Back Up Your Mac Data to DVD-ROM

Your data is the most important part of your computer...back it up!

By Craig Anderton

Mac OS X has many useful features, and one of them is the ability to save your data using the built-in CD/DVD-ROM burning options built into the Mac operating system itself. If your Mac has a SuperDrive (internal, or external connected via USB), you can back up data easily to DVD-ROM and CD-ROM optical media.

This article is based on using the Mavericks operating system; however the DVD-burning utility hasn’t changed much over the years, so the following will likely work with your current Mac OS X version.

Begin by inserting a blank, recordable DVD-ROM into your Mac’s optical drive. A dialog box appears; select Open Finder, then click on OK (Fig. 1). If you want a blank DVD-ROM to always Open Finder when inserted, click “Make This Action the Default.”

Fig. 1: If this dialog box doesn’t appear, the Mac hasn’t recognized the disc (e.g., it could be defective, or a Blu-Ray).

When the “Untitled DVD” disc icon appears on your desktop, double-click on the icon. This opens up the empty DVD-ROM window where you drag the files you want to burn (Fig. 2); dragging them creates an alias of the files in the window.

Fig. 2: Drag the files you want to burn to the empty DVD-ROM window.

Note that you can edit the alias names in the DVD-ROM window without altering the original files, and the DVD-ROM will be burned with the edited names.

Next, select Burn Disc from the drop-down menu, or click on the Burn button toward the window’s upper right corner (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3: The window’s Burn button is the most convenient way to continue the burning process.

Now you can name the disc, and specify the burn speed. The utility defaults to maximum speed, but I generally choose a speed one level slower just to give the burning process a little slack—I’ve never had a coaster when using the slightly slower speed, although that may just be coincidence. Also note that you can save the contents in a “Burn Folder.” This holds aliases for a particular collection of files to be burned (such as all the cuts in a compilation). Finally, click on Burn (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4: After naming and specifying the speed, you’re ready to go.

A progress bar shows the status of the burning process. When it’s finished, the DVD-ROM is done—and your data is backed up. Don’t you feel just a little more secure now?

Craig Anderton is Editor Emeritus of Harmony Central. He has played on, mixed, or produced over 20 major label releases (as well as mastered over a hundred tracks for various musicians), and written over a thousand articles for magazines like Guitar Player, Keyboard, Sound on Sound (UK), and Sound + Recording (Germany). He has also lectured on technology and the arts in 38 states, 10 countries, and three languages.