- 1). Install CD authoring software, if necessary. Many computers come from the factory with appropriate CD authoring software preinstalled, in which case it is not necessary to install any additional software. Such software is typically named something along the lines of "CD Creator," "CD Burner," or "CD Recorder," all of which refer to the act of recording information to a blank CD. Consult your computer owner's manual to see if your system has this software. If it does not, you can access K3B for Linux and InfraRecorder for Windows on the Internet and copy either one legally and free of charget, since they are "open source" software (meaning their source code is freely shared so that other programmers can improve on it), and fully adequate for everyday burning needs.
- 2). Start your CD authoring software and select "data disk" from the menu of disk types. Depending on the exact software you use, it may be called something slightly different, such as "data CD."
- 3). Add the files you want to burn to the staging area. The staging area is a list of what files and directories are to be recorded to the CD. The CD authoring software has a list of directories and files available on your hard drive. To add them to the CD, simply click the desired file or directory and drag it into the staging area.
- 4). Insert a blank CD into the drive and "burn" your CD. "Burning" a CD is the act of actually recording the data to the disk through the action of a special laser inside the drive, which chemically alters the surface of the disk to encode information. CD authoring software typically has both a menu item and a toolbar icon labelled, "Burn Disk." When the staging area contains the files you want to burn, click this icon or menu item to actually burn the disk.
- 5). Verify that your CD contains the desired data. While burning errors are rare, they do occasionally occur. Try to open the files on your newly burned CD to verify that they work and contain the desired data.
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