All blank CDs being formatted as data, even though I have repeatedly selected audio

Question

I don't know how to explain this other than that Windows is refusing to let me burn CDs. No matter what I do and how many times I select For CD/DVD players, it will ALWAYS try to list and burn itself as a data disc, then fail to work in any of my players. I have tried burning using Windows Media Player, File Explorer, AND external software, all of which do not work.

Answer 1

Hi needhelp413,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

Thanks for sharing everything you’ve tried, this definitely feels frustrating when every program on the system always produces a data disc, instead of burning CD. This, unfortunately, often means the optical drive itself cannot write true Audio CDs anymore.

Because the same failure occurs across multiple applications, Windows seems to correctly pass the request, but the drive rejects or downgrades it to data mode. Besides what the Q&A Assist has suggested, here’s something you can do next:

1. Driver-related checks (unlikely but you can look)
   • Press Win + X > Device Manager > Expand DVD/CD-ROM drives (if found)
   • Right‑click the drive > Properties > Driver > cdrom.sys should be good.
   • You can try right-click and Uninstall device > Restart your PC
   • If behavior is unchanged after this, driver corruption is ruled out.
2. Test with a different CD‑R brand (Verbatim or Sony CD‑R only).
3. Test with a different optical drive, preferably an external burner.

If different discs work, the current ones are faulty. If the external drive works, the internal drive is confirmed faulty or incompatible. In this case, unfortunately, you need to replace or stop using the current drive for Audio CDs.

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Answer 2

Windows distinguishes between two main things when burning:

1. The disc format in File Explorer (Live File System vs. Mastered, and “With a CD/DVD player”) – this always creates a data disc, not an audio CD.
2. The disc type in Windows Media Player (WMP) – this is where an Audio CD must be selected to create a standard music CD that works in most players.

To ensure audio CDs are created instead of data discs, use Windows Media Player and verify these points:

1. Use Windows Media Player’s Burn feature only
   Do not start the burn from File Explorer’s “Burn files to disc” or “With a CD/DVD player” prompts. Those options always create data discs.
2. Explicitly select “Audio CD” in WMP
   In Windows Media Player:
   1. Open Windows Media Player.
   2. Go to the Burn tab in the top-right of the Player Library.
   3. Select the Burn options button.
   4. Choose Audio CD (not Data CD or DVD).
3. Build the burn list correctly
   1. Insert a blank CD-R (not a rewritable CD-RW if compatibility is a concern).
   2. In the Player Library, find the songs to burn.
   3. Drag songs to the list pane on the right to create the burn list.
   4. Confirm the total time is ≤ 80 minutes (audio CD capacity). If it exceeds this, WMP will not create a valid audio CD.
4. Start the burn from WMP and wait for completion
   1. Select Start burn in WMP.
   2. Do not right-click the disc in File Explorer and choose Burn to disc while WMP is still working; starting a second burn session while the first is active can cause errors and unusable discs.
5. Avoid mixing tools on the same disc
   Once a disc has been started as a data disc (by File Explorer or another program), it cannot be turned into an audio CD. Use a new blank disc for each attempt and burn it entirely from WMP with Audio CD selected.

If discs still fail in standalone players after following these steps, test with:

• A different brand of CD-R media.
• A different CD player (to rule out player compatibility).

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References:

• Burn and rip CDs
• You may receive an error when burning files to disc