Your frustration is clouding your common sense.

The good old days are still with us - you can install a floppy drive in the
machine and drag and drop files to it or use the copy command from DOS just
like you always did.. Nothing has changed, except perhaps that you are now
finding that the floppy isn't quite big enough for you.

Did you check what the documentation supplied with the drive said about the
correct blank disk to purchase? You have many more choices than just R or
RW, and you will need to consult the manual. And if you need advice from a
sales assistant, don't shop at Walmart.

I don't know how you expected the software to tell you when to stop
selecting files when you did not have a blank disk inserted in the drive - I
think it would be very magic software that knew what type of disk you
intended to buy. I suspect that if you buy a blank disk and insert it in
the drive you may find there's a wizard that will start by telling you how
much space you have available, and then guide you through the steps
depending on what it is your are trying to copy to the disk - at least
that's how other brands of CD writing software work (and if your software
doesn't do that for you, perhaps you purchased the wrong product).

Take a deep breath, do a little bit of reading, find a sales assistant in a
store that knows what they are talking about, get some blank disks, and
start experimenting. And while doing all that, keep in mind the degree of
puzzlement you experienced when your first turned your own computer on many
years ago, and just how much your knowledge has grown since that day.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
wrote in message
...
What ever happened to the good old days where all that was needed was
a simple floppy disk, and files could be dragged and dropped from
Windows, or use the "copy command" from dos.

After not even owning a CD player for years, I just bought an external
Iomega ZipCD player and recorder, connected to my USB port. After a
little hassle getting the drivers installed, it works fine, and I was
able to install a few CD's that have been sitting on the shelf for the
last several years.

On the other hand, I have never burned a CD or DVD or anything. This
drive came with Iomega Hot Burn Pro. I have played with it, but have
not yet purchased any blanks. One thing I am not sure whether to get
the Write once or Multi-write ones. Worse yet, which are which. In
the store they had R and RW. What do these letters mean? I thought
that R meant READ and RW meant READ-WRITE. But what good is a blank
CD that is only readable? The Walmart clerk did not know what I was
talking about (typical Walmart idiot), so I left the store not buying
any discs because I did not know what to buy.

Then, when I finally do get the disks, what do I do next?

The software has the following options to select.
Music Disc
Data Disc
MP3/WMA Disc
Disc Copy
CD Label

MP3's are music, so why is there both a "music disc" and a "MP3/WMA"
option?

I am sure the Data Disc is for backups and saving files off the hard
drive. And I know that CD Label makes labels (which my laser printer
would unlikely be able to make.

Then I started to select a bunch of MP3 files on my harddrive and it
told me that they will not all fit. Well, DUH..... Why does it not
tell me where to stop, assuming I will need several discs?

Do I need to manually copy the files to a special directory until I
know I have no more than 700 megs (or is it 650, since several
websites do not agree and list 650 on some and 700 on other sites for
the max capacity).

Then it says that MP3's can not be played on a standard CD player on a
stereo. What's the point of putting them on a CD if they wont play
(other than as a backup).

On to the Data Disc.
Am I going to have to manually select files till I reach the 650 or
700 meg limit? I dont see any option to have it just tell me to
insert another disc when one is full.

I spent half a day reading help files and websites, and this seems to
be the most complicated thing any computer can do. Like I said, what
ever happened to the good old days of floppies. Just copy the files
and the job is done. It looks like with CD's there are hours if not
days of preparation required before making each and every CD.

Now I know why I never wanted to own one of these cd burners.

I'm seriously thinking that although it will cost more, I may be
better off just buying a pile of those memory sticks for backing up my
computer, and forgetting the CD burning. At least I got a CD player
now.

By the way, if I ever do get this thing to work, how can I label them
with a pen or something like that? I dont have the printer to make
labels and it all seems like too much hassle anyhow. But they do need
some soft of label, even just numbering them would help. I have at
least a dozen CDs that other people made for them, and none have
labels, so I got to install them one by one to see what is on them.

Either I'm too old for this, or I just dont understand any of it.

By the way I'm runing 98SE.

Jim