After Hours

Slideshow: Burn discs in a backwards compatible format

By · April 26, 2012, 4:26 AM PST

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  • Default AutoPlay

    In an issue of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to find and use the mastered optical disc format in Windows 7. (If you want to learn more about Windows 7's Live File System disc format, check out his Windows Blog post, Augment your data storage options with Windows 7 Live File System format.

    Creating a Mastered disc

    When you insert a blank optical disc into a CD-R or DVD-R drive, you'll see the AutoPlay dialog box as shown. As you can see, by default, Windows 7 assumes that you will be formatting a data disc. To continue, you can press [Enter] or click the Burn Files To Disc button.

    This Photo Gallery is also available in the TechRepublic Microsoft Windows Blog.

    Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.

  • Burn a disc

    When you see the Burn a Disc dialog box, you'll select the With a CD/DVD player option, as shown. As you can see in the description, this is the Mastered disc format. By default, Windows 7 places the current date in the Disc Title, but you can change it if you prefer.

    Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.

  • Drag files

    As soon as you click Next, the disc is prepped for the Mastered disc format and a drive window will appear. You'll see the Drag files to this folder to add them to the disc message at the top of the file pane, as shown. At this point, you can begin dragging and dropping files to the drive.

    Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.

  • Waiting to burn

    After you drag a group of files to the drive, you'll see a message in the notification area telling you that you have files waiting to be burned to disc, as shown. To begin the burn operation, just click the Burn to Disc button on the toolbar.

    Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.

  • Burn it

    You'll then see the Burn To Disc wizard and will again have the opportunity to fill in the Disc Title text box. By default, Windows sets the recording speed to the fastest speed available. Of course, higher recording speeds get the job done faster but can result in errors. Therefore, if you do encounter problems with the burn operation, you might experiment with lower speeds. If this will be a onetime burn operation, you can save yourself some time if you select the Close the wizard after the files have been written check box. To continue, click Next.

    Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.

  • Finished

    When you do, you'll see a progress bar as the files are being written to the disc, as shown.

    When the burn is finished, the disc will eject and the entire operation will be complete. If you left the Close the wizard after the files have been written check box blank, then you'll see the last screen in the wizard. To complete the operation, click the Finish button.

    Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.

Default AutoPlay

In an issue of the Windows Desktop Report, Greg Shultz shows you how to find and use the mastered optical disc format in Windows 7. (If you want to learn more about Windows 7's Live File System disc format, check out his Windows Blog post, Augment your data storage options with Windows 7 Live File System format.

Creating a Mastered disc

When you insert a blank optical disc into a CD-R or DVD-R drive, you'll see the AutoPlay dialog box as shown. As you can see, by default, Windows 7 assumes that you will be formatting a data disc. To continue, you can press [Enter] or click the Burn Files To Disc button.

This Photo Gallery is also available in the TechRepublic Microsoft Windows Blog.

Images by Greg Shultz for TechRepublic.

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By Greg Shultz

Greg Shultz is a freelance Technical Writer. Previously, he has worked as Documentation Specialist in the software industry, a Technical Support Specialist in educational industry, and a Technical Journalist in the computer publishing industry.

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