On this page:

• About CDs
• CD-R vs. CD-RW disks
• Burning a data CD
• Erasing a CD-RW disk
• Copying a CD

About CDs

• One CD (700MB) holds about 486 times as much data as a floppy disk (1.44MB).
• One CD (700MB) holds about 7 times as much data as one Zip disk (100MB).
• CDs (about $1 each) are cheaper than Zip disks (about $8 - $10 each).
• CDs are more durable than floppy & Zip disks because they have no moving parts.
• There are two kinds of CDs available:
  • CD-R (CD-Recordable) - A CD that you can only write to once that works just like a standard CD. The advantage of CD-R over CD-RW disks is that you can use CD-R disks with a standard music CD player. CD-R disks (about 40 cents each) are usually less expensive than CD-RW disks (about $1 each). The disadvantage is that you cannot reuse a CD-R disk after it is full of data.
  • CD-RW (CD- ReWritable) - A CD-RW allows you to erase the disk and reuse it, similar to a floppy disk. The disadvantage is that CD-RW disks do not work in all standard music CD players.
• How do you know if a CD is CD-R or CD-RW? "CD-R" or "CD-RW" is imprinted on the CD itself.
• Your CD drive can write both CD-R and CD-RW disks.
• You can buy CDs at most stores that carry technical products, including Best Buy & Comp USA.
  

CD-R vs. CD-RW disks

Should you use CD-R or CD-RW disks?

Use CD-R for...	Use CD-RW for...
Data that you do not need to make edits to, such as archival data that you just need backed-up.	Data that you will be making changes to and re-saving on CD.
Music or other audio that you want to play in a standard CD player.

What you need to remember about CD-R & CD-RW disks:

• CD-R disks can be written to until they are full of data, as long as you do not finalize the CD (see below for more details).
• CD-R disks (about 40 cents each) are usually less expensive than CD-RW disks (about $1 each).
  

Burning a data CD

To burn data on a CD using Mac OS X Jaguar v10.2:

1. Press the Eject key, which is located in the upper right corner of your keyboard (refer to Figure 1 & 2).
   
   

   Figure 1: Press the Eject key.

   Figure 2: Press the Eject key.

   
   
2. Insert a blank CD-R disk in your CD drive, then close the CD drive.
   A dialog box appears, prompting you to choose what to do from the pop-up menu.
   
   
3. Do the following (refer to Figure 3):
   • From the Action pop-up menu, select Open Finder.
   • In the Name box, enter a name for your CD.
   • Click OK.
     
     
     Figure 3: Naming the CD.
     
     A CD icon appears on your desktop with the name you just gave it (refer to Figure 4):
     
     
     Figure 4: CD icon.
     
4. Double-click the CD icon to open a Finder window showing the contents of the CD, which currently is empty.
   
   
5. Open another Finder window: From the File menu, click New Finder Window.(refer to Figure 5):
   
   
   Figure 5: From the File menu, click New Finder Window.
   
   
6. From the Finder window, select the files and folders you want to put on the CD and drag-and-drop them on the CD Finder window. To select multiple files and folders, press the Apple key and click the folders and/or files you want.
   
   
7. Arrange the files on the CD exactly as you want them before burning the disk.
   Important: On a CD-R disk, the names of files, folders, and the disk cannot be changed after the CD is burned.
   
   
8. After putting all the files and folders you want in the CD Finder window, select Burn Disc from the File menu.
   A dialog box appears, asking if you want to burn the CD.
   
   
9. Click Burn.
   Note: To reuse a CD-RW disk, you must first erase the entire disk, then you can burn to it again using Steps 1-9 above.

Erasing a CD-RW disk

To erase a CD-RW disk using Mac OS X Jaguar v10.2:

1. On your desktop, double-click the Macintosh HD (Hard Disk) icon:
   
   
2. Double-click the Applications folder:
   
   
3. Double-click the Utilities folder:
   
   
4. Double-click the Disk Copy icon:
   The Disk Copy application opens (refer to Figure 6):
   
   
   Figure 6: The Disk Copy application.
   
   
5. Press the Eject key, which is located in the upper right corner of your keyboard (refer to Figure 7 & 8).
   
   

   Figure 7: Press the Eject key.

   Figure 8: Press the Eject key.

   
   
6. Insert the disk you want to erase into your CD drive.
   A CD-RW disk icon appears on your desktop (refer to Figure 9):
   
   Figure 9: The CD-RW disk icon.
   
   
7. From the Disk Copy application File menu, select Erase CD/DVD-RW Disc.
   The following prompt appears (refer to Figure 10):
   
   Figure 10: Erase disk prompt.
   
   
8. To erase the disk quickly, select Quickly, then click Erase.
   To erase the disk completely, select Completely, then click Erase.
   Note: The Complete erase takes much longer than the Quick erase.
   The following prompt appears (refer to Figure 11):
   
   Figure 11: Prompt asking if you're sure you want to erase the disk.
   
   
9. Click Erase.
   Your disk is erased and the following confirmation message appears (refer to Figure 12):
   
   Figure 12: Confirmation message that your disk is erased.
   
   
10. To burn to your CD-RW disk again, follow instructions for Burning a data CD.
    

Copying a CD

About Copyright Laws: It is illegal to copy material for which you do not own the copyrights or have permission to copy.

Important: You need enough available space on your hard disk to copy the contents of the source disk.

To copy a CD using Mac OS X Jaguar v10.2:

1. On your desktop, double-click the Macintosh HD (Hard Disk) icon:
   
   
2. Double-click the Applications folder:
   
   
3. Double-click the Utilities folder:
   
   
4. Double-click the Disk Copy icon:
   The Disk Copy application opens (refer to Figure 13):
   
   Figure 13: The Disk Copy application.
   
   
5. Press the Eject key, which is located in the upper right corner of your keyboard (refer to Figure 14 & 15).
   
   

   Figure 14: Press the Eject key.

   Figure 15: Press the Eject key.

   
   
6. Insert the source disk you want to copy into your CD drive.
   A CD icon appears on your desktop (refer to Figure 16):
   
   
   Figure 16: The CD icon.
   
   
7. From the File menu, point to New and click Image from Device.
   The Device Selector window appears (refer to Figure 17):
   
   
   Figure 17: The Device Selector window.
   
   
8. Select the CD-ROM and click Image.
   The Image Device window appears.
   
   
9. On the Image Device window, do the following (refer to Figure 18):
   • In the Save as box, enter a name for your CD.
   • From the Where pop-up menu, select Desktop.
     
     Important: You need enough available space on your hard disk to copy the contents of the source disk.
     
     
   • From the Image Format pop-up menu, select DVD/CD master.
   • Click Save.
     
     
     Figure 18: Name your CD & select image format.
     
     
     The Disk Copier creates a copy of your CD to your Desktop in the form of a ".dmg" file (refer to Figure 19): 
     
     
     Figure 19: dmg file.
     
     
     The following dialog box appears when this is completed (refer to Figure 20):
     
     
     Figure 20: Disk copy was successful.
     
     
10. Remove the source disk and insert a blank CD in the CD drive.
    
    
11. From the File menu, click Burn Image.
    The Burn Image window appears (refer to Figure 21):
    
     
    Figure 21: The Burn Image window.
    
    
12. Select the .dmg file () you just created on your Desktop and click Burn.
    The following dialog box appears (refer to Figure 22):
    
    
    Figure 22: Ready to burn message.
    
    
13. Click the the down arrow to see more options, and then click Allow additional burns (refer to Figure 23).
    
     
    Figure 23: Click the down arrow to see more options, and then click Allow additional burns.
    
    
14. Click Burn.
    The Disk Copier copies the source disk to your blank CD. When finished, a final message box appears notifying you that the disk burning is complete.

Do you need more information or help with burning a CD?

Select Mac Help from the Help menu to access the online help.