How to burn a CD
| How you go about burning a CD depends on what you want the CD to do once burned. | |
| A Data CD holds documents that can be read by a computer. This type of CD is much like a floppy disk. | |
| An Audio CD holds music tracks and can be read by a computer or a CD player. This type of CD is like the one you bought of your favorite music artist. | |
| Creating a copy of a CD will do exactly that: create a copy of a CD which has already been made. | |
| With that in mind choose one of the following job aids: | |
| • Burning a Data CD • Burning an Audio CD • Copying a CD • Recording Tips |
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Burning a Data CD
1. |
Creating a data CD allows you to store files exactly as they appear on your hard drive. This is useful for backing up files of any type, including pictures, documents, and music. For data CDs you can use CD-Rs, or CD-RWs. CD-Rs are probably the best choice because they're very cheap, offer the fastest writing capability, and are compatible with any CD drive. Note: CD-R refers to a CD that once written will be Read-only. Once written a CD-RW will be a CD that is Re-Writeable and therefore can be used more than once. |
2. |
After installing the program, click Start, then Programs. In the Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 folder, select Project Manager. This is the wizard interface for the program, and the easiest way to learn how to burn CDs. |
3. |
Select Make a CD, and then click the Data CD button. |
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4. |
This is the real heart of the Easy CD Creator Program. The top window is the Source Window, it points to files on your hard drive. The one on the bottom-left is the CD Project Folder Tree, which lists all the folders that are going to be burned in the current CD. The one on the bottom-right is the CD Project Folder, where the files that are going to be burned appear. |
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5. |
CD. The one on the bottom-right is the CD Project Folder, where the files that are going to be burned appear. |
6. |
Now you can simply drag files and folders from the Source Window, into the CD Project Window. The amount of space you have free on the CD is monitored by the bar at the bottom of the screen. |
7. |
You can rename the disc ID by right clicking anywhere in the CD Project Folder Tree window, and select Rename. This affects what the disc is called whenever it is read by a computer. |
8. |
Once you are ready to burn the disc, insert your recordable CD into your CD-RW drive. If you are using a CD-RW disk, you must format the disc before you can use it. See the help file in the program for more information. |
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9. |
Click the File menu, and then select Record CD. Make sure that your CD-RW drive is selected. Select the fastest Write Speed available, and choose how many copies you would like to make. Click the Options button, and make sure Record CD is selected under Record Options. For more information on the items under Record Method, see the program’s help file, otherwise leave settings on defaults. |
10. |
When you are ready, click Start Recording. |
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| Having trouble after you start recording? Head down to the Recording Tips section | |
Burning an Audio CD
1. |
Burning audio CDs is useful because they are playable in any CD player. You can only use CD-R discs to burn music, CD-RW discs can not be read in CD players. |
2. |
Start the Project Selector from the Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 folder. From there select Make a Music CD, then select Music CD Project. The Easy CD Creator interface for audio CDs consists of two windows; the top window is the Source Window, which consists of the files on your hard drive. The one on the bottom is the CD Project Window. You can drag any MP3 files from the Source Window into the CD Project Window. The amount of space you have left on the disc (in minutes) is tracked by the bar at the bottom of the screen. |
| Note: The amount of space you have on the disc depends on the length of the disc, which is either 74 minutes or 80 minutes. Most discs now are 80 minutes, you can also tell the length by looking at the label on the disc. | |
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3. |
Feel free to create a title for your new audio CD mix, also make sure that the songs are placed in the track order that you want. |
4. |
When you are ready to record, click the File menu, and then select Record CD. If you have not done so yet, insert a CD-R into your CD-RW drive. |
5. |
Make sure that your CD-RW drive is selected, and the drive is set to write at maximum speed. Under Record Method, make sure that Disc at Once is selected. If you want a more detailed explanation of all these options, see Step 8 above. Otherwise, click Start Recording. |
| Note: Burning audio CD's usually takes longer than burning data CD's. Having trouble after you start recording? Head down to the Recording Tips section. |
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