Many brands of CD and DVD drives do not come bundled with burning software. This leaves users with only Windows XP’s built in burning ability, which is not only rudimentary, but limited to CDs only. As a side note, Vista offers both CDs and DVDs. But the majority of users, including myself, are still using XP. So for today’s Freeware Frenzy, I will be examining these two programs to decide which is the better choice for a free disc-burning solution.

DeepBurner
Installation is basic; choose a language, agree to the license, choose a program location and type of installation: Full or Custom. Full adds the program along with a Program Menu listing, Quick Launch and Desktop shortcuts. Custom allows you to choose between the two shortcuts. Installing takes only a moment and after the readme pops up, you are finished.

DeepBurner begins with a wizard, offering three options: Data CD/DVD, Audio CD and ISO Image. I will look at all three, starting with Data CD. To create a Data disc, DeepBurner uses two windows, one as a file explorer and a second to organize your disc. There is a familiar bar along the bottom to keep an eye on the amount of space needed as files are added to the list. Using a four step process; first choose the files to burn. Then create an auto-run program if you so choose. Using built-in forms and buttons, or adding in your own images, you can create a simple menu that will open whenever your disc is placed in the computer. Once the form itself is customized, you can edit the buttons to launch programs, explore folders, open email or a website, or run custom commands. So for example, you could create a CD full of security applications and buttons to launch the installation of each one. Or you could create a CD with music files and links to lyrics and band websites and a media player launcher. Third, you opt to create labels to print for your CDs, including templates for both normal and minidisks. Add text and pictures and arrange them to your liking. Finally you can burn the disc. DeepBurner automatically recognized my Asus DVD Burner and the correct maximum burning speed. DeepBurner took 3:15 to burn 300MB of data at 40x. I checked the disc after the burn and there were no issues.

Creating an Audio CD is very similar to a Data CD. Drag in your files from the explorer window, arrange the tracks, create a label if you choose, and burn the disc. Note there is no included audio player. Creating an ISO is even easier; just browse to the file and burn.

CDBurnerXP Pro 3
Installation begins with a short warning that any prior versions need to be uninstalled and that anyone not using Windows Media Player 9 or higher need certain runtime files from Microsoft. Windows Media Player is currently on version 11, so upgrade if you have not already. Then continue on. A Version History pops up next, followed by the license agreement, then you’ll need to enter your name and organization. I always use a screen name here. Next choose who is allowed to use the program, a directory location, and installation will take just a few seconds.

When you begin, simply follow a wizard through the burn process. Choose from three starting options: Data CD or DVD/Video DVD/ISO Image, Create Audio CD or Rip Audio CD/Edit MP3 Tags. As with DeepBurner, I’ll take a look at each option, starting with Data CD. You’ll see a window with four areas; two to explore your computer’s files and two to organize the files you want on the disc. A bar along the bottom will keep you up to date with the size of the data. When your files are in place, pop in a blank disc and click on the flaming CD icon on the left. You’ll want to select the option to Edit Settings then Burn, instead of an immediate burn. The settings are typical but handy, including; make disc bootable, verify data, eject disc after burning, or finalize disc (to prevent further burning). My burn went smoothly, taking 2:21 to burn the same 300MB of data used with DeepBurner at 40x. My burner and its specifications were correctly identified and the data burned correctly.

Creating an Audio CD is similar to a Data CD. Instead of organizing files, you can organize the tracks for the CD. You’ll see information on each track, including length, bitrates, file type and location. Along the top of the program there is a simple audio player in case you want to give the disc a test run before burning. The bar along the bottom of the screen will now show the length of the disc instead of size.

Rip Audio CD uses simple instructions to guide you through the process. Put in your audio CD, choose a format to rip into; WMA, MP3, WAV or OGG and their associated options, where to save and the file naming scheme. Then click on the Grab Audio Tracks tab to select and rip tracks. You can query the FreeDB for album information.

The major addition to CDBurnerXP Pro 3 that you will not find in DeepBurner is DVD Video burning. You will need to use some other freeware apps to create the correct setup files for the DVD but the included Help file Tutorial will help you through the process. Once those are setup, you can use CDBurnerXP Pro 3 burn them to a DVD to play in your computer or set top player.

Conclusion
So now that each program has come out swinging, who delivered the knockout punch? Let’s start by saying that each program is a worthy opponent, and I encourage readers to try both to decide which they prefer. But for my opinion, I give the edge to CDBurnerXP Pro 3. The more polished interface and add functionality for DVD Videos and CD Ripping make CDBXPP the more complete solution for freeware burning. You can check out the programs on these websites: http://www.deepburner.com/ and http://www.cdburnerxp.se/