Instructions For Burning A CD
By Tom Grazioli, Associated Computer Services

Burning a CD can be tricky.  There are several types of CD's available to use.   Then there's a couple of different ways to burn each type of CD.  The most common type that we're all familiar with is the CD-R.  That's what these instructions will be concerned with.

These instructions use a program from Roxio called Easy CD Creator (version 5).  It's possibly the most popular program on the market for making CD's, however it's not the only one.  Windows ME and Windows XP had a utility built in that would write files to a CD.  My opinion is that it didn't work too well.  Every CD writing device sold will come with some program.  It would be wise to spend a few minutes and learn how to use it.

A CD-R can be burned all at one time, or a little at a time.  If you do it a little at a time it will "act" like you're writing over and over to it.   However, when it gets full you're done with that CD.  We're not going to address "multi-session" burning right now.  We're going to burn an entire CD at one time.  That way, it'll be ready to use as soon as it's done.

As you read through the instructions below, you can click on the image on the right for a larger example.  Remember to click on the back button in your browser to return to these instructions.  Click the "X" in the top right corner of this screen when you're done with these instructions.

First, start Easy CD Creator by double clicking on the icon. As Big As It Gets
The Project Selector will begin.  Point at the second blue circle and then move the mouse arrow directly to the right and click on Data CD Project. Click For Larger Image
The next screen is broken up into 4 parts.  The top two represent your computer.  The bottom two represent the CD that will be written. Click For Larger Image
Navigate to the folder that has the scanned reports.  Do that in the top left screen by clicking on the plus sign beside "Local Disk (C:)".  Scroll down a little until you see "Scanned Reports".  Click on that folder one time with the left mouse button.  Notice in the top right screen, the scanned report files will appear. Click For Larger Image
Select the report files you want to copy to the CD.  Do that by left clicking on the first file.  Hold down the Shift Key and click on the last file in the series.  Notice how all three files in our example are "selected".   By the way, you can select a whole bunch of files if you scroll down before you do the second click. Click For Larger Image
"Drag" the selected files to the bottom right screen.  Do that by left clicking on any one of the selected files (shown in blue) and hold the left mouse button down.  Caution - if you click and release the left mouse button, it will "deselect" some files and you will have to back up to the previous step.  Move the mouse arrow to the bottom right part of the screen and release the left mouse button.  The files will appear in the bottom right part of the screen.  That means they will be copied to the CD when we're ready to record. Click For Larger Image
Now, drag all the files you need to the bottom right part of the screen.   The question is:  "How many can I move down there?".  You can move as many as the CD will hold.  Look at the bottom of the screen.  It has a guage that tells you how much of the CD is being used and how much room is left.   Pull down as many reports as it takes to fill a CD.  See the note at the bottom of this screen about what you should put on a CD.  If you get too many files and the CD is beyond full, right click on the files in the bottom right part of the screen and then left click on Remove.  Selecting works here as well. Click For Larger Image
Assuming that the CD is full, let's name the CD something that makes sense.   In the lower left part of the screen is the name of the CD.  The default is a bunch of numbers and letters that doesn't make any sense to anyone.  Right click directly on the number and letters.  A little screen should appear.  Left click on Rename.  The little screen will go away and you will be in a position to rename the CD.  Without doing anything else, simply type something meaningful for the CD and press Enter.  The numbers and letters should change to the name you typed. Click For Larger Image
Now it's time to record.  Click the red button in the center of the screen, at the right.  A Record screen will appear.  If the screen is small like the example on the right, click the Options button to make it larger. Click For Larger Image
A few changes may need to be made.  Make the screen look like the example on the right.  You may need to click the Save As Default button to get the changes to stay put.  Put a blank CD-R in the Hewlett Packard drive (the one on the bottom) and click Start Recording. Click For Larger Image
Sometimes, Windows XP will try to guess what you want to do when you put a CD in any CD drive.  It's annoying and almost always unavoidable.  This is the screen that shows up.  It's suggesting that we do what we're already doing!   Simply close the screen by clicking the Cancel button. Click For Larger Image
A system test will pop up.  It's unnecessary and you can skip it by clicking on Cancel. Click For Larger Image
This is what the recording screen looks like. Click For Larger Image
When the recording is finished, Windows will try again to guess what you might do with the newly burned CD.  Simply click Cancel to close the screen. Click For Larger Image
Roxio will want to know what to do after recording the CD.  Simply click Close to clear the screen. Click For Larger Image
Roxio will then let you know that the recording is completely done.   Simply click OK. Click For Larger Image
Roxio will want to know if you want to save the recording session in case you want to do it again.  Click No and return to the Data CD Project screen.  Remove the CD from the burner and label it with something meaningful.  I like to use a Sharpie so the writing won't smudge on the CD.  From here you can record another CD or close the program. Click For Larger Image

The CD you just created is in the most common format.  That means it can be read by virtually every computer out there.  Keep in mind that there are other formats that can be used, they're just not as common.

After burning the CD, you can do one of a couple of things.  1) Erase the files from the computer so they won't take up any more room, and confuse you as to whether they've been done or not.  2) Make another copy of the same files so you'll have a second CD for the "Secure Archive".  A Secure Archive is a set of identical CD's that lives in a safe place.  They only come out when the working copy gets damaged and can't be read any more.  Then they're only used long enough to make a copy.  Afterwards, the Secure Archive CD goes back in the vault for absolute safe keeping.  It's not a bad idea to make a third copy and keep it off site where a fire or flood won't damage it.

Good luck!