How do I format a disc (DVD or CD) on Windows XP?

try formatting the drive or use a different drive

Hi
To "format C" means to format the the C drive, or the primary partition that Windows or your other operating system is installed on. When you format C, you erase the operating system and other information on the C drive.
However, it's not a straightforward process to format C. You can't format the C drive like you can format another drive in Windows because you're within Windows when you perform the format. To format C from within Windows would be like lifting a chair in the air while sitting on it - you can't do it.
The solution is to format C from outside of Windows, meaning you need a way to format a drive from somewhere other than your Windows installation. The easiest way to do this is to boot to an operating system (with formatting abilities) from a CD/DVD/BD drive, flash drive, or floppy drive.
This might all sound very complicated but it's actually quite easy to format C. Below are 5 completely free ways to format your C drive:
Note: If you're trying to format your C drive because you want to replace or reinstall Windows, you do not need to format C ahead of time. Formatting is done automatically during the Windows installation. Skip this article entirely and instead see How To Clean Install Windows.
Important: Formatting your C drive does not permanently erase the data on the drive. If you want to completely erase the information on the C drive, see Option 5 below, Wipe the Drive Clean With Data Destruction Software.
1. Format C From a Windows Setup Disc
The easiest way to format C is by completing part of a Windows installation. It's not easiest as far as number of steps goes, but since most of us have a Windows Setup DVD lying around, we have easy access to a means to format drives outside of Windows.
Important: You can only format C this way using a Windows 7 Setup disc or a Windows Vista Setup disc.
However, it doesn't at all matter what Windows operating system is on your C drive, including Windows XP. The only requirement is the disc you use to format C - either a Windows 7 or a Windows Vista Setup DVD. Feel free to borrow a friend's disc if you'd like to try this method but you only have Windows XP... or some other operating system.
2. Format C From a System Repair Disc
If you don't have access to a Windows Setup DVD, but you do still have access to a working copy of Windows 7, you can create a System Repair Disc and then boot to that disc and format C from there.
You can only format C using a System Repair Disc if you have access to Windows 7 to create the System Repair Disc. If you don't have access to Windows 7, find someone who does and create the repair disc from their computer.
Note: A System Repair Disc created from Windows 7 can format a C drive that has any Windows operating system on it, including Windows XP or Windows Vista.
3. Format C From Recovery Console
If you have a Windows XP Setup CD, you can format C from the Recovery Console.
The biggest caveat here is that you must also have Windows XP installed on your C drive. However, if you don't have access to Windows 7 or Windows Vista, this option may be your best to format C.
This Recovery Console method to format C also applies to Windows 2000. Recovery Console does not exist in Windows Vista or later, nor does it exist in Windows ME, Windows 98, or earlier.

Format a CD or DVD

Before you can copy files to a CD or DVD, the disc must first be prepared using a process called formatting. There are several ways to format a CD or DVD disc. Your choice of format determines which computers and other devices will be able to read the disc.

1. Insert a disc into your computer's CD or DVD drive.
   

2. In the dialog box that appears, click Burn files to disc.
   

3. In the Burn a disc dialog box, type a name for your new disc.
   

4. Click Show formatting options, and then click one of the following formatting options:
   

   • Live File System
     

   • Mastered
     

5. Click Next to prepare the disc.
   

   Now you can copy files to your disc using whichever method you selected.
   

Follow these steps and ia sure you will be able to boot by yourself:-
1)Change the BIOS boot order so the CD or DVD drive is listed first. Some computers are already configured this way but many are not.
2)If the CD or DVD drive is not first in the boot order, your PC will start "normally" (i.e. boot from your hard drive) without even looking at what might be in your disc drive.
3)Insert your bootable CD or bootable DVD in your disc drive.
4)Restart your computer.
5)Watch for a Press any key to boot from CD or DVD... message.
6)When booting to a Windows setup CD/DVD and many other bootable discs, you may be prompted with a message to press a key to boot to the disc. To boot to the CD or DVD, you'll need to press any key on your keyboard (like the space bar) within the few seconds that the message is on the screen.
7)If you do nothing, your computer will check for boot information on the next boot device in the list in BIOS which will probably be your hard drive.
8)Some bootable CDs and DVDs do not prompt for a key press and will start immediately.
Your computer should now boot from the CD or DVD disc.

Typically, you use DVD/CD writing software to write files to the disc.
There is no 'formatting' involved.
If, however, you want to use a DVD/RW disc as a "big floppy" then you need special software for that. What software came with your DVD writer? or You can use free "Nero InCD", -> Download

Hope it helps.

Note**
For OS XP, you must have at least, WinXP Service Pack 2 installed.

The read only disk are cannot be formatted.

Windows media player does not burn dvd format, it will only burn cd format

after burn when it showing empty then you can try with restarting

it very well could be the disc themselves, some computers like i certain kind better, my husbands only likes sony dics, wont burn on anything else, try that it might solve the problem...shia

Well not all DVD Rom's are compatible for DVD Ram. Other problem would be the formatting. Windows XP Home and Professional can only write directly to FAT32-formatted DVD-RAM discs. For UDF-formatted discs, which are considered faster, compatible device drivers or software such as InCD or DLA are required. Windows Vista can natively access and write to both FAT32 and UDF-formatted DVD-RAM discs, however Windows Vista uses its own version of the UDF format giving compatibility problems. Vista also has issues with XP formatted FAT32 discs as Vista uses the CPRM features. Even though it is possible to use any file system one likes, only very few perform well on DVD-RAM. This is because some file systems frequently over-write data on the disc and the table of contents is contained at the start of the disc.