Burning a Bootable ISO to CD or DVD with BurnCDCC
Trust me, CD’s, DVD’s and their drives are far from being extinct for so many great reasons. Making bootable installation discs, utility discs and ISO backups are just a few good ones. When burning discs, you need quality software for such a delicate task.
BurnCDCC is one of the most reliable and straight forward tools for burning ISO files to disc in the Windows environment. Especially ones that boot. It’s very useful if you need to create a bootable Windows installation disc, a Hiren’s Boot CD, a Gandalf Portable Disc and god knows what else.
I’ve been using BurnCDDC for over a decade now. Because CD\DVD drives are not as common on most modern laptops, I don’t use it as much lately. But when needed, it does the job quick and simple. Plus it’s portable, so no install necessary.
Wanna make a boot disc? To get the job done, follow these steps.
1: Apparently you’ll need to snag a copy of BurnCDCC.
You can get it from the Innovators ToolBox if you have an HTPI account or you can download it from one of the links below. It comes in 64-bit and 32-bit/x86 versions. If the links are broken, use a search engine and find it.
https://www.majorgeeks.com/mg/getmirror/burncdcc,1.html
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/downloads/burncdcc.zip
2: Run BurnCDCC. You will be presented with a simple screen.
3: Click Browse and navigate to the ISO file you would like to burn to disc.
4: Select your ISO and click Open.
5: If you only have 1 disc drive connected, BurnCDCC will automatically detect and select it. You may have multiple drives connected and want to use a specific one. If so, click the Device dropdown arrow and select the desired drive.
6: Set your desired options. *The tabs below explain each option.
This option will scan the data on the disc when BurnCDCC finishes writing to ensure that all the data can be read properly. This is really needed when you seriously need to confirm the integrity of the burn before walking away. Without this option you may end up with a faulty disc and not know until it’s too late. Probably while you’re in the middle of trying to use it. It takes more time, but if this is important to you, check it.
This means Session-At-Once. If I know correctly, its about the same as Disc-At-Once. You will only need this option for unique purposes such as mixed discs or audio discs to deal with spacing between tracks and maybe other stuff. It usually does not apply when creating bootable discs from ISO’s. I’ve been using BurnCDCC forever and never needed this option in any case. You should know if you need it. Otherwise just leave it unchecked.
This option will close the disc and prevent further writing when complete. This makes the disc usable and readable by systems and devices that otherwise may not be able to read it. The only practical reason not to finalize a disc is if you intend to burn more data to it later. In this case, when we’re done, we want to finalize it to make it official. Check it!
Kinda self explanatory. When BurnCDCC finishes its work, it’ll pop the disc out for you automatically. I use this when I start a slow burn that I have to walk away from or if I have to turn off/disconnect the screen while its burning. When the disc tray opens, I’ll know that BurnCDCC has finished its task! Check this option it if you want. Your call.
This determines how fast your data is written to disc. 1X being the slowest and Optimal being the fastest possible write speed your disk drive can handle. Here is something to consider. The faster the write speed, the more likely you are to end up with write errors. The slower speeds guarantee more precise, error-free burning but apparently take longer. I usually put the slider in the center for general use and choose the lowest setting when the data is critical. No more than CD:4X – DVD:1X when burning critical data. Set it to your liking. If there are errors when trying to use your disc, burn another one at a slower speed.
Here is how my final setting would look when burning a critical boot disc.
7: When all is configured correctly, click Start.
8: Your CD\DVD drive will pop open and an insert disc prompt will emerge. Insert a Blank CD\DVD and close the tray. Press OK when done.
If your disc is damaged or not blank, BurnCDCC will eject the disk and repeat the insert a ‘blank’ disc prompt until you sort that out.
That’s pretty much it. Let the process start and finish. Close out when you are done.
Now give some DVD’s the BOOT! 🙂
Good Luck!
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