How to burn a CD in XP

First, you need to tell Windows what files you want copied to CD. You can do this in a couple of different ways:

Right-click the file you want to copy, then select Send To, CD-R (or whatever your CD writer is called).




Of course, you can use your CTRL key to select multiple files then send the whole mess to the CD burner.


When you do this Send To thing, you'll get a cute little "balloon" from your system tray telling you that the files have been added to your recording list. Click that little balloon and you'll open the list.





Click the Write these files to CD link and it will start Windows CD burning wizard. From there, just follow the prompts.



Note that if you accidentally stick a file on the list that you don't want on CD, you can remove it by right-clicking the file and selecting Delete. Don't worry, it won't delete the file from your computer, just from the CD writing list.

During the actual CD writing process, it's best not to mess with your computer. Just stand 4-6 feet away and let it write the CD.