In technical terms, stands for Compact Disc-Recordable . Unlike a standard CD-ROM which is read-only from the factory, a CD-R allows you to "burn" your own data or music onto it one time. How it Works

: A standard CD-R typically holds 700MB of data or about 80 minutes of audio . Common Uses

: CD-Rs are "write-once, read-many" (WORM) media. This means once information is burned onto the disc using a laser, it cannot be erased or rewritten, unlike CD-RW (Rewritable) discs.

: A high-powered laser in your computer's disc drive heats a layer of organic dye on the disc, making specific spots opaque. A lower-powered "read" laser later interprets these opaque spots as data bits.