Although discs are less and less used today, free disc burning software is still as popular as it was a few years ago.
The fact is that not everyone uses flash drives today; many find it more convenient to use proven DVDs and CDs.
Therefore, it would be useful to understand what programs are used to burn discs most often.
To do this, you can conduct a little research on forums, social networks and simply sites where all kinds of software are distributed.
Actually, this was done. And the results of this study can be seen below.
Interestingly, most users of the same Windows 7 do not even know about the existence of such a program.
But this is not surprising, because such giants as Nero very easily put pressure on the small Small CD-Writer on the market.
By the way, it fully corresponds to its name.
There is absolutely nothing superfluous in this program, only the most basic functions are collected.
In addition, Small CD-Writer is very lightweight and does not need the ability to write any temporary information to the cache.
Thanks to this Small CD-Writer does not take up much space and does not require a lot of computer memory resources for its work.
Plus, Small CD-Writer is so easy to use that it's hard to imagine anything even easier.
How to use
Using the Small CD-Writer, as mentioned above, is very simple. For novice users, this program is optimal.
So, the very process of writing files to a disk, DVD or CD, is to simply drag the necessary files from a folder with the mouse into the space circled in figure 1 with a green frame.
After that, you should click on the "Write" button in the area surrounded by a red frame in the same figure. As you can see, there is absolutely nothing complicated about it. After clicking on the button, a small window will appear in which you will need to select the speed and click the OK button.
The process of erasing disks looks very simple too.
After the disc itself is inserted into the drive, you need to click the "Eject / insert disc" button in the menu circled in red and select the desired disc in the "Computer" menu ("This computer" on Windows 10 and "My computer" on Windows 7 and earlier).
After that, in the same area, select the "Clear" button, then a menu will appear in which you will need to select the erasing option - full or fast.
Advice: It is best to choose full erase so that no data and, in particular, garbage, remain on the disk and interfere with its further use.
Summing up the description of the Small CD-Writer program, we can say that it is one of the easiest to use.
This is due to its immense popularity among users of the Russian Internet and in general the entire worldwide network.
The site also contains articles on the following topics:
- Free software for burning CD-DVD discs in Russian: List of the best
Here we are already talking about a full-fledged multifunctional package, which includes a huge number of all kinds of functions related to writing and erasing DVD, CD and Blu-ray.
But, despite the abundance of functions, the program is also quite easy to use.
The main functions that Ashampoo Burning Studio Free performs are as follows:
- Creation of disk images (the most famous format of such a disk image is ISO, there is also CUE / BIN, ASHDISC and others);
- Creating backup copies of data;
- Burn music, movies and other data to discs;
- Converting music (for example, you can create Audio-CD, MP3, WMA, and more);
- Erasing discs;
- Recording movies in Blu-ray format and other similar formats intended solely for watching movies;
- Preparation of CD covers, as well as booklets and other publications for them.
The program has a full-fledged interface in Russian, which is a huge advantage over the same Small CD-Writer.
Of course, the most famous program that performs the same functions is Nero (a full-fledged paid version) and Ashampoo Burning Studio Free does not even claim to be the best in this area.
Using
To burn a disc using Ashampoo Burning Studio Free, you need to do the following:
- Run the program using a shortcut on the desktop or from the Start menu.
- In the program window, we see a convenient menu on the left side, which indicates all possible actions related to writing and erasing disks. To simply dump some data onto a disc, you must select the "Burn files and folders" item.
To do this, just hover the mouse cursor over it.
- After that, select the item "Create a new CD / DVD / Blu-ray disc" in the drop-down menu consisting of two commands. The second is for updating an existing disk, that is, overwriting it.
- Next, a window appears, very similar to what we have already seen in the Small CD-Writer. Here, too, you just need to transfer the necessary files to the area surrounded by a green frame in Figure 4.
When they are added, it remains to click on the "Next" button located in the lower right corner of the program window (circled in red).
- The drive selection window now opens. If the user has already inserted a blank disc into his drive, the program will detect it automatically. Here it remains only to click on the "Burn CD" button and wait for the end of the recording.
Note: Figure # 5 shows the ideal scenario when a disc is inserted into the drive and it contains no data, damage, or anything else that would interfere with normal recording. Otherwise, the program will display a corresponding message and the "Burn CD" button will be unavailable.
By the way, download Ashampoo Burning Studio Free is best on the official page - www.ashampoo.com/ru/rub/fdl.
After installation, you will need to go through a short procedure for obtaining a free key.
This is a free and very light version of the real giant and heavyweight in the field of software for burning files to discs.
The capabilities of this program are very limited and are as follows:
- Writing data to CD and DVD;
- Copying discs;
- Blu-ray recording;
- Cleaning disks.
That's all. But this has its undeniable advantages. For example, Nero Free works many times faster than its full-fledged brother.
If an ordinary Nero can freeze a lot on weak computers, and the recording process itself can take a very long time, then in a simplified version everything is much faster.
Interestingly, most users choose Nero Free due to the fact that this program perfectly copes with its tasks on weak computers.
In addition, it has an interface in Russian.
But it is interesting that you cannot download Nero Free on the official website at the moment. At least, users cannot find it there.
But on other sites, most often pirated, Nero Free is in the public domain.
This is explained by the fact that, most likely, this product was distributed for a very short time, and then the Nero team stopped doing this.
Either way, Nero Free works on all modern computers.
How to use
In many ways, using Nero Free is very similar to the small Small CD-Writer. But there are a little more functions here.
All of them are concentrated in two menus, one of which is located at the top, and the second is on the left side of the program window.
To simply write some data to disk, you need to select the "Data recording" item in the menu that is located on the left.
After that, the menu shown in Figure 7 will appear. Then everything is done as in other similar applications.
There is a field where you need to insert all files intended for writing to disk (in Figure 7 it is also highlighted in green).
First, you just need to drag and drop files there. After that, click on the "Record" button (highlighted in red).
In that window, you can also click on the "Record" button, after which it will remain to wait until the end of the recording process. We also see that there is nothing difficult in using it.
But still, often a little more functions are required than just the ability to write information to a disc.
It is because of the lack of some functions that Nero Free is significantly inferior to the same Ashampoo Burning Studio Free.
But we will sum up the results later, but for now we will consider another similar program, which is also very popular in the Russian Internet.
Another program for burning discs, which is incredibly easy to use.
But its difference from the previous ones is that it supports an unprecedented number of disk image formats.
No other program (even paid ones) supports so many formats.
Among them are the usual ISO and DVD, as well as BIN, UDI, CDI, FI, MDS, CDR, PDI and many others.
In general, ImgBurn can rightfully be called a real giant in terms of supported formats.
On the other hand, it often prevents the program from functioning properly. Some users write that it often takes too long when working with some formats.
In other cases, ImgBurn stops working altogether.
But such cases are extremely rare and may be due to the characteristics of the drive or the computer as a whole.
By and large, almost all problems associated with the work of ImgBurn, people immediately write on the forums when they arise.
Therefore, we can assume that almost all cases of incorrect work of ImgBurn are captured in posts on English and Russian forums (most often the first).
Basically, people are very happy with this program.
It is not for nothing that ImgBurn scores below 4.5 out of 5 on various user software sites.
The program interface is shown in figure 8. To write some files to disk, you need to select the corresponding item in the menu.
After that, almost the same recording menu will appear, as shown in Figures 4 and 7.
In it, the user will only need to drag and drop the necessary files into the specially designated space and press the record button.
In addition to the ability to write a wide variety of images to disk, users highlight the following advantages of ImgBurn over other similar programs:
- Burn music and movies to disk in a variety of formats, including OGG and WV.
- Unicode support (after recording, there will be no problems with the names of files and folders).
- The ability to open and close the drive through the program window.
- The ability to change the label of the image.
- Automatic search on the Internet for new firmware for a particular drive.
Other similar programs for recording discs do not have such features. True, to make a program in Russian, you need to download the required file on the Internet, and then drop it into the language folder (Languages) of the installed program.
True Burner (TB) Is a simple yet very powerful burning software that will allow you to create and burn standard, bootable, multisession DVDs, CDs, Blu-Ray discs from a variety of file systems, including UDF or ISO 9660. With this utility MP3 disk and DVD-Video can also be realized.
ISO2Disc Is a program for comfortable burning of discs, which is considered the leading one in the Windows software package among similar applications. The utility does not contain any viruses or malware, as it is constantly scanned by antivirus software.
WinMount is an excellent utility whose purpose is to manage files and disks. It supports compression, decompression and viewing of various formats, including MOV RAR, ZIP, 7Z. Also, using this program, you can mount them on a virtual disk or a local folder ...
Virtual CloneDrive - a program that is a virtual drive. By installing this utility, you can run disk images and perform various operations with them. Note that once the program is installed on the PC, an immediate system reboot is required for Virtual CloneDrive to work correctly.
If you need a simple application for editing music and sound tracks, Free Audio Editor will cope with such a task as efficiently and quickly as possible. It recognizes almost all known extensions of music tracks, such as, for example, MP3, WAV, WMA, and it is also possible to record and edit sounds from external sources.
UltraBox is a comprehensive software that allows you to rip as well as burn DVD & Blu-Ray discs with movies. The name of the program came from the fact that it combines a set of six applications that allow you to perform several operations: Stream-Cloner, Blue-Cloner, DVD-Cloner, Blu-Ray Ripper, DVD Ripper, SmartBurner.
AutoPlay Media Studio (APMS) is an excellent tool that can be used to create autorun CDs and DVDs containing video, audio, pictures, presentations, etc. The interface is very user-friendly, immediately after launching the welcome screen will offer three options - create a new one, open an existing one or restore the last project.
Hanso burner Is an excellent multifunctional tool from Hanso Tools for recording data to CD / DVD discs. With Hanso Burner, you can also extract audio tracks from video files, erase information from drives, overwrite files, create images stored on optical drives.
Software for burning CD, DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-ray discs for free: Nero, Ashampoo Burning Studio, aBurner, UsefulUtils Discs Studio, True Burne, Small CD-Writer, InfraRecorder, ImgBurn, FinalBurner FREE, Free Easy Burner, DeepBurner, CDBurnerXP, BurnAware Free, Burnatonce, Burn4Free, AVS Disc Creator FREE, AmoK CD / DVD Burning, etc.
Nero Burning ROM is one of the most popular programs for burning discs. The application is capable of burning any type of file to CD, DVD, and Blue-Ray. Users can also copy any discs or create images. Advanced users with Nero ...
MagicDisc Virtual DVD / CD-ROM is a simple free program for creating and managing virtual disks. MagicDisc is a simple freeware program that can create up to 15 virtual drives. These drives can mount disc images such as ISO, NRG, MDS, etc. ...
Any Video Converter is a universal program for converting videos from one format to another. There are functions for downloading a video from YouTube and converting it to any available format. The program can also burn video files to optical discs. Among the formats supported ...
Not everyone needs to convert their audio files, but if you do, you can hardly find a better tool than Freemake Audio Converter. Of course, this is not a perfect solution to all problems, but the program offers an attractive and extremely easy-to-use interface, ...
If you are looking for a CD burning program and are looking for something worthwhile among the free applications, then stop your attention on aBurner. Its freeware predecessor is UsefulUtils Discs Studio, you may have heard the reviews about this utility. aBurner saved ...
The free UsefulUtils Discs Studio program can be used as a full-featured application for recording optical discs with data and streaming audio under most Windows systems starting from version 98. Given that this program has quite ...
As the name suggests, the free Small CD-Writer program will be difficult to blame for the abundance of functionality, and yet, due to its simplicity, it enjoys well-deserved popularity in certain circles of people who sometimes need to burn an optical disc, ...
Nero 9 Free is a lightweight version of the popular CD burning package that is freeware. Unfortunately, almost all additional features that are presented in the paid version of this package for working with optical disks have been removed. Meanwhile, in it ...
With the help of the free InfraRecorder program, you can easily replace the standard Windows CD / DVD burner with a more powerful and modern one, which will give the user many useful functions, while this program is fully integrated into the operating system shell.
Free program ImgBurn, which has a fairly small size with rich functionality, with which you can burn CD / DVD of almost any format. ImgBurn supports a wide variety of optical drives, so PC owners shouldn't have ...
The free program FinalBurner Free can boast of functionality that can satisfy almost any request of computer users, because it can create multisession discs, bootable discs, work with ISO images and burn to HD DVD, Blu-ray, CD, .. ...
A good free program for burning discs, creating disc images and other household work.
ATTENTION! The description below was made for an earlier version of Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE 6.77.4312
How often do you burn discs? Surely at least once a week you have to throw a couple of new films onto DVD or burn a CD with music to your friend. And many people use the Nero software package for this purpose.
Today, from a small program for recording discs, it has turned into a kind of "many-sided monster" :). Today, Nero does not know how. It processes audio from video, helps to work with photographs, and provides access to the Internet, but the recording mechanism itself still remains at the level of the 7th version (although the 9th is relevant).
And if you consider that in Nero 7 the ability to burn HD-DVD and Blue-Ray discs was simply added, it turns out that Nero 6 algorithms are used to burn simple "discs" in the 9th version. It is this that many people still prefer to use. since then, since it is not burdened with all sorts of additional features and rather stable copes with its "duties".
However, the whole problem is that even the old version is paid. Today we are going to talk about how to legally and for free get a good program for burning discs with some additional useful features. Meet - Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE.
There is this program in two editions - paid (new 9th version) and free (younger 6th). The capabilities of the 9th version are practically not inferior to those of the Nero package, but let's compare them with the capabilities of the 6th:
Comparison of the Ashampoo Burning Studio 6 (FREE) recorder with the paid analogue Ashampoo Burning Studio 9
In the face of Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE, we have a serious program for burning discs, which is not loaded with any add-ons, and therefore copes with its task quite tolerably.
Installing Ashampoo Burning Studio
To install the program, we need to download an archive with a small installation distribution, about 8 megabytes in size (for comparison, Nero takes 209 Mb) and run it. Following the instructions of the wizard, we complete all the installation steps. The most important thing is to choose Russian at the beginning:
Otherwise, you may end up with a non-Russian version of the program.
Next, we will be offered to install an additional panel for the browser. As always, I advise you to refrain from the dubious pleasure of littering it. To opt out, uncheck all the boxes in the dialog box and click Next:
The further installation procedure is standard, so we will not focus on it.
Program interface
On first launch, a dialog box will appear that will prompt us to receive news from Ashampoo and program updates. Since the news is not very interesting :), and updates, you understand, will be paid, we refuse all this "happiness" by unchecking the corresponding checkboxes:
And finally we can see the main window of the program:
The program interface is very simple. All control can be carried out using the side menu (which actually duplicates the "File" menu), without going into the intricacies of the program settings. All the features of Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE are clearly illustrated here.
If there is an arrow to the right of the function name, it means that this menu item has several sub-items. Let's take a look at the first (and main) item - "Write files and folders".
Example of writing to disk
Here, as you can see, there are two sub-items, the first of which offers to burn a new disc, and the second - to update the existing one (by the way, in my opinion, it works even better than in Nero). Let's try to record.
You can add files for recording either using the "Add" button (the "Explorer" is launched), or by simple drag and drop. At the bottom there is a disc fullness scale, and to the right of it is an indicator of the type of disc on which the current project can be recorded.
After adding all the necessary files, click "Next" and go to the project recording settings:
At this stage, we need to insert a blank disc into the drive, which will be checked for recordability (you will learn about this by the inscription and the disc icon on the left).
You can also change some recording parameters here. To do this, click the "Change options" button:
Here you can set the desired write speed, check the disc after burning, finalize it, and burn method. If you need to create multiple copies of the disc, you can also specify this here.
After setting up, you can finally start recording. To do this, press the "Burn CD" button. A rather nicely animated disc burning window will start, in which you can watch the progress of burning:
At the end of the burning process, the following window will appear, which allows you to go to the next procedure for working with the disc or return to the main menu:
Additional features of Ashampoo Burning Studio
We have figured out the main function of Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE, and now let's move on to the additional ones. So, the next step is the possibility of data archiving. After activating this menu item, a window will appear that resembles Explorer, in which you can mark files and folders to be backed up:
You can set exceptions, for example, by extension mask, and then files with the extension you specified will not be included in the archive. This can be done by clicking the "Exclusion Rules" button.
After finishing the formation of the archive, press the "Next" button and proceed to the stage of saving it.
You can save the archive (with the .ashba extension) either to a removable media (CD / DVD / Blue-Ray), or to a hard disk or flash drive. Additional features include password protection of the created archive and the ability to compress data. Archive saving is initiated after pressing the "Archive" button.
With Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE and the backup archive created with its help, you can easily restore the data contained in it to your PC by selecting the "Restore existing archive" option.
Create and rip Audio CDs
And to complete the picture, I would like to recall a couple more features of Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE. It is creating and ripping Audio CDs. It is very simple to create music discs with Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE - just activate the corresponding option and add the necessary music tracks to the window that appears.
If, when recording ordinary audio files, we are limited by their size, then in this case the limit is imposed on the duration. All music tracks (all popular formats are supported - mp3, wma, wav, ogg) will be recorded as a continuous stream with a total duration of 80 minutes on one CD.
The scale below will help us keep track of the remaining space. As soon as the project is ready, we can proceed to its recording by clicking the "Next" button.
And now the opposite function is Audio CD ripping. With Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE you can easily convert any audio track into a separate audio file. To do this, insert the music CD into the drive and activate the "Convert Audio CD" option. A list of tracks will appear in front of you:
If they (tracks) do not have a name, then it is possible to rename them before saving. Having marked all the necessary tracks, click the "Next" button and you will be taken to the settings window:
Here we can set the destination folder, format (mp3, wma and wav are available) and bitrate of outgoing files. After everything is set up, all that remains is to click the "Convert" button and wait until all the tracks are converted into separate files.
conclusions
Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE allows you to burn in the same way (like Audio CD) Video CDs (although only formats are supported mpeg and vob). You can also burn DVDs from prepared files vob, sub and ifo.
In addition, there are several options for creating disk images, and even creating images from files right on your computer! In general, if you need a powerful program for burning discs with flexible settings and without "extra" functions, take a look at Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE.
P.S. It is allowed to freely copy and quote this article, provided that an open active link to the source is indicated and the authorship of Ruslan Tertyshny is preserved.
More and more often nowadays, users prefer flash drives or use mail to send files, but burning discs remains quite relevant. So what is the best burning software?
According to all indicators and polls, Ashampoo Burning Studio Free can be considered the best program for burning discs. But in our review, we offer a few more free programs that can also claim the title "THE BEST". Before choosing the best "burning disc" program for yourself, you need to consider your own preferences. Maybe the main factor for you is simplicity, not an impressive feature set. Or maybe the opposite.
Ashampoo Burning Studio Free
This program can be considered a giant among its free counterparts. The program is completely free, which surprises users, because the "burner" has such a wide range of functions. In addition to burning and copying discs, Ashampoo Burning Studio Free can work with Blu-ray discs (you can burn up to 25 GB), burn movies to DVD discs, create images and convert audio formats.
In addition, a free disc burning program can erase discs, make backups and save projects. The program interface is multilingual, including Russian. Although the program has a wide range of functions, we cannot say that the interface is overloaded with unnecessary buttons and bookmarks. Use ill health!
CDBurnerXP This program for burning discs is very convenient and functional, it has all the functions that one of the best in this segment should have. In addition to burning CD / DVD discs, it supports Blu-Ray and HD-DVD, and can also create and burn ISO images.
In addition to these functions, CDBurnerXP will help you create a bootable disk with installation files or operating system. Supports work with multisession discs. The program is one of the best disc burning software for Windows. We advise you to download and install it. If other options do not suit you, the program from this review.
DeepBurner Free
This is the free version of the powerful program DeepBurner Pro. As expected, the program can write CD and DVD discs, as well as erase them. It also allows you to create ISO images, audio CDs, multisession CDs, in addition, DeepBurner Free supports long file names and can prepare covers or labels for discs.
As for the interface, it is very concise and convenient. During installation, you can select Russian for the program, which will be very convenient for users who do not understand English. DeepBurner Free disc burning software can become an indispensable tool on your computer. One of the complaints about the program is the slow write speed.
BurnAware Free
If you compare this program with the above, then with its help you will not be able to make a bootable disk or copy it. This "side" can be considered its main drawback, but you may not need these functions. BurnAware Free is a powerful free disc burning software that does these things perfectly.
It allows you to burn data to DVD, CD, Blu-ray disc, as well as burn music to DVD and audio CD. BurnAware Free can also create multisession discs. The interface of the program for burning discs consists of only six buttons and three tabs, there are Russian and Ukrainian languages.
ImgBurn
This program is more suitable for advanced users who will be able to understand the advanced settings and all the features of the "burner". ImgBurn allows you to burn DVD-Video, Audio-CD, CD / DVD and Blue-ray discs. In addition to all the listed functions, users will also be able to create disc images, and a special DVDInfoPro option - allows you to show the write speed and analyze data during disc burning.
InfraRecorder
This program for recording discs can be considered a kind of "veteran" in burning "discs". InfraRecorder can do almost everything, namely: burn CDs and DVDs, as well as burn audio and video files to discs and to double layer DVDs. Blu-ray and HD-DVD recording function is not supported.
But there is no need to be upset about this, because our list is full of programs that support these functions. Also InfraRecorder will allow you to copy discs, create their images and even simulate recording. The interface is at a decent level, it does not shine with "bells and whistles", but should satisfy most users.
Small CD-Writer
And finally, the very miniature program in our review is Small CD-Writer. We can say that this is not even a program, but rather a utility whose main function is to burn discs. You don't even need to install the utility to burn the disc. Surely to your great surprise Small CD-Writer can not only write discs, but create bootable and multisession discs, as well as ISO images.
This program is ideal for those who like small but rather timid programs. You can start Small CD-Writer directly from the explorer context menu - Send to Small CD-Writer.
Summing up the results of this review, we can say the following: users who value wide functionality are ideally suited for Ashampoo Burning Studio Free, ImgBurn and CDBurnerXP. And for those who are inclined to simplicity and convenience, DeepBurner Free, BurnAware Free and InfraRecorder can come in handy, as well as Small CD-Writer - which can be launched from a USB flash drive.
