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How do I burn a disc image to a CD

 

Before we start, let’s use some common sense.  You cannot burn a CD if your computer does not have a CD burner and you cannot burn a DVD without a DVD burner.

Disk images come in many formats (IMG, ISO, DMG, CUE/BIN, etc.). The most common disk image is an ISO file. ISO files are actually images of complete CDs or DVDs compiled as one whole image file (*.iso).  ISO images can be loaded into several different CD/DVD recording software packages to create CDs or DVDs but since we are on a budget, we will use some freeware.

After you have downloaded an ISO image, you need to burn it to a CD. Because it is a disk image, you burn it differently than if you had a file, photos or collection of files you wanted to give to someone on a CD.  

Burning software

There are many commercial programs available for burning CDs and DVDs (Nero, Roxio, Sonic, etc.).  However, for this tutorial, we will be looking at a free program, BurnAware Free 4.7This program is available at one of my favorite sites, Freeware.com. 

BurnAware has a very intuitive interface:

cd burner

It is very simple.  Download and install BurnAware. Open the program. Click on the 'Burn Image" icon, third row down, first icon.  Navigate to the ISO file that you downloaded or copied.  Ensure you have a blank disc in your burner and burn the image.  It is that simple.

BurnAware also comes with Audio and Data burning features.

Disc Size

When you have a disc image you want to burn to a disc, it is important to know how big the image is to determine what kind of disc you need.

Burnable Media Capcity
Mini CD 180 meg
Standard CD 740 meg
DVD 4.7 gig
Dual layer DVD (DL DVD) 8.5 gig
Blueray 25 gig
Dual layer Blueray 50 gig

Make sure you have the correct media to fit your iso file and make sure your optical drive and software support burning files to that media.

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