn both).
If you don't see this, your computer doesn't have the capability of burning a CD directly.
However, an external CD or DVD burner can easily be hooked up through the USB slot.
There are two types of CDs that you can use.
A CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable) can be burned once, and can not be erased.
This type disc is usually used for permanent storage.
For example; a music CD, a picture CD, or any other type of data that you want to keep permanently.
A CD-RW (Compact Disc Re-Writable) is a rewritable optical disc format.
This type of disc can be burned, erased, and then burned again.
This type disc is usually used for temporary data storage. , There are many different types of CDs that can be burned and how you proceed depends on which type you are going to burn:
Music.
This is the type of CD that is normally burned for use in a home or automobile CD player.
Data.
This type of CD is most often used to store files that can be used by a computer, and is similar to a standard hard disk.
Use it to store writing docs, spreadsheets, databases, and any other file type.
Note that while you can store music files on a data CD, you cannot use it in a standard home or automobile CD player.
MP3.
This is a data CD containing only .mp3 compressed music files.
Because it is actually a standard data CD, only CD players that specifically support .mp3 playback will be able to play the music on this CD.
The advantage is that you can fit about five times as many .mp3s on a data CD as you can on a music CD.
Disk image.
A disk image file is a file that contains an exact copy of a disk.
The most common type of disk image is an .ISO image (International Standards Organisation) , which simply means an exact copy of the original disc, stored on your hard drive.
One can then burn a CD from the .ISO image and create a usable CD. , There are many different programs that are designed to burn CDs.
Some are built into the computer's operating system, while others are individual programs.
These programs range from very simple to very complex.
Some of these are free, while others have to be purchased.
As this varies by manufacturer, it's best to check the documentation that came with your computer to get the details from the user's guide., Once you've figured out that you can burn a disc, and that you've got the software to do it, it's time to get down to the actual burning.
The actual steps will vary depending on what software you use, but the general process goes like this:
Open your CD drive drawer.
Press on the small rectangular button on the lower right of the drive, on the front of your computer.
Place the CD-R into the tray, face up.
Press the drawer to close it.
Launch your CD-burning software.
Follow the on-screen instructions to add content to the CD-burning software.
Click the "burn" button, and wait while the computer does its CD-burning thing.
About the Author
Ashley Carter
Committed to making cooking accessible and understandable for everyone.
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