Mac Forum / Applications / Mac Applications / May 2008

I don't format nuthin', I just press Burn after a window comes up with
the insertion of a blank disk and I drag what I want to the window and
Bob always seems to be my uncle.

First, you don't "format a CD" in the sense of formatting a floppy. If
you're just trying to back up a bunch of files to a CD-R or DVD-R, just
use the Finder (File->New Burn Folder). Drag the files you want to the
burn folder and, when you're ready, click the Burn button in the burn
folder's Finder window (just below the toolbar). Follow the directions.

Personally, I find using Toast more convenient/versatile than the
built-in GUI facilities (Finder, Disk Utility, iTunes, iPhoto, iDVD,
...), but most any kind of burning you want to do is available via the
OS and the apps that come with a Mac if you're willing to take the time
to learn what gets burned where.

You don't need to format a CD. Just burn it.

It would be helpful to let us know what you are burning to the CD and
what application you plan on using.

First, burning to a CD is not like copying to a floppy or other disc, i.
e., you don't format the disc for Mac or PC. Music, picture, and video
files are generally readable by any OS. Data files, however, are
sometimes less generally usable, but that pertains to the character of
the file itself, not the format of the CD.

A program like Toast may ask you about the file type you are burning, i.
e., data, music, video, etc., but as stated above this is not for
formatting purposes. Burning directly from Mac is just a matter of
choosing the file(s) and selecting "burn" from the menu. Again unlike
floppies and other disks, once a readable/writable(RW) CD has been
burnt, you may have to re-burn items that you want to keep on it while
adding new items. A read-only (R) CD is not rewritable. I. e., you can't
keep adding to a CD as you would to a floppy or other disk, and even
CD-RW disks have a relatively low limit on rewrites.

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You don't.

A CD can only be written to once, so if you tried to "format" it, you'd
ruin it--formatting involves writing things.

You don't format a CD. You merely stick it in and start dragging files
to it.

As a side note to this thread, when i first got this macbook, i was
surprised and annoyed that saving things to a CD was not as intuitive
as saving things to a floppy 3.5...
And most annoyingly; You have to go through this big rigmarole to use
the CD a second time...!!! Even if you want to only use a tiny amount
of the CD the first time, and you don't tell it specifically to allow
you to burn a second or third time, it will lock it up... Disallowing
any further use of it...!!!
And the process for doing that is ANYTHING BUT simple &
intuitive...!!!

Gawd! i hate computers...!!!