How to Burn Over an Already Burnt CD

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Use your CD-RW discs over and over again.

A CD-RW is a type of CD that allows you to burn over previously recorded data. The RW stands for rewritable because you can use it just like you would a floppy disk or hard drive and write data onto it numerous times.Your computer must be equipped with a CD-RW drive in order to burn a CD-RW disc. This type of disc is different than the standard CD-R because once you burn data onto a CD-R, you cannot burn anything on that disc again.

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Step 1

Insert the CD-RW into your computer's disc drive.

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Step 2

Click on the Windows Media Player icon on the desktop. If there is no icon on the desktop, click on the "Start" menu button, and locate the Windows Media Player icon in the pop-up menu.

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Step 3

Right-click on the CD drive in the Navigation pane on the left side of the screen. Select "Erase disc" to delete the current contents of the CD. This is required in order to burn on a CD-RW that has already had data stored on it. Wait for the data to be erased before proceeding.

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Step 4

Click on the "Burn" tab on the top of the Media Player screen. Select the type of CD you wish to create from the pull-down menu. If you want to make a music CD that will work in CD players, choose "Audio CD." If you're burning data files, choose "Data CD."

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Step 5

Click on "Clear List pane" if you have files in the previous burn list.

Step 6

Locate the files you want to burn onto the CD-RW. Click on the file, and hold the mouse button down while you drag it to the List pane on the right-hand side of the screen. You can change the order of the files by clicking on them and dragging them to the correct position on the list.

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Step 7

Select "Start Burn" to transfer the data onto the CD. Watch the burn progress in the List pane, and eject the CD once you see the disc is complete.

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