CD-ROM drives often have a jack at the front of the computer where you can plug in headphones. You can use headphones to listen to a disc.

When handling a disc, hold the disc around the edges to prevent scratching the disc.

When you finish using a disc, make sure you place the disc back in its protective case and do not stack discs on top of each other. You should also keep discs away from direct sunlight and avoid storing discs in hot locations, such as on top of a monitor or on the dashboard of a car.

The speed of a CD-ROM drive determines how quickly information can transfer from a disc to a computer. You should buy a CD-ROM drive with a speed of at least 52x.

A CD-ROM disc is similar to the type of disc you buy at a music store. A single disc can store up to 700 megabytes (MB) of data, which is equal to an entire set of encyclopedias or over 450 floppy disks. The large storage capacity of CD-ROM discs provides a lot of room for storing files such as photographs, videos and animation.

CD-RW drives allow you to store up to 700 megabytes (MB) of data on a single recordable CD. The large storage capacity of recordable CDs allows you to easily store and transfer files such as photographs and videos or backup copies of important files. Storing information on a recordable CD is often referred to as burning? a CD.

CD-RW drives allow you to create your own music CDs. You can find music on the Internet or copy music from a music CD. CD-RW drives usually come with software that allows you to record music onto a disc. You can also purchase software, such as Nero (www.nero.com), that can offer more advanced capabilities.

A single recordable CD can usually store up to 80 minutes of music or up to 10 hours of MP3 songs. Recordable CDs you create may not play in some older CD or DVD drives or players.