How To: Burn a CD using Windows XP

You can burn a CD using Windows XP. No special CD-burning software required. All it needs is a CD-R or CD-RW disk, a machine running Windows XP and a CD-RW disk drive.

Step 1
Insert a blank CD-R or CD-RW disk into the CD-RW drive. A pop-up dialog box should appear after Windows loads the CD. (No pop-up dialog box? Open "My Computer" from your desktop and double-click on your CD-RW drive icon.)

Step 2
Double-click the option, "Open writable CD folder using Windows Explorer." You will see the files that are currently on the CD in your CD-RW drive. If you inserted a blank CD, you will see nothing.

Step 3
Click on the "Start" menu, and then "My Computer." (No "My Computer" on your start menu? It is likely you have the Windows Classic Start Menu enabled, and you will have to double-click "My Computer" on the desktop instead.) Navigate to the files that you wish to burn onto the CD.

Step 4
Single-click on the first file you wish to burn. Hold down the "Control" key and continue to single-click on other desired files until you have selected them all. Let go of the "Control" key. All your files should remain selected and appear blue. Right-click on any file and choose "Copy."

Step 5
Go back to the open window that displays the contents of your CD drive. Right-click in the white space and choose "Paste." The pasted icons will appear washed out, and they will have little black arrows on them indicating your next step.

Step 6
Choose "Write these files to CD" on the left-hand menu bar under "CD Writing Tasks." A wizard will start. First, name your CD. You can use up to 16 characters. After typing a name, click "Next." This will start the burning process. When the CD is finished burning, the CD will eject itself.

Step 7
Follow the remaining wizard prompts. It will ask if you want to burn the same files to another CD. If so, click "Yes, write these files to another CD." If not, click "Finish." You're done.

Tips & Warnings
Make sure to test your newly burned CD—try to open a few files to ensure that the process was done correctly.