Chapter 7: Using Files and Folders
Making Your Own CDs All CD drives on computers can read CDs, but many can write CDs as well. Windows XP includes software for creating CDs.
What Are CD-R and CD-RW? You can create two different kinds of CDs:
- CD-R (compact disk recordable) disks can be written on once (they are WORM, or Write Once, Read Many). They can't be changed after they are written (though you can write on them many times until they are filled up). You can read CD-R disks in normal computer CD-ROM drives, as well as in audio CD players, so CD-R is the type of CD to use when creating music CDs or CDs to distribute to lots of people. Blank CD-Rs are relatively cheap (we've seen them for as little as ten cents apiece in the United States.).
- CD-RW (compact disk rewritable) disks can be written and rewritten many times, like a floppy disk. CD-RW disks can be rewritten about 1,000 times. You can use them as removable storage for sets of files that you want to update regularly (as a backup media). However, they are only readable in other CD-RW drives, and sometimes only by the same model drive. So, for example, you might put all your documents on a CD-RW and conveniently carry them to the other side of the world, where you could read and update them on another computer with a compatible CD-RW drive.
Both types of writable CDs hold approximately the same amount of data: about 650MB for 74-minute disks and about 700 MB for 80-minute disks. CD-R drives can write only CD-R disks, not CD-RW disks. CD-RW drives can write both types of disks.
CD-Burning Basics To create (or burn) a CD-R or CD-RW, you collect a group of files that you want to save on the CD, and then write them in one session. You can write multiple sessions to both CD-R and CD-RW disks, but not all CD-ROM drives will be able to read them: Audio CD players usually see only the first session on a CD-R disk, and data CD-ROM drives usually see only the last session. (Multisession CDs, packet-writing, and other more advanced CD topics are covered in the excellent CD-Recordable FAQ by Andy McFadden, on the Web at http://www.cdrfaq.org.)
Previous versions of Windows required third-party software to save files on CD-Rs and CD-RWs. If you do a lot of work with CD-Rs and CD-RWs you may still find it convenient to get software like Easy CD Creator (http://www.roxio.com) or Nero Burning (http://www.ahead.de). However, Windows XP integrates CDs into Windows Explorer. When you put a CD-R or CD-RW disk into your CD-R or CD-RW drive, Explorer recognizes what kind of disk it is and integrates it into the folder tree.
Before you store files on a CD, you decide what files to include in the session and how you want them arranged before you write any of them to the disk. For this reason, Windows provides a staging area on your hard drive that has the same capacity as the CD you plan to write. As you move files to and from the icon of your CD-R or CD-RW drive, the files are not actually written to the CD, but instead are copied to the staging area.
Burning CDs from Windows Explorer Once you know what you want to store on a CD, and whether you have a CD-R or CD-RW drive, follow these steps to create a CD-R or CD-RW disk:
- Buy some blank disks from your local computer store or mail-order or online catalog. Be sure to check whether you are getting CD-R or CD-RW disks.
- Place the disk in the CD-R or CD-RW drive and close the drawer. Windows indicates that it has detected a CD by flashing a CD-ROM icon next to your mouse pointer. After Windows scans the disc and determines that it is indeed blank, an Explorer window for the disk opens.
- Drag or copy all items that you wish to store on the disk into the new window and arrange them into folders as you like. For audio disks, arrange the files into the order in which you want the tracks to appear. Your data will appear on the disc in exactly the same way you arrange it.
- Click the Copy Files To CD button in the Task pane. You see the CD Copy Wizard.
- Follow the wizard's instructions and wait. In approximately 12-15 minutes you have a freshly burned CD. The more information you are writing on the CD, the longer it takes to complete.
- Try out the CD in the type of drive in which you want it to work (audio CD player, computer CD drive, CD-R drive, or CD-RW drive).
