OS X Mountain Lion For Dummies

Burning CDs and DVDs

With OS X, you can play, create, and publish audio and video on optical media. Depending on which type of optical drive your Mac is equipped with, you can burn some or all of the following types of discs: CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and DVD+R DL (dual layer).

In the sections that follow, I show you two ways to burn files on a CD or DVD. For the first way, you insert a disc and select the files you want to burn. The second method, creating a burn folder, enables you to save the list of files you’ve burned.

Burning a music CD is a different process that’s performed using iTunes. Don’t worry — you find out all about that process in Chapter 12.

What kind of discs can my Mac burn?

Great question. If you don’t know what types of discs your Mac can burn, here’s an easy way to find out:

1. In your Applications folder, open the Utilities folder, and then open the System Information application.

2. In the Contents pane on the left, click the disclosure triangle to expand the Hardware category if necessary, and then click Disc Burning, as shown in the following figure.

The right side of the window now reveals lots of information about the disc-burning capabilities of this Macintosh. The CD-Write and DVD-Write items tell you the types of discs your Mac is capable of burning.

The disc burner in the following figure can burn CD-R and -RW, and DVD-R, -R ...