How to Burn a Data CD in the Mac OS X Finder

You can quickly burn a data CD on your Mac, enabling you to share almost any file--including music, video files and documents--with friends and coworkers. In this lesson, you will learn how to burn a data CD directly in the Finder, without the added expense of purchasing any third-party burning software.

Instructions

1. 

   Open a new Finder window or click directly on the Mac desktop. Select "File" in the menu bar and drag your cursor to the "New Burn Folder" selection in the "File" menu. Release the mouse. This will create a new "Burn Folder" in your current folder/directory.

2. 

   Drag the files you wish to burn to the "Burn Folder" folder/directory and release your mouse/trackpad button. Dragging the files will create an alias of the files in the Burn Directory and ready them for burning to the CD.

3. 

   Select the Burn Folder in the open window or desktop with a single mouse click, then select "File" in the men ubar. In the "File" menu, select "Burn to Disc." Release the mouse button to complete the "Burn to Disc" action.

4. 

   Insert the blank CD to be recorded. A new dialog window will open. The burning speed of the disc will automatically be selected in the window, and will be the highest speed your computer's CD drive can manage.

5. 

   Enter a name for the CD you are burning. The CD will be automatically be named "Untitled" if you do not enter a custom name in the Burn dialog.

6. 

   Click "Burn" to start the burning process. While the operation is under way, you will see a window displaying its progress and verifying the CD burn. To ensure the proper integrity of the data being burned, let both the burn and verification process complete. When the burn is complete, the CD will automatically mount on your Mac's desktop.

7. 

   Select the "Eject" icon in the Finder sidebar and single-click to eject the disc. The Burn Folder can be used again to burn the data to another CD, or dragged to the Trash for deletion.