## Writing CDs or DVDs

Writing to a CD or DVD may be useful for backing up your important documents. To do this, your computer must have a CD or DVD writer.

A simple way to check what sort of CD or DVD drive your computer has is to choose Places->Computer from the top panel menubar. If the icon for your CD drive has terms like "CD-RW" or "DVD(+-)R" in its label, then your computer is able to write discs.

You can start choosing files to burn to a disc at any time. The file manager provides a special folder for files and folders that you wish to write to a CD or DVD. From there you can easily write all of the content (which you place in this special folder) to a CD or DVD.

### Creating Data Discs

To write a CD or DVD, perform the following steps:

1. In a folder window menubar, choose Places->CD/DVD Creator. The file manager opens the CD/DVD Creator folder.

   In a File Browser window, this item is in the Go menu.

2. Drag the files and folders that you want to write to CD or DVD to the CD/DVD Creator folder.

3. Insert a writable CD or DVD into the CD/DVD writer device on your system.

4. Press the Write to Disc button, or choose File->Write to CD/DVD. A Write to Disc dialog is displayed.

5. Use the Write to Disc dialog to specify how you want to write the CD, as follows:

   Elemento dialog | Descrizione
   --- | ---
   Write disc to | Select the device to which you want to write the CD from the drop-down list. To create an CD image file, select the File image option. A CD image file is a normal file that contains all of the data in the same format as a CD, that you can write to a CD later.
   Disc name | Type a name for the CD in the text box.
   Data size | Shows the size of the data to be written to disc. The blank disk must be at least this size.
   Write speed | Select the speed at which you want to write the CD from the drop-down list.

6. Click on the Write button.

   If you selected the File image option from the Target to write to drop-down list, a Choose a filename for the disc image dialog is displayed. Use the dialog to specify the location where you want to save the disc image file. By default, disc image files have a `.iso` file extension.

   A Writing disc dialog is displayed. This process takes some time. When the disc is written or when the disc image file is created, a message to indicate that the process is complete is displayed in the dialog.

You can set the CD/DVD Creator folder to open automatically when you instert a blank disc. See Removable Drives and Media Preferences.

The filesystem written to the CD will be readable with long filenames on all recent operating systems. Both the Joliet and the Rock Ridge CD-ROM filesystem extensions are used.

### Copying CDs or DVDs

You can create a copy of a CD or DVD, either to another disc or to an image file stored on your computer. To create a copy, perform the following steps:

1. Insert the disc you want to copy.

2. Choose Places->Computer from the top panel menubar.

3. Right-click on the CD icon, and choose Copy Disc.

4. The Write to Disc dialog is displayed.

If you have only one drive with write capabilities, the process will first create a disc image file on your computer. It will then eject the original disk, and ask you to change it for a blank disk on which to write the copy.

If you want to create more than one copy, choose the Image File option on the Write to Disc and then write the disc image: see la sezione chiamata “Creating a Disc from an Image File”.

### Creating a Disc from an Image File

You can write a disc image to a CD or DVD. For example, you may have downloaded a disc image from the internet, or previously created one yourself. Disc images usually have a `.iso` file extension and are sometimes called iso files.

To write a disc image, right-click on the disc image file, then choose Write to Disc from the popup menu.

Using Removable Media |  | Navigating Remote Servers