Before venturing to explain how Windows is used to create a CD disk, the following are just a few comments about the types of CD disks that are available.  Blank CD disks come in two different formats – CD-R and CD-RW.  The CD-R is a “write-once” format.  You can write information to the disk, but then it cannot be deleted or the disk re-formatted.  This is perhaps ideal if the information never changes and a permanent copy is what you require.  CD-RW disks on the other hand can be written to, but can also be erased and further information written on it.  This can be done repeatedly.  The latter type of disk is naturally more expensive, but more flexible.  Approximately 650 or 700Mb of information can be written to a CD-R or CD-RW disk, depending on which capacity disk you have purchased.

An ordinary CD-R disk drive can only read information contained on a CD disk.  To write to a CD, you will need a CD-RW (CD Read-Write) disk drive (one that is capable of “burning” information onto a CD).  CD-RW drives are usually supplied complete with a variety of different proprietary software utilities that enable you to “burn” CDs for different purposes. 

Windows XP now also has built-in features to allow you to copy information onto CD in a similar manner to copying information to any conventional disk (computer hard disk, floppy or zip disks).

When copying or moving information from one disk to another in Windows, you would normally use MY COMPUTER or WINDOWS EXPLORER to highlight the information to copy or move and then using the COPY button and highlighting the disk or folder where you wish the information to go and using the PASTE button.  Alternatively, you can highlight the information to be copied or moved and then drag and drop it onto the destination disk or folder.

To write information onto a CD-RW disk, you use exactly the same process, with a couple of additional steps.  First, place the blank CD-RW disk into the CD-RW drive.  In MY COMPUTER or WINDOWS EXPLORER, select (highlight) the information to be placed on the CD-RW disk, hit COPY.  Then place the cursor on the CD-RW disk drive and hit PASTE.  The information will be placed in a temporary format and Windows will display a small window on the Task Bar, indicating that there are files waiting to be written to your CD-RW drive.  If you click on the message, a window will open showing the list of files waiting to be written to the CD.  Select “Write these files to the CD”.  Windows will prepare the files for writing, and then burn them onto the blank disk.

If the disk is not blank, then you will be prompted to erase the CD-RW disk first.  NB: You cannot “add” files to a CD-RW disk that already contains data.  To incrementally add files to a CD-RW, it is necessary to copy the files from the CD to a temporary folder on the computer’s hard disk, add the new files to that folder, erase the CD-RW disk and then re-write the files using the process described above.

This might seem a complex process, but once you have done it, it becomes easier to understand.  If you require further assistance with this or any similar type of problem with your computer system, then call May Day Consulting on (01224) 697457.