DiscBurner
Macintosh OS 9, OS X

DiscBurner

Please note that it is illegal to make a CD of commercially produced material or material otherwise protected by copyright. This includes MP3 files, videos, TV shows, etc. Small portions may be copied for academic purposes. If you have questions or concerns about copyright law, please speak to an IS staff member.

Note: DiscBurner is ideal for burning data CDs. If you want to burn a music CD, you should use iTunes.

Where to find this software

  • DiscBurner for OS 9 may be found on some Faculty and Staff computers.
  • DiscBurner for OS X can be found on any computer running OS X that has a CD-RW drive installed, including all public labs.

Burning a CD

  1. Decide which files you want to burn on to the CD.
  2. Verify the CD storage capacity on the CD packaging to make sure you do not exceed the space on the CD.
  3. If you are copying files from floppy or zip disks:
    • Create a new folder on your desktop by going to the File menu and selecting New Folder.
    • Name the folder.
    • Copy the files you want to burn on to the CD to the folder you just created by dragging the file from its current location to the new folder on your desktop.
  4. Insert a blank CD into your CD burner tray.
  5. In OS 9, in the window that appears, name your disc and set the format to Standard. Press Prepare.

    In OS X, a window will appear letting you know you have inserted a blank CD.

    • In the Action field, select Open Finder
    • In the Name field, type a name for your disc.
    • Click OK.
  6. A CD icon will appear on your desktop with the name you just assigned to the CD.

          

  7. Drag the folders and files to be burned onto the CD icon. The computer will copy them.
  8. When copying has completed, drag the CD icon to the Trash.
  9. In OS 9, in the window that appears, choose Burn.

    In OS X:

    • The Trash icon will turn into a black and yellow circle (as in the image below).

    • A window will appear asking if you want to burn the disc.

    • Set the Burn Speed to Maximum, and click Burn.
  10. Allow Disc Burner to burn and finish verifying your CD before you remove the disc. [In some cases, the disk will eject all by itself when the process is complete.]

Adding Information to A CD-RW Which Already Has Data On It

This method of adding information to a CD-RW requires completing erasing the CD. Please read through the instructions carefully to be sure you have copied all of the information from the CD to the desktop before erasing.

  1. Create a new folder on the Desktop and name it. This folder will contain all the files you want on the CD-RW.
  2. Put the CD-RW into the computer.
  3. A CD-RW icon will appear on the desktop with the name of the CD-RW underneath it. Double-click on the icon.
  4. Copy all the contents currently contained on the CD-RW to the newly created folder on the desktop.
  5. Add all the new files you would like burned onto the CD-RW to the newly created folder on the desktop.
  6. Double-click on the CD-RW icon to double check all the files are there, including those copied over from the CD-RW.
  7. Follow the instructions on How to Erase a CD-RW.
  8. Drag your newly created folder on the desktop to the CD-RW icon on the desktop so that it is copied there.
  9. In OS X, drag the CD-RW icon to the Burn Icon in the dock. In OS 9, click on the CD-RW icon once, and go to Special > Burn CD-RW.
  10. Allow Disc Burner to burn and finish verifying your CD before you remove the disc. [In some cases, the disk will eject all by itself when the process is complete.]

Burning a Multi-Session CD-RW

This method of burning a CD-RW so it remains open for subsequent multisession burns, can only be completed with CD-RWs.

WARNING: Multisession CDs may not work on all computers after they are burned.

The following instructions are for OS 9 and 10.2. If you are using OS 10.3, jump down to the 10.3 instructions.

  1. Drag the item or items you wish to burn into a folder on the desktop.
  2. In the Finder, from the Go menu, select Applications.
  3. In the Applications window, open the Utilities folder and double-click on Disk Copy.
  4. Drag the folder on the desktop into the Disk Copy window.
  5. In the Image Folder window:
    • In the Save as field, type a name for your image.
    • From the Where pull-down menu, choose Desktop.
    • From the Image Format pull-down menu, choose compressed.
    • From the Encryption pull-down menu, choose none.

  6. Press the Save button.
  7. The Disk Copy Progress dialog comes up. Allow the system some time to prepare the image. When it is finished, you should see an icon “yourFile.dmg.” on your desktop.
  8. In Disk Copy, from the File menu, select Burn Image.
  9. In the Burn Image dialog box, navigate to the .dmg file you just created on the desktop.
  10. At this time, insert a blank CD-RW into the computer if you have not already done so. In OS X, the CD will appear on the Desktop.
  11. Click Burn.
  12. In the window that appears:
    • Click the triangle next to the title of the disc to expand the window to show all options.
    • From the Speed pull-down menu choose Maximum Possible.
    • Choose to Allow additional burns.
    • Choose to Verify burns.
    • Choose to Eject disc.
    • Click the Append.



  13. The CD will eject when the burn has been completed.

Adding data to a multi-session CD-RW

When performing additional burns on the multi-session disc, simply repeat the steps above.

When you put the CD-RW into the CD drive, each new session on the disc will appear on the desktop as a separate disk and it will have the name of the disk image file assigned to it in step 5.

Burning a Multi-Session CD-RW in OS 10.3
  1. Drag the item or items you wish to burn into a folder on the desktop.
  2. In the Finder, from the Go menu, select Applications.
  3. In the Applications window, open the Utilities folder and double-click on Disk Utiliy.
  4. In Disk Utiliy, go to the Images menu, and select New and then Open from folder.
  5. In the window that opens, navigate to the folder you created on the desktop. Click Open.
  6. In the Convert Image window that pops up, select one file from your folder.
    • In the Save as field, type a name for your image.
    • From the Image Format pull-down menu, choose read/write.
    • From the Encryption pull-down menu, choose none.

  7. Press the Save button.
  8. The Progress dialog comes up. Allow the system some time to prepare the image. When it is finished, you should see an icon “yourFile.dmg.” in your folder.
  9. At this time, insert a blank CD-RW into the computer if you have not already done so. In OS X, the CD will appear on the Desktop.
  10. In Disk Utility, navigate to the .dmg file you just created. This will appear on the left side of the Disk Utility box.

  11. Click Burn.
  12. In the Burn Disc window:
    • Click the triangle next to the title of the disc to expand the window to show all options.
    • From the Speed pull-down menu choose Maximum Possible.
    • Choose to Leave disk appendable.
    • Choose to Verify burns.
    • Choose to Eject disc.
    • Click the Burn button.



  13. The CD will eject when the burn has been completed.

Adding data to a multi-session CD-RW

When performing additional burns on the multi-session disc, simply repeat the steps above.

When you put the CD-RW into the CD drive, each new session on the disc will appear on the desktop as a separate disk and it will have the name of the disk image file assigned to it in step 6.

  • Heather Woods, hwoods@wellesley.edu
  • Information Services
  • Date Created: July 26, 2001
  • Last Modified: July 27, 2004
  • Page Expires: June 1, 2005