How To Burn A CD

If you have never burned a compact disc before, the process is probably much easier than you think. There are two ways to format a burned CD: Data and audio. The first option is used to backup general files, and the second creates a music disc.
Both formats are created using a similar process, however this tutorial focuses on creating a music CD. Assuming you already have the audio files you wish to burn on your computer, open the folder that contains these files. Make sure you have a blank CD in your disc drive, and that the drive is capable of burning data.
You can right click on the individual songs you wish to use, select “Send to” and then “CD drive” to select the tracks you wish to burn one by one. You can also click within the folder, drag the selection box over the desired songs, and then right click and “Send to CD drive” to add multiple tracks at the same time.
There are two types of audio CDs you can burn. An MP3 CD – technically considered a data CD – can hold up to 700 megabytes of music (100 to 200 songs). Unfortunaly it will not work in every CD player. A standard audio CD can only hold 80 minutes of music, but it will work in every player.
When you are ready to create the disc, go to the desktop, click on “My computer” and select the CD drive icon. This will open a window showing you every song you have in the queue to be burned to disc. From the left-hand navigation menu, you can choose to write these files, or delete them from the queue.
Choose to write the files to disc, and you will be asked to name the CD. You can enter anything you would like in this text box. Click “Next,” and you will be asked whether you want to burn a data or audio CD.
For this tutorial, choose to burn an audio CD and click “Next.” Windows Media Player will open to convert the audio file into a usable format. Click “Start burn,” and the media player will automatically decode the files and burn them to a disc. The amount of time it will take to create the CD is displayed near the bottom, right-hand corner of the screen. When this process is completed, the disc drive will open on your computer. It is now safe to remove the disc and listen to it.