HOW TO: Copy a CD-ROM in Windows XP

This article describes how to copy a CD-ROM when you are using Microsoft Windows XP. When you use Windows XP you can record a CD-ROM, but Windows XP does not have the user interface (UI) to enable you to copy another CD-ROM.

To Copy a CD-ROM

To copy a CD-ROM, you must first copy the contents of the CD-ROM that you want to copy to the CD-ROM staging area, and then record a new CD-ROM using this data.

1. If you have a standard CDROM drive as well as a CD-R drive, drag the contents of the host CD-ROM to the CD-R drive icon. If you have only a CD-R drive, you can manually copy the contents of the original CD-ROM to a folder on the hard disk, and then drag the data to the CD-R drive that has had the original media removed.
   
   NOTE: You can also right-click the files, click Send To, and then click the name or drive letter of your writable CD drive to copy the files.
2. To initiate the record process, either right-click the CD-R drive, and then click Write these files to CD, or double-click My Computer, click the CD-R drive, and then click Write these files to CD on the File menu.

For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: