Burning CD/DVD’s in Vista or XP

VISTA and XP: Burning A CD/DVD With Built-in Software

Both Windows XP and Vista contain built-in software for burning CDs or DVDs.  You can use this application to make backup copies of software, or even create music CDs to play at home or take along with you for the car or other  players.  Obviously, you must have a recording device installed in your computer for this to work, but these ROM burners are increasingly part of new computer packages, or available at any place that sells computer hardware. For the following example, we’ll burn a CD.

1.  Insert a blank CD into the CD drive.
2.  In the dialogue box. select “Take no action”.
3. Click “OK”.
4. Open the “My Computer” icon, and open the drive to write the files to
5. Select the files or folders you want to burn.
    A. Hold down the Ctrl key to select multiple items.
6. Drag the selected items onto the CD drive opened in step #4
7. The CD Writing Wizard will now appear.
8. Enter a CD name in the highlighted area.
9. Click “Next”.
10. Once the data has been transfered to the CD, it will self-eject.
11. You will be asked if you would like to make another copy of this CD.
    A. Select “Yes” or “Finish”.
    B. If you answered “Yes”, insert a blank CD.
    C. Click “Next” and follow the directions given.

Because most recorders burn a CD “on-the-fly”, it is important that they are allowed sufficient system resources to do the job.  Close other open applications before starting. It is even a good idea to restart the computer, freeing up memory that has been incorrectly claimed and abandoned.  While these are not required steps, if your burner can’t get the data fast enough, a “data underrun error” could occur, and the CD will not burn properly.

Article written by MyComputerAid.com