Burn a CD/DVD on Windows 7 or Vista without using software

CD/DVD burning capability has been added to Windows Operating System since the release of Windows XP. However, the steps to burn CD/DVD on Windows Vista and Windows 7 are a bit different (and somewhat simpler) comparing to Windows XP.
For details on how to burn CD/DVD on Windows XP, click here

You can use this built-in feature to create a data CD/DVD or an audio CD. The steps below will guide you through the procedures. Although the steps below are based on Windows 7, they are very much similar to Windows Vista.

If you're using a Re-Writable CD (CD-RW) or DVD (DVD-RW, DVD+RW), make sure the disc is blank (or "formatted"). You might need to erase (or "format") it before using. For information how to erase a rewritable CD/DVD on Windows Vista or Windows 7 without using a third-party software, see this article. 

1. Insert a blank recordable/rewritable CD (CD-R) or DVD (DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW) disc into the CD burner drive.
2. With a new blank disc, Windows might pop up a prompt asking you which format you want to use (as shown on the image below).
   As explained on the popup, the option "Like a USB Flash Drive" is more convenient if you want to use the disc as an external storage, which you can add or delete (rewritable disc) files on the fly; however, once the disc is formatted with this option, it can only be read on computers with Windows XP or later. On the other hand, the option "With a CD/DVD Player" is the traditional format of CD/DVD disc and is compatible with a wider range of Windows versions as well as other devices, but requires to burn the disc (or erase the entire disc) all at once  
3. To keep it simple, we will follow the steps to create traditional CD/DVD, so select "With a CD/DVD Player". Don't forget to change the "Disc title" to something descriptive for your disc, then click "Next".
4. Navigate to the folders or files which you want to burn to the disc, then select (highlight) the folders/files and click "Burn" (located above the file browsing panels)
5. A new window is now created similar to the following image, showing the selected files and folders added to the queue to burn to disc. Click "Burn to disc".
6. On the next popup "Burn to Disc", verify the disc title and select the maximum burning speed, then click "Next"
7. If you have selected audio files (i.e. MP3), you will be asked to burn the disc as data or audio as shown in the following image. For details on the differences between data and audio discs, please prefer to this article.
8. The burning wizard will start writing data to the disc and will close and eject the CD/DVD when finish.