Desktop Help//Compress/Archive/CD Burning

[Harold Schreckengost <mewshi gmail com>]

Compressing and archiving files.

Most computer users have probably run into the .zip format at least once.  .zip is an example of a compressed archive, a special type of file that contains files and folders that have been compressed to reduce their overall size.

In order to compress files:
1)  Select the files/folders that you wish to compress/archive.
2)  Right click the selection.
3)  Select "Compress..."
4)  Set a file name, choose an archive type (see note below for more details), and choose a location to which to save the archive.
5)  Click "Create".

Note:  GNOME's Archive Manager supports several different kinds of archives; however, there are only two that are commonly used by users: .tar.gz and .zip.

.zip is the most compatible, able to be opened by all major operating systems out of the box.  .tar.gz, on the other hand, is most commonly used on Unix-like systems.  Simply put, if you will be using this archive on Windows, use .zip; otherwise, the default of .tar.gz is fine.

Burning a CD from the GNOME Desktop

Burning a CD or DVD is very useful, for both backing up and transferring files.  The GNOME Desktop ships with Brasero, a full-fledged CD/DVD writing program.  Brasero has five different functions:
1)  Creation of audio CD that can be played in a standard CD player
2)  Creation of data CD/DVD that can be used by computers
3)  Creation of video DVDs which can be watched in a standard DVD player
4)  Copying of CD/DVD
5)  Creation of CD/DVD from .iso image

Creating an audio CD/DVD:
1)  Insert writable media into the CD/DVD drive.
2)  Open Brasero, usually under "Sound & Video" or "Multimedia" in the Applications menu.
3)  Select "Audio project".
4)  Add audio files to the project list; this can be done by either dragging and dropping from the file manager, or by clicking the "Add" button and selecting the files you wish to add to the audio CD.
5)  Set a disc title (Such as the name of the album, artist, et cetera) in the text field above the free space indicator.
6)  Click "Burn..." in the lower-right corner.
7)  Click "Burn" in the pop-up window.

Creating a data CD/DVD:
1)  Insert writable media into the CD/DVD drive.
2)  Open Brasero, usually under "Sound & Video" or "Multimedia" in the Applications menu.
3)  Select "Data project".
4)  Add data files to the project list; this can be done by either dragging and dropping from the file manager, or by clicking the "Add" button and selecting the files you wish to add to the CD.
5)  Set a disc title (Such as a brief description of the contents) in the text field above the free space indicator.
6)  Click "Burn..." in the lower-right corner.
7)  Click "Burn" in the pop-up window.

Creating a Video DVD:
1)  Insert writable media into the CD/DVD drive.
2)  Open Brasero, usually under "Sound & Video" or "Multimedia" in the Applications menu.
3)  Select "Audio project".
4)  Add video files to the project list; this can be done by either dragging and dropping from the file manager, or by clicking the "Add" button and selecting the files you wish to add to the DVD.
5)  Set a disc title (Such as a brief title for the video) in the text field above the free space indicator.
6)  Click "Burn..." in the lower-right corner.
7)  Click "Burn" in the pop-up window.

Copying a CD/DVD
1)  Insert writable media into the CD/DVD drive.
2)  Open Brasero, usually under "Sound & Video" or "Multimedia" in the Applications menu.
3)  Select "Disc copy".
4)  Select the disc to be copied.
5)  Select the disc to be written to.
6)  Click "Copy".

Burning a disc image:
1)  Insert writable media into the CD/DVD drive.
2)  Open Brasero, usually under "Sound & Video" or "Multimedia" in the Applications menu.
3)  Select "Burn image".
4)  Select a disc image to be burned.
5)  Select a disc to which to burn the image.
6)  Click "Create Image".