If you have a Plextor drive, the current version of the excellent bundled PLEXTOOLS is version 2.25, works with all CD and DVD media. It comes in at a whopping 9.5 megabytes in disk size... This includes all the program files, the EULA and Manual PDF files, the Windows Help file and the Internet short-cut to the Plextor web-site. The main executable itself is PLEXTOOL.EXE which is 5,620 KB in size.

dvwjr

I use Nero for making data and audio CDs from files. I really like that they release frequent updates. You can also probably uninstall and reinstall Nero with a smaller feature set. You don't have to install all the bells and whistles - just the ones you need.

The only other tool I've used recently for similar purposes is Roxio Easy Media Creator, which works fine but has a less-sophisticated interface. Of course, WinXP supports drag-n-drop burning of data CDs as well (but not audio CDs AFAIK).

I've heard that this program is good, but decided not to try it because it hasn't been updated in 4 years: http://www.feurio.com/English/index.shtml

Other tools:

I use Alcohol for ripping, burning, and mounting images of CDs, and I also recommend ISOBuster for examining CDs and CD images, as it lets you view all the tracks and filesystems on a disc.

I only have Nero, Alcohol, and ISOBuster on my home system for CD-related tools.

I haven't checked it out lately, but, FireBurneris only 620 KB in size and there is a Linux version, too. http://www.fireburner.com/

That one rings a bell. I think it may have started out as only being able to burn ISOs or something... Looks promising.

Thanks for the replies, gentlemen.

@dvwjr:

Unfortunately my DVD Writer is LG, so Plextools are out of the equation here. I have heard very good things about them, though.

@HunterZ:

We almost use the same software, but when I upgrade Nero, it doesn't ask for any installation options. Maybe, I should try installing it from scratch.

@collector:

Latest FireBurner version seems to be 2.2.1 - It can now burns CDs from files and directories on Hard-disk. I will give it a try.

PS - FireBurner seems to burn AUDIO only and its interface is not that great.

Burnatonce is extremely light and spartanic (and open source). Burning DVDs requires a third party addon, though. In fact it is a frontend for open source burning tools.

Have a look here.

WTF? 540mb? My Nero v6.3 is 15mb....that's UPX'd tho. Quit yer whining.

Nero 6 Ultra here, version 6.6, 69.8MB. Over half of that is shit that is not related to Nero Burning ROM, but is other mandatory crap they bundled for no good reason (CoverDesigner, ImageDrive, BackItUp, SoundTrax, StartSmart, Wave Editor, WMPBurn)

Yeah, I always cut that shit out. Just installer Nero, UPX the NERO directory, export the reg, zip it up, done. 15mb for just nero.

I leave these out since in all my years with Nero I've never used 'em:

CoverDesigner
ImageDrive
Nero Backitup
Nero SoundTrax
Nero SmartStart
Nero Toolkit
Nero Wave Editor
WMPBurn

With those added it's about 70mb total.

Nero Toolkit can be useful. 😀 The others...not so much. I think I will probably blam them. 😁

I've got a bunch of the fluff installed for Nero 6.6, and my C:\Program Files\Ahead folder has 171MB of crap in it. Not too bad. In fact, I've got a 32GB boot partition, and between WinXP and most of my non-game apps it only comes to around 8GB.

I've been heavily optimizing my BartPE and Nero has to be on the CD so that's mostly why I use just Nero that way.

Almost on my way to having a fully functional BartPE to replace my Windows desktop in case of emergencies (Got radeon drivers installed yesterday....unfortunately Audigy seems to require quite a bit more work....).....next project will be a Linux LiveCD.....

Let's see there's also:

DeepBurner
Small CD Writer
CDBurner XP Pro

I've just left Nero and DeepBurner on the BartPE CD tho since I like to leave a freeware alternative and I got tired of having 5 different apps that perform the same function

There is also the old stand by, CDRWIN.

DosFreak wrote:

Yeah, I always cut that shit out. Just installer Nero, UPX the NERO directory, export the reg, zip it up, done. 15mb for just n […]
Show full quote

Yeah, I always cut that shit out. Just installer Nero, UPX the NERO directory, export the reg, zip it up, done. 15mb for just nero.

I leave these out since in all my years with Nero I've never used 'em:

CoverDesigner
ImageDrive
Nero Backitup
Nero SoundTrax
Nero SmartStart
Nero Toolkit
Nero Wave Editor
WMPBurn

With those added it's about 70mb total.

Hmm. NICE IDEA. I have to try that (after checking registry - worst Windows idea EVER). I will try latest WinUpack 0.33a

PS - I found two keys:
one at HKEY\CURRENT_USER.....\Software......
and another at HKEY\LOCAL_MACHINE\Software.....

I will keep the two of them, just in case. GOD. I fucking hate Windows Registry.
DONE. Nero 6.6.0.16 = 13.4MB but we left out the \Program Files\Common Files\AHEAD directory (where Audio plugins are stored).

There's also this, which is a GUI frontend for the official console version of UPX: http://upxshell.sourceforge.net/

Haven't tried it though.

Too bad UPX hasn't been updated in a long time.

Normally I'd agree with you, but simple programs like that don't really need to be updated as often, as they just implement a fixed algorithm.

Yeah, I leave the Audio plugins since I use EAC. Thinking about making a DVD ver of my BartPE disc along with my CD BartPE so they'll probably be included. mmmm, 4-9GB of BartPE Goodness.......

Oh, found a neat little CD/DVD burner app in my archives last night...

http://ghosthunter.gh.funpic.de/tools.htm

CD DVD Burning 2.0

Haven't used 2.0 only v1.4 but it seems pretty nice for such a small app. UPX'd it's only 771kb!

Sounds kind of neat. Might have to check it out.

Off topic (hey, it's Milliways): I totally need to get a DVD burner - I've managed to collect most of the LucasArts games supported by SCUMMVM (plus Beneath a Steel Sky) and they only add up to 2.15GB!

In fact my entire d:\oldgames dumping ground is only 5.9GB, and it's got to be over 100 games (wow, didn't think it was that many).