Section 105. Create a Data Disc Using Creator Classic


105. Create a Data Disc Using Creator Classic

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

SEE ALSO

About Creating Data Discs

Copy Data Files to a Disc

Create a Mixed Audio/Data CD

Create a Disc Image from a CD

Give Your Disc Image Its Own Drive Letter


Creating data discs is a great way to preserve a backup copy of files that are important to you. Data discs can include files that range from music, photos, or movies to bank records, emails, or other documents. You might also want to create data discs with files you want to share with others or transfer to another computer.

Use the Creator Classic application in Easy Media Creator to create a data project, add files to it, and burn them onto a CD or DVD. Although the Creator Classic application is a little bit more difficult to use than the Data Disc utility, it also has more features, such as the ability to encrypt the disc.

Create a Data Disc Using Creator Classic


Open Creator Classic

You can open Creator Classic in two ways, depending on which is easiest for you. If you have the Roxio Creator Suite Home page up, select Data and then select Creator Classic from the Data submenu. You can also open Creator Classic by selecting Programs, Easy Media Creator 8, Data, Creator Classic from the Start menu in Windows.

Select Disc Size/Insert Disc

After Creator Classic is opened, you need to insert a blank disc into the burner or at least set the disc size. This ensures that the estimated free space is reported properly as you add data to the project. To set the disc size, select the size from the Disc Size drop-down menu.

Add Data Files and Folders to Project

After you have set the disc size, you can add data files to the project using the Select Source area of the Creator Classic page. The Select Source area is essentially the same thing as Media Manager. It allows you to browse the computer to find files to add to the data project.

After you find files or folders you want to add to the project, drag them down and place them in the Data Disc Project area using the mouse.

Set Disc Label

You should set a disc label that will help you keep track of what is on the disc. For example, you might want to use the date for a disc label if you are updating an archive of data. The name may be up to 11 characters, but cannot use any of these characters: \, /,:,;,*,?,",<,>,,+,=,.,,,[,or].

Set Project Settings

After you have set the disc label, you configure the project options by clicking on the Project Settings button to bring up the Project Settings window. There are three tabs on the Project Settings window that allow you to set the general, advanced, and exclude options for the project:

  • The General tab allows you to set which file system to use on the disc. It also allows you to enable compression on the disc, validate source files, split files between multiple discs, and verify the file system after the burn.

  • The Advanced tab allows you to enter publishing information if you are preparing a professional disc. It also allows you to change the date of all the files to the burn date or a specific date that you choose.

  • The Exclude File Types tab allows you to exclude file types from being added to the project even if they are in folders that are added. It also allows you to exclude system or hidden files from the project.

After you have configured the project settings, click the OK button to save them and return to the project.

Encrypt Disc

You have the option of encrypting the disc with a password. This feature makes the disc unreadable except by those that know the password. This can be a useful feature if you are storing confidential information on your disc.

To encrypt the disc, click on the Encrypt button and use the Encryption dialog box to set the password and specify whether to use 128-bit encryption. The 128-bit encryption option provides a higher level of security to the disc. The downside is that some applications, especially those outside the United States, might not be able to decode the password.

Set Burn Options

After you have finished setting the project options, click the Burn button to bring up the Burn Setup window. The Burn Setup window allows you to specify which drive to use when burning the data project to disc, as well as the write speed, number of copies, and several advanced features.

Select the destination drive from the drive list and then set any option you would like in the Burn Options area.

Burn Disc Or...

After you have set the burn options, click the OK button to burn the data to disc.

...Save Disc to Image File

From the Burn Setup window you also have the option to save the data project to a disc image instead of a blank disc. This option allows you to keep a copy of the disc to be archived, burned later, or mounted as an emulated drive.

Key Terms

Emulated drive A logical drive that acts like a physical disk drive in the computer. Drive letters can be assigned to it and it shows up in Windows Explorer.

To save the data project as a disc image, check the Save disc image file option and then click the Browse button to bring up the file dialog box. Use the file dialog box to specify a destination location, a filename, and the disc image file type. Then click Save to close the file dialog and click OK to save the disc image.

Tips

You can make the data disc bootable by clicking on Bootable Disc and loading and using the dialog box to load a boot image from a floppy disk. If you make a disc bootable, you can boot the computer from the CD you create.

You do not need to specify that you need multiple discs for the project. Creator Classic automatically recognizes if the data exceeds the size of the disc and you see multiple discs in the Estimated Project Size indicator.




Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 In a Snap
Roxio Easy Media Creator 8 in a Snap
ISBN: 0672328658
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 171

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