When you create a CD or DVD, you have to tell your Windows 10 computer what you’re copying and where you plan to play it: Music for the CD player? Slideshow for TV DVD player? Or the files to store on your computer?

If you choose the wrong answer, your disc will not work, and you have created another roller coaster.

Here are the rules for creating a disc:

  • Music: To create a music CD in the CD player, you need to activate Windows Media Player and burn an audio CD.

  • Slideshow: Windows does not include Windows DVD Maker that comes with Windows Vista and Windows 7. To create a photo slideshow, you need a third-party program.

If you want to copy the files to a CD or DVD, perhaps save it as a backup or let a friend.

Follow these steps to burn the files to a blank CD or DVD. (If you are writing the file to a CD or DVD that you wrote for earlier, skip to Step 4)

  1. Insert a blank disc into your burner and push it into the tray. Then click or tap the Notifications box that appears in the upper right corner of the screen.

  2. When the Message box asks how you want to proceed, click the Burn Files to a Disc option of the box.

    Windows will display the Burn a Disc dialog box and ask you to create a disc title.

    If the Message box disappears before you click it, eject your disc, push it back, and ready your hand on the mouse. (Alternatively, you can bring up the Notifications box by right-clicking the drive’s icon in File Explorer and selecting the Open Autoplay option.)

  3. Enter a name for the disc, describe how you want to use the disc, and click Next.

    Unfortunately, Windows limits the title of your CD or DVD to 16 characters.

    Windows can write files to disk in two different ways. To decide which method works best for you, it gives you two options:

    • Like USB flash drive: This method allows you to read and write files to disk multiple times, a handy way to use the disc as removable files. Unfortunately, that method is not compatible with some CD or DVD players connected to a TV or home TV.

    • With a CD / DVD player: If you’re going to play your disc on a reasonably new home stereo player smart enough to read files saved in several different formats, choose this method.

    Armed with a disc name, Windows prepares the disc for the incoming files.

  4. Tell Windows which files to write to disk.

    Now that your disk is ready to accept the files, tell Windows what information to send. You can do this in any of these ways:

    • Drag and drop files/folders into the drive’s Files window.

    • Right-click on the item you want to copy, be it a file, folder, or selected files and folders. When the pop-up menu appears, choose Send To and select your burner from the menu. (The pop-up menu lists the disc title you selected in Step 2.)

    • Drag and drop files and/or folders over the recorder icon in the File Explorer.

    • From the My Music, My Pictures, or My Documents folder, click the Share tab and then click Burn to Disc. This button copies all the files of that folder (or just the files you selected) to the disk as files.

    • Let your current program save the information to disk rather than to your hard drive.

    Whichever method you choose, Windows continues to look at the information and copy it to the disk you inserted in the first step. A progress window will appear showing the recording progress of the disc. When the process window disappears, Windows has finished burning.

  5. Close your burning session by ejecting the disc.

    When you copy the files to the disk, hit the drive’s Eject button (or right-click the drive’s icon in File Explorer and select Eject). Windows closes the session, adding a finishing touch to the disc to allow other computers to read it.