Optical Drives

  A CD-ROM drive is a mass-storage device that is used to control the reading CD(compact discs)
discs. Examples of such could be computer software programs or a music compact disc used for entertainment. Furthermore, CD-ROM stands for "Compact Disc Read-Only Memory" and does exactly what its name describes. All of digital information that is stored onto the compact disc is read by a laser that scans the CD for the desired information. And since all info on the CD's is permanent they cannot be over-written.

CD-RW drives do like very much like CD-ROM drives but this is the difference. A CD-RW drive is a drive that is designed specifically for recording(or sometimes known as burning a CD) CD's onto other "writeable" discs (making a copy), burning data, or burning audio (by coverting audio formats and burning onto CD). When copying, the data that is already written onto the original disc is copied with a laser and "burned" onto the new disc. A CD-RW drive is also a mass-storage device and stands for "Compact Disk Re-Writable". CD-RW's are also very commonly used throughout are society of technology today.