Read this chapter for information about
your computer’s built-in CD-ROM drive.
5 Using the Built-in CD-ROM Drive
This chapter provides information on the CD-ROM drive (also called a CD-ROM player). Refer to Appendix A, “Health, Safety, and Maintenance Tips,” for information on the proper handling of these discs.
With your internal CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) drive, you have access to large amounts of information. The CD-ROM drive can read the contents of CD-ROM discs, standard audio compact discs (CDs), and single- session or multisession Photo CDs. However, you cannot use the drive to save information on CD-ROM discs. ROM stands for read-only memory, meaning that the drive cannot “write” information onto CD-ROM discs.
A wide selection of CD-ROM discs is available for entertainment, education, and business. A typical disc can hold over 650 megabytes (MB) of information—the equivalent of 270,000 pages of text, up to 8 hours of speech or music (depending on the sound quality), hundreds of high-resolution images, or any combination of text, sound, and graphics.
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