CD Burning For Dummies

December 30, 2005 11:30 AM

At the risk of looking like a total computer noob, I need a simple way to burn ISOs to CD.

I've got a bunch of disc mage (ISO) files on my hard drive that I want to burn to CD, but I don't appear to have any software that will do it. I've googled for easy step-by-step instructions and they either call for software I don't have or are apparently written by 13 year old hacker dood software pirates with all kinds of jargon involving BIN and CUE files and so forth.

Ideally, I'd like a free and easy to use piece of software that you point at an ISO file and presto, it gives you a burned CD. Failing that, I'd like a cheap and easy program that you point at an ISO file and get a burned CD.

posted by Justinian to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

DVD Decrypter! It works great!
posted by k8t at 11:32 AM on December 30, 2005

Doh, looks like DVD Decrypter isn't available anymore. But go to this page and they list alternatives.
posted by k8t at 11:33 AM on December 30, 2005

Uh, what OS do you have? If OS X, Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities). If WinXP, CDBurner XP.
posted by boaz at 11:33 AM on December 30, 2005

If you're a Windows user, you could use ISORecorder. It's worked well for me.
posted by Daddio at 11:34 AM on December 30, 2005 [1 favorite]

If you have a copy of Nero, it will burn ISO images no problem.

Also, you could get Daemon Tools. It won't burn the discs, but it will let you get at the content of the ISOs.
posted by neckro23 at 11:40 AM on December 30, 2005

Response by poster: Ah, yeah, operating system would matter wouldn't it? It's WinXP Pro. I'll try out a few of the suggestions above.

neckro23: I have Nero Express 6 but it doesn't seem to include "Nero Burning Rom" which is what I understand will burn ISO images.
posted by Justinian at 11:45 AM on December 30, 2005

Best answer: As long as we're recommending things, I'd consider DeepBurner. I use it at home and at work. It's free, it's easy, and it does exactly what you require.
posted by selfnoise at 11:47 AM on December 30, 2005 [1 favorite]

Ditto DeepBurner. It's an excellent piece of software. Not too complicated and does its job well.
posted by bonehead at 12:29 PM on December 30, 2005

Response by poster: Okay, I picked DeepBurner at random and it worked like a charm. Best answer; the others may well have worked like a charm too, but I tried that one first!

Thanks to everyone.
posted by Justinian at 12:30 PM on December 30, 2005

How to burn an ISO [pdf] (and other image formats like bin/cue) using Nero Express 6.
posted by squeak at 12:47 PM on December 30, 2005

Response by poster: Oooh, thanks.
posted by Justinian at 1:32 PM on December 30, 2005

DeepBurner is great software, but it's not free; while they offer a 30-day free trial, use beyond the trial period requires registration and payment of a (very reasonable, considering the prices of the common non-shareware commercial alternatives) licensing fee.
posted by enrevanche at 1:36 PM on December 30, 2005

Actually, Deepburner Free is ALWAYS free for non-commercial use. Deepburner Pro has a 30-day trial.

I can see how this could be confusing.

Glad we were able to help, Justinian.
posted by selfnoise at 2:48 PM on December 30, 2005

BurnatOnce is relatively simple, staightforward, and free, though they ask for donations.
posted by Good Brain at 4:30 PM on December 30, 2005

I had to talk my sister through this over the phone last month, and we couldn't figure out how to get her installed programs to do it (again, hampered by reliance on verbal descriptions of what she was seeing), and eventually I had her download burnatonce and we had it done within minutes. So, seconded.
posted by intermod at 7:05 PM on December 30, 2005