Erase a CD or DVD

Applies to all editions of Windows Vista.
Which edition of Windows Vista am I using?

Certain kinds of writeable CD and DVD discs can be erased and written to many times. If you have a CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, or DVD-RAM disc and you use the Live File System file format, you can delete one or more files to make more room on the disc.

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To erase all of the files on a disc

Insert the CD-RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, or DVD-RAM disc into your computer's CD or DVD burner.

Open Computer by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button , and then clicking Computer.

Click the drive icon that represents your writeable drive, and then, on the toolbar, click Erase this disc.

Follow the steps in the Erase Disc Wizard.

To delete some of the files on a disc

1.	Insert the CD-RW or DVD-RW disc into your computer's CD or DVD burner.
2.	Open Computer by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Computer.
3.	Double-click the drive icon that represents your writeable drive. The contents of the disc will be displayed.
4.	Select the files or folders that you want to delete. To select more than one file, hold down the CTRL key while you click the files you want.
5.	Press the DELETE key.

Erase a CD or DVD

To erase all of the files on a disc

To delete some of the files on a disc

See also