Audio or Data CD-R?

[Noviceuser2022]

I have burnt a CD-R, how can I tell if it is data or audio? I can’t remember which option I chose!

It also did not ask me whether I wanted to finalise the disk. It plays in a CD player so I am assuming it is finalised automatically.

 

[Bighorn]

CD-R and DVD-R/DVD+R do finalize when completed and ejected although there may be programs that can treat them as if they are RW type, haven't needed to try that.

As for the type of data, if it plays in a CD player the files most likely will show on the disc as .cda which are very small and only pointers to the hidden data on the disc which I think are actually .wma format. I've Ripped my audio CDs to .mp3 format for playing on the little MP3 Players such as an iPod and other brands.

Data discs can hold many types of files for storage such as Office documents, movies/videos, pictures, etc., and can be accessed by programs that created them but usually can't change them. When discs are finalized they can't be changed, become ROM/Read Only Memory.

The discs can be viewed in File Explorer to determine what they are, name and extension.

 

[Noviceuser2022]

Is it possible to burn a data cd-r with documents, JPEG’s and music tracks that will play in a regular CD player? Or will a regular CD player only play audio only CD-Rs?

 

[Bighorn]

I don't think a mixed disc will play audio properly the .cda files created on it are merely pointers to hidden tracks, most likely .wma. It will allow selecting .mp3 files in a playing program such as Windows Media Player or one of the freebies available.

As far as commercial audio CDs the .cda files are quite small at about 1KB but the total space used on the disc for a dozen some may be between 150MB and 200MB, could be more or less, but the length of the songs will determine that.