Burning to CD was something that was done very frequently, since there were not so many ways to save information. However, as everything has evolved, it was forgotten for some people. What happened is that the content we needed to store was getting heavier and this has a very limited storage capacity.
Despite this limitation, in many cases this is the best way to store information, because it is extremely secure. Being a read-only device, it does not allow data to be overwritten once it is burned for the first time, so it is almost impossible for a virus to contaminate or damage it. That is why it is convenient that you know how to burn a CD from your computer.
In this guide, we will teach you as accurately and clearly as possible the steps you must take to burn a CD from your Windows or MacOS device. You will learn how to do it with and without external programs, in a way that does not matter the circumstances, provided you are prepared to make the recording.
Index:
Steps to burn data, files or programs to a CD or DVD free
Although most people use the pendrive to store their information, there are still many people who prefer the CD, so it is worth knowing how to burn them. So in case you need to share documents, photos and videos with someone who does not have much technology know how to do it.
Keep in mind that they have a limited capacity when archiving, since they are measured in Megabytes (MB) and can save approximately 700 MB, > that would be like 80 minutes of music. DVDs have the same format as Blu-ray, these are calculated by gigabytes (GB) and can collect up to 4.7 GB.
With Windows 10, 7 or 8 without programs
You can burn CDs or DVDs without having a program installed on Windows, it is very easy to do. You only need a recorder drive; that is usually brought by all computers, a blank disc; tries to buy a recordable one (CD-R) to be compatible with any hardware, and the information you want to copy.
Once you have this, perform the following steps:
- The first thing you should do is insert the blank CD and / or DVD into the disc reader or recorder.
- You will see that the moment you do it a box will appear on the computer screen that will indicate that it has already been read, close it and go to Windows Explorer.
- You can enter through the main menu; Find where “Computer” tells you or through the “Windows + E” command, this will send you directly to the window you need.
- There you must enter “DVD RW Drive”.
- When you click on it, a window opens to generate a new disk, you will notice that it gives you the option to give it a name. Below you have two alternatives that determine how to use the disc on your computer, if it is “As a USB flash drive” or “As a CD or DVD player”, In this case select “USB flash drive”. Since what you are looking for is to save data. After you have completed that, press nextNext†.
- The computer will start processing the information you entered, then you will see a pop-up window with the changes you made, close it and go back to Windows Explorer.
- Now you must find the file or information you want to save on your CD, you must select it and right click on it, this will display a menu where you must choose ” Send to ”.
- A submenu will open, in the search and choose “ DVD RW Drive ”.
- After this the process to save the information you are passing to the CD will begin.
- If you want to save more files or data to disk you can do it by sending one by one as you just saw. Also by selecting a file and pressing the CTRL key and using the mouse, dial the others while still pressing (CTRL). Repeat the step of “Send to” and search for the destination.
- At the end of , you should go to your explore Windows and locate the device on the CD in the “Devices with removable storage” section . Right-click on the pop-up window that opened and look for “Eject” . Do it this way so that it will not present any error when reading it on another computer.
With a Mac computer
You have to keep in mind that when using CDs or DVDs as storage devices you won’t be able to delete any files to free up space, so make sure you buy a blank one. It is not recommended that it be formatted, as there may be a trace of information and may present an error at the time of recording.
To learn how to do it, continue reading:
- Insert the CD or DVD without data into your recorder or hard drive.
- Once you have read the disc, you should see a box with some options, where you ask what program you want to open it with. Select “Finder” which is the default one and press “Accept.”
- Next, you must enter an option called “CD without title” in the program sidebar.
- Drag the music you want to the blank window copy. You can also do it by selecting and pasting it.
- After choosing the songs, you must click on the top of the folder where it says “File” and select “Burn CD without a title”.
- Later you should see a box with several options, one of them is for you to add the name to the disk, the next one is for you to choose the speed with which you want it save the information We recommend that you do it in 2x, which is a normal but optimal resolution for MP3 files. The last one is a selection, in case you want to create a backup folder with what you are saving on the CD .
- All that remains is for you to “Record” and he will start processing the information. Keep in mind that this may take a few seconds depending on how much music you are saving. In addition to that you are performing a verification process.
- Before finishing you can make some custom adjustments to the recording, to get a better quality.
- Once it has been verified and recorded, the box will be removed and you will only have to eject the disc. It should be noted that the discs you record with the Mac, you can use on other non-Apple devices.
How to burn and burn MP3 music CD or DVD on Windows or Mac?
You already know how to save information to a disc, but do you want to learn how you can burn MP3 music or burn movies to your DVDs ? In this part we will teach you to do it easily from your computer. You do not need to download a program, because you can do it from the device’s own functions. Best of all, from any operating system.
In Windows 10
If you want to free up space on your hard drive , but you don’t want to delete the music you have on it, you might like to transfer it to a compact disc so you can make a backup and lose nothing.
You can copy them in MP3 or WAV format directly from Windows using the default player, “ Windows Media ”.
- The first thing you should do is insert the CD into the recorder, or your computer’s optical band tray.
- If the disk is not a virgin format it so you can do it. If on the contrary it is a rewritable one you can use it without problems.
- Search for the “Windows media player” . Once it opens, locate the “Record” option in the upper right-hand corner. A window will open to add the desired tracks.
- To do this, look for the folder where you have the music you want to copy to the CD and drag it to the recording list. Remember that the tracks will only support one format (WAV or MP3).
- At the top you will see an option that tells you “Start recording” , click to start the process.
- After completing the disc will be ejected automatically.
On a Mac computer
Although it is a system that not everyone uses, the one who has it thinks it is a complicated task. But the truth is that Apple is responsible for doing the most difficult thing in something very easy. So If you find a Mac computer and you don’t know how to save music to a CD or DVD, you just have to follow these simple steps so that you can do it quickly and effectively.
- In your Mac’s iTunes application, create a playlist to make it easier to copy the music to the CD.
- Insert the CD into the recorder of your computer.
- Select the list and go to “File”> “Burn playlist to a disk. ”
- If this option does not appear, it means that it cannot be copied because it contains restrictions on use, or has an unsupported format at the time of transfer the tracks.
- Then, click “Devices”> “Import CD”.
- Choose a disc format and click “Burn.”
List of the best programs to burn files and documents to a CD or DVD for Windows and MacOS
You know how you can do this from your computer without having to download a program, but if it is something you do often you have some that offer you better performance and work when you want to pass the information to your disk.
Although it is no longer so common to do it this way, there are numerous offers on the internet to execute it. That is why we in this part will mention some of the tools available for Windows and Mac , which will allow you to try the software and decide if it is worth it or not.
Express Burn
This is a program for Windows in which you can save a lot of time when passing data and information. It is compatible with CD, DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, even this helps you to burn images and create ISO files on the disc, since it accepts all formats such as AVI, JPEG , WMV, MP4 and more. The disadvantage of this tool is that to obtain some of its functions it is necessary to have a Premium version.
CDBurnerXP
This is a program that helps you and facilitates the work of creating data, audio and image discs. It is totally free and works for Windows. This software also allows you to work with CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays to pass music, videos and files in general. It reads you ISO images, allows you to copy information from already recorded discs and erase several discs uses or rewritable . It is compatible with the MP3, OGG, WMA and WAV, ISO, NRG and BIN formats.
BurnX
This program is a CD and DVD burner for Mac, it is completely free and has a very simple and easy to use interface. BurnX allows you to burn CDs with optimum quality and quickly , as it brings a processor called “ Captain ” that allows you to copy the information by simply dragging it to your Interface. Work with MP3, MP4, FLV, AVI formats, among others. It should be noted that it offers the possibility of erasing CD-RW discs, recording on HFS +, ISO9660 and Joliet for compatibility with other platforms, in addition to Macintosh.
Burn
This software is very different from the previous one, so don’t get carried away by names. This program is only available for Mac and has a very good reputation for users being one of the best. It allows you to save any type of files and even make backup CDs for your computer. It is also compatible with three types of images, JPEG, CUE / BIN and TOC disk . You can copy files from DVD, DMG, ISO, VCD, SVCD among others. The only thing is that to use it you will need the latest version of QuickTime.