Library Services and Collections

Steps for Burning a Data CD

(includes Word, Excel, Photos, etc.):

1. Save any copies of work you want to have on the CD to the Desktop. This includes work already on a CD you plan to erase and reburn!

2. Close the documents you have saved to the desktop.

3. From the Start menu, go to Programs > Easy CD Creator

4. Insert a new or blank Rewritable CD into the CD drive.

(If your disc is not blank, save what you want to keep to the desktop, then erase it.

To Erase a Disc: From Easy CD Creator go to the Disc menu on the top of the screen, click Erase Disc, choose Quick Erase, click Start. When it is done, click Close.)

5. Select File > New CD Project > Data CD

6. Near the top of the screen the drop down menu labeled Select Source Files.

• Choose Desktop from the dropdown menu (if it isn’t already chosen.)
• A list of the files on the desktop should appear in the upper half of the screen.
• Click once on the file(s) you want to copy onto the disc, then click Add on the toolbar in the middle of the screen.
• The files will be added to the Data CD Project in the bottom window.
• (If you make a mistake and need to remove a file from the list, click on it and then click the remove button on the toolbar.)

7. In the middle right of the EasyCD Creator window, click the red Record button. The Record CD Setup box will appear.

• Be sure the Write Speed box is set to 4x.
• VERY IMPORTANT:Click on Options in the lower right, then select Record CD and Finalize CD.
• Click Start Recording.
• This doesn’t take long for shorter documents—expect 1-2 minutes for up to 4 documents with a combined size of 400 KB or less.
• When it’s done the box will tell you it has recorded the CD successfully. Click OK.

8. If a popup box comes up that asks if you want to save the project changes to the C drive, click NO.

9. Test to be sure your documents were successfully copied.

• Go to the desktop and double click My Computer.
• Double click the CD icon (likely labeled F:/). (If you get an error message, try ejecting and reinserting the CD.)
• Once your documents icons appear on the screen, open them to be sure they were copied.

Troubleshooting:

Documents didn’t copy to the disc: If when you check the CD there are no icons for documents, it’s likely you did not check Finalize CD in step 7 above. You’ll need to erase the CD and start over. (To erase the CD, go to the Disc menu on the top of the screen, then click Erase Disc and choose Quick Erase and click Start.)

Mouse and keyboard aren’t working anymore: If the machine is locking up once you are done, you may have seriously fouled up the disc. Push the eject button on the CD drive. If the machine becomes unlocked (ie you can use the mouse) the disc is in fact ruined for now. You’ll need to get another disc and begin again. Give the disc to staff to recycle. (Some of the reasons this happens: is if you eject the disc before it is done erasing; if you run out of time while recording and the machine logs you out; if you choose to eject the disc yourself while in the middle of something.)

You have a Direct CD disc and it isn’t working right: It is possible to make a CD that acts more like a floppy—one that you can add and delete items to without re-doing the whole CD. This is called direct cd or multisession cd. We can’t offer technical help with this. If you want to try it yourself, that’s fine, but be aware it may not work here.