Burning CDs using Windows XP

Do I have to using 3rd party burning software for simple backups jobs?

This question was answered on May 18, 2006. Much of the information contained herein may have changed since posting.

---

These days, virtually every PC has a writable CD drive Your drive probably came with software that allows you to create audio CDs and perform specialized functions If you use Windows XP, you don’t need third-party software to write files to a disk in your CD-R or CD-RW drive Here's how to use Windows XP’s built-in burning utility to perform simple backup tasks.

1. Right-click a file or folder, or a selection of files or folders that you want to copy to a CD.

2. From the shortcut menu, choose Send To, CDRW Drive.

3. Repeat these steps for all of the items that you want to copy.

When you’re ready to create your backup CD, insert a blank CD into the drive (or a CD-RW disk that you’re ready to erase and overwrite) Open your CD drive in My Computer and click Write these files to CD in the task pane, or choose File, Write these files to CD.

As an alternative to using the Send To command, you can drag files into the Windows Explorer folder for your CD drive You can drop files on the CD drive icon, or on a shortcut to that icon Or you can use the Copy and Paste commands When you copy files and folders into the CD drive’s folder, by whatever means, Windows prepares them for transfer to a writable CD The CD folder becomes, in effect, a staging area for the eventual CD burn One word of caution: You’re limited to the contents of one CD (650-702 MB) If you put too many files in this temporary folder, you’ll get an error message when you try to burn a CD, and you’ll have to clear out some files before continuing.

About the author

Posted by Chad of Data Doctors on May 18, 2006

Need Help with this Issue?

We help people with technology! It's what we do.
Contact or Schedule an Appointment with a location for help!