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Tech Tips / Windows XP / Storage

More burning-engine basics

Although Windows XP includes an integrated burning engine, experienced users may want to use third-party software.

The integrated burning engine is a simple engine, intended for inexperienced users.

Advanced users will find several flaws. For example, the burning engine doesn't support ISO images: You cannot create or record ISO images. Advanced users will miss this functionality. Another feature that isn't supported is the direct copying of one CD to another; you must use the hard drive as intermediate storage.

Another drawback to using XP's integrated burning engine is that it takes much longer to burn a CD than other applications. The engine first copies all files to a temporary location, called the staging area. When you are ready to burn the CD and select Write These Files To CD, the engine uses the data in the staging area to create an image file. It then uses this image file to record the files to CD. Not only does this take time, it also takes a large amount of space. For instance, if you want to create a whole CD (650 MB), you will need more than 1 GB of free space (approximately 650 for the staging area and another 650 for the image file).