Erase a CD RW

Rewritable CDs, often called CD-RWs, are a great way to backup data or share it between computers. A CD-RW is a disc that can be written to and then later erased and rewritten. Only some discs will support this operation, and the process varies based on your computer's operating system. Learning how to erase a CD-RW is an important part of the process of using rewritable discs.

Steps

1. Ensure that your setup is capable of working with rewritable CDs. To erase files from a CD-RW, you will need both the rewritable disc itself and an optical drive capable of reading and writing to CD-RWs. This capability will be listed on the front panel of your optical drive.
2. Insert the disc into your computer's optical drive. Regardless of what operating system you're running, you need to begin by putting the disc into your disc drive. If your computer has multiple optical drives, make sure to put the CD into the one marked with "CD-RW."
3. Open the My Computer window. Do this by either double-clicking on the desktop icon or navigating to the option through the Start menu.
4. Right-click the icon for the CD recording drive. In the context menu that appears, click "Open."
5. Run the CD writing wizard. In the panel marked "CD Writing Tasks," click on the option marked "Erase this CD-RW." This will open a wizard that will guide you through the process of erasing the disc's contents. Follow the directions in the wizard to erase the CD-RW.
6. Rewrite your CD-RW as desired. Once the disc has been successfully erased, you can re-record it with new data. This process can be repeated as necessary.

Erase a CD-RW Using Mac OS X

1. Open the Finder program by clicking on its icon in the dock. Once Finder is open, click on the "Applications" folder to display the applications installed on your computer.
2. Open the Disk Utility application. Scroll through the list of applications in the Finder window until you see the Disk Utility icon. Open the program by double-clicking on the icon.
3. Select the disc that you want to erase. In the left panel of the Disk Utility window, you will see a list of all the drives on your computer. Select your optical drive from this menu; it will have a small picture of a CD. Make sure to highlight the device icon, not the volume icon (the device icon will be aligned to the left of the window, while the volume icon will be indented to the right underneath it).
4. Erase the CD. To erase the disc, click the "Erase" button in the lower right corner of the window. When the disc has been erased, you may rewrite it as desired.

Tips

• CD-RWs will deteriorate over time as they are erased and rewritten. Check the packaging to find the discs' estimated lifespan.

Things You'll Need

• CD-RW optical drive
• Rewritable discs

Related Articles

• Format CD‐RW
• Clear and Put Music on a CD RW
• Burn a Downloaded Movie to a DVD
• Make an Autorun CD
• Format DVD RW

Sources and Citations

• http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306641
• http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61300

See also

• Make a Professional Quality CD
• Put Photos on a CD That Will Play on a DVD Player
• Print DVD Labels
• Make a CD Sleeve from Paper
• Fix a Scratched DVD
• Create an ISO File
• Fix a Scratched CD
• Transfer VHS Tapes to DVD or Other Digital Formats
• Spot Fake DVDs
• Burn a DVD

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