Bits'n'Bytes

As heard on CJCD

Episode 29

I often get asked by people how they are supposed to burn stuff to a CD or a DVD. They have a burner installed in their computer, but have no idea how to go about creating a burned CD or DVD.

Well, for starters, you need to have a recordable disc to record to. If you have a CD burner, get some CDRs or CDRWs to burn to, and if you have a DVD burner, get your blank recordable DVD into the drive.

Now, if you have Windows XP on your computer, the burning process can be very easy. Click on your "My Computer" icon and surf to the files you want to burn - these could be pictures or music or videos, or whatever. Highlight them, then in the "File and Folder Tasks" window at the left, pick "Copy This File". When the "Copy Item" window opens, pick your CD or DVD burner and click "Copy". Now double click your burner drive to open it and verify the files are in the "Files Ready to be Written to CD" section. Open the "CD Writing Tasks" and pick "Write these files to CD". Windows will start writing the data to the CD. When the burning process finishes, you're done! Put the CD into an envelope and mail it to Mom to show her how smart you are.

It sounds like a lot of steps, but it's really fairly easy. The problem with Windows XP CD writing is you're never quite sure when you've added too many files to fit on one CD. This is where other programs, like Nero Burning ROM and Roxio's Easy CD and DVD Creator are more convenient. These programs have an indicator on the screen to let you know exactly how full your CD or DVD is getting.

These programs are also fairly easy to learn. If you think you might want to try your hand at burning CDs or DVDs, give us a call for a quick lesson. It usually only takes one or two attempts to master it.

Stay tuned next week when I talk thumb drives.

I’m Computer Dave, thanks for your time.