CD burning

  • Thread starter Thread starter Leslie Isaacs
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Leslie Isaacs

Hello All

I currently have Windows 2K but am contemplating moving to XP. One reason
is
that I think (!) I have heard that with Windows XP it is much easier to
burn
CDs/DVDs - that it's as easy as using windows explorer to copy files to a
floppy disk: is that correct? Is there really no need to use any other
software (like Nero, etc.)?

Thanks for any info/advice.
Les
 
Windows XP has very limited cd burning capabilities and it CAN NOT burn to
DVD's. I myself don't even bother with it, I use Nero for all my burning.
 
Leslie said:
I currently have Windows 2K but am contemplating moving to XP. One
reason is
that I think (!) I have heard that with Windows XP it is much easier
to burn
CDs/DVDs -
Click to expand...


Not really. It comes with a CD burning program (*not* DVD burning), but it's
very primitive and less capable than most third-party programs.

that it's as easy as using windows explorer to copy files
to a floppy disk: is that correct?
Click to expand...


No, not at all. You can't do it that way and have to use the special
program.

Is there really no need to use any
other software (like Nero, etc.)?
Click to expand...


With either Windows 2000 or XP, I would choose to use Nero.
 
You can burn a CD by just dragging the files to the CD drive or use right
click and send. Once that is done you can click on a balloon that appears or
just navigate to the CD drive and click burn in the left panel and follow
the instructions.

You can also use WMP to handle the process.

If you are using CD-RW or DVDs someone else will have to answer.
 
Leslie Isaacs said:
Hello All

I currently have Windows 2K but am contemplating moving to XP. One reason
is
that I think (!) I have heard that with Windows XP it is much easier to
burn
CDs/DVDs - that it's as easy as using windows explorer to copy files to a
floppy disk: is that correct? Is there really no need to use any other
software (like Nero, etc.)?
Click to expand...

Yes, WinXP makes basic burning of files to CD (no, DVD is not supported)
easy. It's similar to working w/ floppies in Windows Explorer in the sense
you can drag and drop files to the CD drive window. You drag and drop all
the files you intend to burn, then use an option that tells WinXP to burn
them to CD.

Like most WinXP "features", it's kind of a gimmick. These features are
often so limited, that 99% of serious users replace them will full-featured
products sooner or later. Whether it's WinXP features like CD burning,
backup, defregging, whatever, each has such serious enough limitations that
few will tolerate it for very long. Yet, there will those few who are happy
with "good enough".

Specifically addressing the built-in CD burning, it's based on Roxio's CD
burning engine. Although others have claimed otherwise, I've never
personally been able to get multiple sessions on a single CD. When XP burns
a blanks CD, it opens the session, burns the files, closes the session, AND
unfortunately, closes the CD. IOW, if I add 3 files to a CD and burn it,
that's it, I can't add more files later to that same CD, the CD is closed to
any new sessions. Mighty inefficient and costly, if you ask me. Again,
others have claimed multi-session support, but I've never been able to do
it. But frankly, there are so many other limitations, the point is moot.

XP can't burn ISOs (or any other image format). It can't burn DVDs. It
can't support packet writing, which ironically, is probably closer to
working with a floppy (packet writing allows you to add and delete files in
realtime). It's been so long since I used XP CD burning, I'm not even sure
you can use CD-RW (vs. CD-R), not that it would matter since you can reuse
it unless you can find something else to erase it. You can't create
bootable CDs. You can't use any non-standard CD formats (e.g., ISO specs,
naming characteristics, etc.).

As you can see, yes, you can do some basic CD burning, but there are a LOT
of other things that a full-featured product like Nero, Roxio, etc., can do.
And a lot of these products can be had dirt cheap, I just picked up Nero 7
from Fry's/Outpost for FREE (after rebates) on black friday (11/25/05). So
why limit your options employing only the XP built-in features?!

As long as you can live w/ burning files w/ drag and drop and single
sessions, the built-in support will suffice. But honestly, most ppl will
find this VERY limiting and will quickly look elsewhere. For a quick and
dirty CD of files, even I will resort to the built-in support occasionally
because it's so easy. But that's about it, otherwise I live and die w/
Nero.

HTH

Jim
 
Btw, one other nice thing about third-party solutions is, most provide
virtual CD support. Although this isn't related to CD burning specifically,
it does illustrate the tremendous *value* associated w/ these products over
the basic capabilities of XP. Being able to image a CD to an ISO file and
mount it on one of these virtual CD drives can be enormously advantageous.
Response time is instantaneous, and you can typically have as many virtual
CD drives as drive letters available. Gamers will even make images of their
CDs, burn them to DVD (again, something XP can't do), then when they want to
play, insert the ONE DVD (vs. multiple CDs) in the DVD drive, mount the
images across two or three virtual CDs, and begin playing (although I've not
done it myself, I imagine you could even automate this mounting process w/
an autorun file on the DVD). They have the convenience of using one DVD vs.
multiple CDs, all the advantages of CD support (often required by the
licensing), and MUCH faster drive response.

Jim
 
Thought of even one more good reason to get a third-party solution (sorry,
haven't used the built-in features for so long, the limitations are coming
to mind only slowly :)

Suppose you have a bunch of mp3 files that you'd like to turn into a CD for
use in the car. You car's CD player is usually supports a limited # of
options: CD-Audio (all do), CD-R (most do), CD-RW (a few do), or mp3
(somewhat rare, usually requires aftermarket replacement).

So you use the XP built-in burning feature and burn your mp3's to CD.
Unfortunately, it will only create a DATA CD, which means the files remain
mp3. This may be fine if you intend to use the CD only for archiving, or
perhaps an mp3 compatible CD player. But using Nero, you can opt to create
an Audio-CD, which will automatically convert the mp3 files to Audio-CD
format, compatible w/ your car's CD player!

You can also create mixed mode (data and audio-cd) CDs with these third
party applications, which is ideal for computers, where you might want to
include, say, a video version of a hit song, lyrics, etc. Again, none of
this is going to be possible w/ XP's basic burning feature.

I even go a step further. I take all my music CDs and use Nero to COPY the
CD to CD-R. Nero looks up the artist, song title, etc., and (optionally)
adds that information as CD Text. If you're using mp3 files, Nero will use
the ID3 tags for that same information. I now burn the new CD. When I
place that CD-R in my car's CD player, the artist, song, and title show on
the player's digital display! Most off the shelf music CDs do not provide
this information in order to make them as compatible as possible w/ the
oldest of CD players. Nero allows me to convert my music CDs into a much
more useful format that's compatible w/ my player.

Granted, you may find some workarounds, for example, Windows Media Player
may be able to convert mp3 to Audio-CD format for you, not sure, don't use
it much for burning, but it wouldn't surprise me if it did. But you asked
specifically about Windows Explorer and CD burning.

None of this stuff is part of WinXP's built-in CD burning feature, it's
simple drag and drop file, then create a data CD (as far as I've been able
to determine).

Jim
 
CD burning capability alone is NOT a legitimate reason to move to Windows
XP. No, it is NOT as easy as copying files to a floppy disk, nor will it
ever be.


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