How to Add Copy Protection to a CD

While it has become increasingly easier for small operations to create large quantities of audio or data CDs to sell, it has also become easier for music and software pirates to make copies of your files and distribute them across the Internet. If you want to keep the files on your burned CD from being copied without your consent, you can use a copy-protection utility to change how the data on the CD is stored. When anyone attempts to make a copy of a protected file, she will instead receive a useless file that cannot be opened or played.

Difficulty:

Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Insert the burned CD into your computer's CD drive. Open your web browsing program and navigate to a website that offers a CD copy-protection software utility, such as "CD Protector" or "CCD Lock" (see Resources).

2. Locate the downloads section of the web page and click on the specific download link for the program you want to install. Click on the "Save File" button if your web browser brings up a second window asking you to confirm that you want to download the file. Wait for the file to completely download and then close your web browser.

3. Open the "My Computer" icon located on your computer's desktop. Navigate through the folders on your hard drive and find the area where your downloaded Internet files are saved. Double-click on the installation file for the CD copy-protection utility. Click on "Next" and then click on "Install" to start the installation process.

4. The CD Protector Program

   Wait for the installation to finish and then double-click on the desktop icon that will appear for the CD copy-protection utility. Click on the folder icon next to the heading labeled as "Files to Encrypt." Navigate to the drive where the burned CD is located. Highlight all of the files on the burned CD and then click on the "Open" button.

5. Click on the folder icon next to the "Phantom Trax" heading. Click on the drive where the burned CD is located and then click on "Open." Click on the "Accept" button at the bottom of the window to add copy protection to the files you selected.

Tips & Warnings

• You don't have to output the copy-protected files back to the audio CD if you don't want to. You can instead send them to a folder on your computer's hard drive or even to a different CD if you have multiple CD drives on your computer.

• Once the copy protection is added to the files, there is no way to remove it, so make sure not to protect your original files if you plan on making different CDs with the same files.

References

• Creating Copy-Protected CDs

Resources

• Download Copy-Protection Software