Introduction
When looking for the best free software program for either CD (Compact Disc) or DVD (Digitally Versatile Disc) I think it is worth the effort to consider your exact requirements.
Keep in mind that CD & DVD burning programs are designed for you to author CDs and DVDs for music, photos, movies, games, data or other digital files that will hopefully stimulate your creativity. As well as CD and DVD burning software, this category also includes Lightscribe software which enables you to produce laser-etched labels with text or graphics, as opposed to stick-on labels and printable discs.
With new free software, don't be afraid to experiment and try a few different options before you decide on the right one for you.
Rated Products

Platforms/Download: Windows (Desktop) |
Version reviewed: n/a
Gizmos Freeware
Our Rating: 5/5 |
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Platforms/Download: Windows (Desktop) |
Version reviewed: n/a
Gizmos Freeware
Our Rating: 4/5 |
Read more...
Platforms/Download: Windows (Desktop) |
Version reviewed: n/a
Gizmos Freeware
Our Rating: 4/5 |
Read more...
Platforms/Download: Windows (Desktop) |
Version reviewed: n/a
Gizmos Freeware
Our Rating: 4/5 |
Read more...
Related Products and Links
You might want to check out these articles too:
- Best Free CD Ripper
- Best Free DVD Authoring Software
- Best Free CD-DVD Emulation Software
- Best Free CD Recovery Utility
Editor
This software review is copy-edited by Ian Richards. Please help edit and improve this article by clicking here.
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Comments
FYI, just downloaded and installed CDBurnerXP. Have used it for some time and had seen the Candy program before.
It's gone now. Clean install. Nice, sweet, clean install.
I suspect the users downloading it were savvy enough to simply avoid the spam.
People like me would rather donate to the company than deal with spam.
Just sayin.
11 Dec 2013 Imgburn update installed several invasive programs on my machine - even though I unticked all the extras.
Hi Anupam,
Thanks again for your help on 04/01/2013. Have a different question now. My sister has given me some DVD-Rs that she has added photos that automatically play in a sequence with music and stupid special effects (exploding stars, shrinking imagery, ect.). I wish to copy the photos from this DVD she's authored, and get the captions she's associated with these photos as well, without all the special effects and musics-Just photos and captions. Is there a free software product that will do this? If not, what software would you recommend?
It would appear that she created it with a software called Roxioplasma (2005) and there are .bup, .vob, and .ifo files that this application creates. I need something to open these files so I can pull the photos out with.
Thanks,
Tom
When you install ImageBurn, it recommends installing the AVG toolbar and AVG Secure Search as your homepage. The "Standard Installation (recommended)" and checked by default automatically installs these.
To not install these items, you need to click on Custom Installation and uncheck both items.
Also as mentioned in previous posts, after the AVG installation page, to skip the OpenCandy installation, you need to switch from "Express Installation (recommended)" to "Custom Installation" and uncheck the recommendation given there.
Thanks but I see no option with ImageBurner for a Custom Installation, or to opt out of Open Candy. Incorporating OC began in 2.5.8.0. ImgBurn Old Version of ImgBurn 2.5.7.0 is still offered at http://www.filehippo.com/download_imgburn/12006/
Avoid OpenCandy installation when installing ImgBurn:
1. Open a Command Prompt as an Administrator.
2. Copy and Paste (don't use CTRL-C/CTRL-V)one of these (no quotes) into the Command Prompt:
for Windows x86: "SetupImgBurn_2.5.8.0.exe /S /D=C:\Program Files\ImgBurn"
for Windows x64: "SetupImgBurn_2.5.8.0.exe /S /D=C:\Program Files(x86)\ImgBurn"
3. Open the x86 or x64 location above in Windows Explorer and pin or drop a shortcut of ImgBurn.exe to the location of your choice.
I ran SpyBot Portable afterward, which detected zero instances of OpenCandy. Comments on how to improve or enhance this process are welcome. =)
ImgBurn installed OpenCandy (adware) in my computer. I did an online search and I found this info:
https://forums.malwarebytes.org/index.php?showtopic=127903
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1503852
Malwarebytes did a good job removing that piece of malware.
I have uninstalled ImgBurn from my computer. I am hoping Gizmo's Tech Support Alert will soon remove this program from the list.
I want to report that the Help-->Contents in InfraRecorder doesn't work. Clicking on it DOES brings up a help window, but there are no help topics. The same goes for the portable version.
There's no help to be had at SourceForge either, as evidenced by:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/infrarecorder/support?source=navbar
and...
http://sourceforge.net/p/infrarecorder/bugs/712/
I want to suggest that an appropriate note should be made against the entry in this article. Potential users will then be aware of this issue instead of wasting their time.
Just a FYI ImgBurn is bundled with OpenCandy now. Not sure if someone else has already commented on it but I figured I'd mention it since I didn't see it included with the review. On a separate note I love this web site. It's impossible to find unbiased reviews that aren't sponsored by a company. I've learned to always check here first. Thanks for all the hard work that goes into this site.
FYI: Also bundled with..
'Install Angry Birds & MyFreeGames Toolbar, set default search & new tabs to MyFreeGames Search, and set my homepage on my browser to MyFreeGames Search'.
No thanks, Declining is not obvious, typical confuse a cat gotcha for the innocent set up,...time to look for an alternative, or stay with the previous version.
Installed imgburn using download mirror from the authors site, then soon had snap.do hijack my chrome home page. I don't know for sure if imgburn was the reason but feels suspicious. New install of Win7 x64 with McAfee Enterprise 8.8, Zemana anti-logger, anti-malware bytes, and AnVir task Mgr free. I could not get AnVir task mgr window to open (even though windows task mgr showed it as a running process), so I uninstalled, re-downloaded and then re-installed it, during re-installation it gave the two message warnings of new startup items videosaver and snap.do. I opened the browser to look-up their names and found it redirected to snap.do. Maybe the AnVir download was corrupted with malware. I don't know for sure. I am reverting to a backup image from this morning before installing imgburn...
I have a problem using CDBurnerXP. I have the Beatles Stereo box set of CDs that I was wanting to copy to blank CDs. I have never seen this before but the CDs in the set have no *.cda files on it. I know these files have no musical data and only point to the music data. When I select the "audio disc" option on CDBurnerXP, it reads the CD but says it is empty. It appears that CDBurnerXP needs the *.cda files in order to produce a copy. I have ripped the Beatles CDs with iTunes without any problem. Does anyone know of a CD burner that will work with CDs that don't have the *.cda files? I'd prefer a program that copies the audio CD and burns it to a blank CD in one step rather than have to save audio files to my C drive first.
Thanks,
George
CDs may have some kind of copy protection. Try holding SHIFT key while loading CD.
I don't think the CDs are copy protected because iTunes wouldn't have ripped them if they were copy protected. The CDs simply don't have cda files which I don't think a CD player actually needs to play the disc. I suppose the act of not including the cda files may have been intended as a kind of copy protection.
What software do I use to make an image of the disc and burn it?
Thank you for your help. I decided to install ImgBurn that receives numerous good reviews on the internet. It worked quite well. It created *.bin and *.cue files on my hard disc from which I was able to burn CDs that play well. I followed directions on this web page which are quite simple.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/computers/585878-copy-backup-music-cdrom-...
In addition to the directions, I decided to use the "Verify" option to verify the *.bin and *.cue files to the CD. I don't know how important it is to do that. If anyone else decides to try ImgBurn, be aware that you need to uncheck the option to install the Ask toolbar during the installation process.
George
re: cdburnerXP, with the newer updates I encountered a problem with cataloging discs with cathy.exe.
It seems like the discs all get the same serial number which causes Cathy to believe all discs are the same.
I have advised the author about this. version 4.3xx and older do not have this problem.
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