CD-RW Drives - What are they

A CD-RW drive is an optical disc drive found on computers that can read and write CDs. CD-RW, which stands for compact disc rewritable, is a technology developed during the 1990s that allows people to crate ('burn") CDs with music, files and pictures. CD-RW drives were desirable when first released because of their ability to burn CDs, but they have lost their popularity because of the advent of DVD-RW drives.

Function

CD-RW drives are computer drives that can write CDs and copy data (music, files, pictures) from computer hard drives onto CDs. These drives use a red-light laser to write the information from the computer onto recordable discs, either CD-R discs, which cannot be erased, or CD-RW discs, which can be erased and recorded about 1,000 times.
CD-RW drives are used to make audio CDs, which can be played in virtually any CD player, or data discs, which are useful for backing up or transferring files.

 

Benefits

When they were first introduced, CD-RW drives had a lot of benefits and uses because they revolutionized portable storage for computer files. They could store more than floppy discs so CD-R and CD-RWs were used for file storage especially to create back-up discs of important documents. Because of its rewriting capabilities, it was easy to use a CD-RW and CD-RW drive to create a back-up disc that could easily be modified or updated.
Also coupled with the craze of music downloads CD-RW drives were used to create mixed audio CDs that could be played in any player, such as one in an automobile. This gave users flexibility to mix their favourite songs from a variety of albums onto one CD.