To make a backup copy of your files:,

If you just want to make a backup copy of your files, you'll want to use an application called Easy CD Creator. From the Start Menu, go to Programs, Roxio Easy CD Creator, into the sub-folder Applications, and click on the Easy CD Creator Icon.

After the program starts up, you'll need to pick the type of CD you want to create. In most cases, this will be a Data CD. Go up to the File menu, select new CD project, and select Data CD. You will then be able to create a new data CD.

Simply drag and drop files from any location in My Computer into the main window of Easy CD Creator (by clicking the mouse on the file you want and keep the button held down). Alternatively you can use the window at the top of Easy CD Creator to browse drives, and click the Add button (denoted by a downward pointing arrow) to add files to be burned to CD. You can later remove any files to be burned by clicking the file to be removed and then clicking the Remove button.

After adding all the files that you want to burn to CD, start to burn the CD by clicking the Record button, or alternatively by going to the File menu, and clicking Record CD.

At this point, you'll have to have a recordable CD in the drive. Select the speed at which you want to burn your CD (to be safe, select 12x, some CDs don't do so well burning any faster than that), make sure that the Buffer Underrun box is checked (this prevents problems arising that might make your burn fail) and click Start Recording. There are some additional options that are available by clicking the Options box. They allow you to do things like close out the CD (which will allow no more data to ever be burned to the CD, which is generally a bad idea unless you want to protect your CD), do a test burn to simulate the burning of a CD to test first, and other things.

Now, all you have to do is wait. In a few minutes, you'll have all your data on a CD.

To use a CD-RW as an updateable, rewritable storage disk:

There is another method to put your data onto a CD. This method works best with a CD-RW, and it makes your CD-RW work just like a big floppy disk. First, you'll need a CD-RW. Then you'll want to run the Direct CD Format Utility by going into the Start Menu, Programs, Roxio Easy CD Creator 5, going into the Applications subfolder, and running the Direct CD Format Utility. Alternatively, you can simply right click on the CD drive in My Computer, and select Format from the menu. Put a label on your CD, and select Start Format. It takes around 10 minutes for the format to finish, but once you are finished, you'll be able to drag and drop files onto the CD, copy files to it, and save to it just like a floppy disk, zip disk, or any other removable media.

For more information on CD-R techniques and technology go to:
www.cdrfaq.org