Nero Burning ROM was the original Nero application and, some would argue, also the best. As a burning application, it excels. Nero Burning ROM is by no means the simplest app on the market, but what it lacks in simplicity, it makes up for in quality, configuration choices and speed.

In broad terms, you can use Nero Burning ROM to burn and copy to CDs, DVDs and DVD and CD ROMS. So far, so normal. What differentiates the application from its competitors, however, are its excellent configuration options - you'll see them as soon as you open the program. They might be overwhelming for beginners, but it shouldn't take long to get to grips with them. Once you do, you'll see this choice as one of Nero Burning ROM's major advantages.

This app doesn't stop at configuration options, however. Nero Burning ROM also offers lots of secondary tools which means there's a good chance you'll be able to meet all your CD/DVD needs from within the same program. There's an encoder, compilation tool, built-in recorder and disc explorer.

Nero Burning ROM is a one-stop shop for all your CD and DVD burning needs.

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Nero Kwik Burn is basically a stripped-down version of the original Nero suite. In fact it's so reduced it only lets you burn data discs and also create copies of discs. Nero Kwik Burn works with CD and DVD, and offers some basic options such as the ability to simulate the burning process before actually doing it or verify data on disc after burning. Nero Kwik Burn also includes tools to analyze your disc and also erase re-writable discs.

Nero Kwik Burn features a clear, easy-to-use interface with the burning and copying tools on the left side, and a tab bar on top – which I found a bit misleading because it only shows you all the other great things you could do with the full version of Nero if only you upgraded.

In any case, Nero Kwik Burn remains a good alternative for those of you who're looking for a quick, efficient and reliable CD recorder without all the bells and whistles of the complete suite.

Nero Kwik Burn is the free version of the well-known Nero suite: a nice, simple tool for the most basic recording needs.

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Although speed is the key attraction here, what's even more useful is that Express Burn can convert files into another format if required - excellent if you're recording music data that's not in MP3. Although the process of preparing a CD to burn is very quick, the burning process will depend on your hardware but Express Burn supports high speed drives.

Express Burn also includes Video DVD authoring, Data DVD burning and even HDDVD disks and Bluray. Data disks are also catered for, and the program offers you the ability to create ISO images and a wide range of other data file types.

Express Burn is a compact, fast program that offers you the ability to burn a great amount of different media and file formats. Unfortunately, it's blighted by features that look like part of the program, but when you click, you realize they're actually other pieces of software that you must download separately. We don't mind downloading add-ons, but it would be nice if the program was a little more upfront about it.

Express Burn is a great piece of burning software that can handle a huge number of formats. That makes it an all-round winner.

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Nero Multimedia Suite is comprehensive and if you are looking for a one-stop shop for your video editing, burning and back-up, it will definitely fit the bill. Although getting started is a bit of a mystery (the app installs lots of icons for features that can be managed via the StartSmart button), the various components are slick, easy-to-use and meet most basic to intermediate needs.

As in previous versions, Nero Multimedia Suite offers a range of quick burning/ripping tasks on the left and the complete range of features divided into tabbed areas at the top. When you choose an option, a window will open. You control the feature from there, choosing options and tweaking configurations.

The whole Nero Multimedia Suite experience is very simple. There are loads of online tutorials, wizards and step-by-step instructions for burning, ripping, backing up and editing - among Nero Multimedia Suite's most interesting features are the ability to digitize tapes and records, the file recovery application and, of course, Nero's famous burning skills.

Nero Multimedia Suite's critics will call it bloated and filled with unnecessary features. That's not entirely wrong, but what it brings in bloat, it makes up for in ease of use and centralization. Sure, you could carry out all of Nero Multimedia Suite's functions using other, cheaper software, and it's true that you may never use many of its functions, but users who will be interested in Nero Multimedia Suite won't care, because it allows them to do exactly what they want, when they want, and with minimal technical knowledge.

Nero Multimedia Suite 10 is bloated, but provides centralization and flexibility that many users will find irresistible.

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Image burning is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to save large amounts of data to DVD or CD, because they allow users to download high volumes of data in a relatively small file. What's more, it's instantly ready for DVD or disk burning.

ImgBurn has several 'Modes', with each one performing a different task. These include Read, which reads a disc to an image file; Build, which creates an image file from files on your computer or network; Write, which writes an image file to a disc; and Verify, which checks whether a disk is 100% readable.

With this last option, you can also ensure that the data is correct by asking ImgBurn to compare your disk against an image file. Finally, ImgBurn also includes Discovery, which puts your drive to the test to find just what kind of speeds and disk types it can support.

Bear in mind that if you are experiencing any burning problems, it may be that your drive is not fast enough to handle the settings you have configured in ImgBurn. or that you are using the wrong kind of disks.

ImgBurn is a very lightweight and powerful image burner that requires little experience but will ensure all your images are burned in a flash.

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Among the features in CDBurnerXP you’ll find tools to burn data discs, music discs, ISO images and also copy discs all from your memory stick, without leaving any trace on the host computer. All of these options are conveniently organized in a tool menu – the main screen you seen when running CDBurnerXP.

Each button in this launch menu opens the corresponding application in a separate window. From then on, the recording process follows the standard procedure: select data to burn, press the Record button, tweak burning settings and you're done. CDBurnerXP supports CD, DVD (including HD-DVD) and also Blu-Ray discs.

The only downside to CDBurnerXP is the fact that the main screen closes every time you choose a burning task, so if you want to switch from erasing a disc to burning something else on it, you’ll have to start CDBurnerXP twice.

CDBurnerXP is a powerful burning tool that lets you create music and data discs, burn ISO images, copy discs and more.

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However, there are always a few programs out there that seem able to crack just about anything and CloneCD is certainly one of them. CloneCD gives you the option to clone as much or as little as you want from not only CDs but DVDs as well. Why the developers chose to keep the name CloneCD is a mystery because this program is more than capable of both.

The utility can compress extensive footage at high speed due to what the developers call "advanced transcoding technology" and it allows you to select both the audio and language you'd like to use from DVDs. The program works very well with ISOs and UDFs and is particularly useful to "unblocking"copyrighted disks - i.e. those CDs or DVDs which are copyrighted and won't play in your CD player. However, it should be noted that copyright laws vary from country to country and that you should not be using this program to break copyright laws or decode commercial disks - it's entirely for your own use.

For unblocking or copying locked or heavily encrypted DVDs or CDs, CloneCD is an incredibly powerful application.

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But sometimes they become too bloated, often losing sight of what they were created for in the first place. So for instance, whenever I need to record a CD or DVD, I no longer turn to Nero but use DeepBurner instead.

There's also the option to create ISO image files, although you need to follow a small workaround to get to it: run the program and choose "Create data CD/DVD" in the project selection window.

Select the files and folders you want to include in your ISO and when you're done click on the "Burn Disk" button. In the next dialog you'll be able to choose "Save ISO" instead of actually burning the data onto a CD.

It's perfect if you just need to record a CD from time to time, but if you're looking for something more then you'll miss features like volume normalizing or being able to create copies, to name just a few.

In any case, DeepBurner is a perfectly valid option for those who prefer avoiding complicated programs and prefer the simplicity of an app focused on one single ability: recording CD's and DVD's.

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The good thing about Ashampoo Burning Studio is that it offers a rich variety of tools to burn data, backup files, create movie and photo slideshows and print labels and covers, while maintaining great usability thanks to a well-organized menu. All you have to do is browse the menu on the left of the interface, select the appropriate task and Ashampoo Burning Studio will open the corresponding tool in a new window.

There are some outstanding new features in this version of Ashampoo Burning Studio. One is the video disc preview player, which emulates the entire disc menu and lets you interact with it; another one is the integrated audio player for audio CD; and finally, the Autoplay editor, with which you can easily build interactive menus that run automatically when the disc is inserted.

The only drawback, if any, is the fact that Ashampoo Burning Studio is not integrated with Windows Explorer: it would have been great to burn files or folders straight away just by right-clicking on them.

Ashampoo Burning Studio is a full-featured yet easy to use burning tool with support for Blu-Ray, built-in players, label and menu editors, and many other interesting features.

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CyberLink Power2Go features everything you'd expect from a burner produced by a big developer such as CyberLink, including the ability to burn onto double layer DVDs and Blu-ray discs. It's also been designed to produce photo slideshows with Digital Dolby audio and even extract audio tracks from video files.

The ease of access and speed of use is what impresses with this burner. If you want to burn any DVD or CD, simply drag them into the desktop shortcut and CyberLink Power2Go whizzes into action. It even takes it's image seriously with the option of downloading fresh new skins and templates online.

CyberLink Power2Go is a powerful and extremely quick burner that will handle all your CD/DVD and Blu-ray burning needs.

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Everything you need for burning discs

Free Create-Burn ISO is so simple to use. Select the files or folders you want to add to the project (ISO, UDF, ISO/UDF), then hit Create ISO and the file will be created automatically. If you've already got an ISO image, you can use this app to burn it to disc.

Free Create-Burn ISO also lets you carry out more standard burning projects, like simple burning CDs and DVDs (CD-RW, DVD-RW , DVD + RW), erasing rewriteable discs and other features, like data verification and automatically ejecting discs after burning.

Suitable for everyone

Almost 100% of Free Create-Burn ISO's feaures are accessible from the main screen, and using it is very intuitive, which means that everyone, even less-experienced users, should have no problems using it at all.

It delivers

Free Create-Burn ISO worked well during our tests. It was stable, and features worked exactly as you'd expect. Another positive? It's light on system resources and didn't put any stress on our computer at all.

Our verdict

Free Create-Burn ISO is the perfect app for people who want to burn ISOs and discs easily and quickly. It worked well, and doesn't have a confusion of features that would only stand to confuse less experienced users.

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CloneDVD offers you three options - copy DVD, clone DVD or write data to disk. The process is pretty easy - you choose the DVD, pick a few basic preferences (quality to compression ratio, subtitles, audio) and specify if you want the output as DVD file, ISO image or directly written to disk. You press Go! and your CloneDVD gets working on the job.

The configuration options presented by CloneDVD are pretty basic. If you are simply backing up your movies, they should be fine, but if you want a little more control, you should probably look elsewhere. Other than that, Clone DVD is fast and efficient, and an excellent option.

CloneDVD is a solid tool for backing up and cloning your DVD movies.

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If you're tired of bloated burning suites, BurnAware might be what you're looking for. Launching with a well-designed wizard style interface that lets you select the appropriate recording task, it just gets better from there.

BurnAware lets you choose between data and music discs, as well as DVD videos and ISO files. In all cases you may choose files and folders from BurnAware itself or simply drag and drop files onto its interface. The drop-down menu on the bottom bar also lets you select the target size: CD, DVD, double-layered DVD and Blu-Ray.

BurnAware includes all the classic settings in a burning tool, such as support for multi-session, a rewritable disc erasing tool and writing simulation. It does lack a more advanced configuration menu that enables tweaking recorder settings to take full advantage of each disc's space though. Despite this, it remains an easy-to-use, straightforward tool that supports all the burning tasks that the average user will need.

BurnAware is a basic, yet effective, burning tool for data, video, and music discs that supports Blu-Ray.

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CDBurnerXP Portable features the powerful recording tools of its original version arranged into a USB-sized application that doesn't even require installation. You can burn data discs, music discs, ISO images and also copy discs all from your memory stick, without leaving any traces on the host computer.

CDBurnerXP Portable supports CD, DVD (including HD-DVD) and also Blu-Ray discs. The program features a launching menu where you can choose the task you want to do, so that it opens the corresponding application in a separate window. From that moment on, the recording process follows the standard procedure: select data to burn, press the Record button, tweak burning settings and you're done.

Too bad this portable version is not updated as often as the original one; other than that, it's an excellent choice for quick recording tasks.

CDBurnerXP Portable lets you carry all the great features of the powerful CDBurnerXP burning tool right in your pocket.

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With Free Disc Burner you can burn CD, DVD and Blu-Ray discs, with support for a wide variety of formats: recordable discs, rewritable discs, dual layer discs and all the possible combinations of +R and –R you can think of. Free Disc Burner can work with multi-session discs and is BurnProof and JustLink compatible. It includes also a tool to erase rewritable discs.

Though Free Disc Burner is designed to be a simple, easy-to-use burning tool, my opinion is that its usability could have been improved a bit. Using a simple program doesn't mean we have to give up on having a proper interface, with a double-pane window to select files and a more usable toolbar.

Free Disc Burner is a basic burning tool that helps you record custom CD, DVD and Blu-Ray discs.

Download Free Disc Burner 3.0.18.128 in Softonic