Using Your ZipCD^™ Drive

To use the ZipCD drive, insert a CD, then select the software application in the ZipCD folder. Some of the things you can do with your ZipCD include:

• making data CDs
• archiving data
• backing up a hard drive
• copying a full CD
• making original audio CDs

For information on which software application will work best for your needs, see the section entitled Using the ZipCD Software.

Inserting a CD

To insert a CD into your ZipCD^™ drive:

• Press the eject button on the front of the ZipCD drive.
• Set the CD in the tray. (Make sure that the label is facing up.)
• Press the eject button again or push lightly on the tray to close it.

When you insert a CD into the ZipCD drive, the green activity light will flash momentarily. If the activity light continues to blink slowly, push the eject button to eject the CD, then reinsert it. If the light continues to blink, see the LED Status Lights section below for information on the status of the drive.

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Ejecting a CD

Mac OS Users: The disk eject button will not eject a CD that is mounted on the Mac Desktop. Select the ZipCD icon and use Put Away from the File menu, or drag the disc icon to the Trash icon.

Windows PC Users: Push the disk eject button.

CAUTION! To avoid damage to your ZipCD^™ drive or disc, always remove the CD when it is not in use and before disconnecting or moving your ZipCD drive.

Emergency Disc Eject in Case of Power Loss

The ZipCD^™ drive must be powered on for normal disc insertion and removal. However, if you need to eject a disc during a power failure, use the following steps:

1. Turn off your computer and ZipCD drive.
   
2. Disconnect the power to the ZipCD drive.
   
3. Open the door on the ZipCD drive by pushing on the lower left-hand corner of the door with a pen point. (The door swings down.)

4. Hold the door open and insert a straightened paper clip into the emergency eject hole to eject the tray.

CAUTION! Never remove a disc manually while the power supply is connected to the ZipCD drive.

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ZipCD^™ Drive Power

When you shut down your system, you may want to disconnect power to the ZipCD drive; however, it will not harm the drive to leave it powered up. Disconnecting the power supply from the drive is an easy way to power down the ZipCD drive. If you disconnect power from the drive but leave the power supply plugged in, the power draw is less than 2 watts (less than half the power needed for a night light). If you prefer to power down completely, the easiest way is to plug the power supply into your computer's power strip and use the switch on the power strip to power down both the computer and your ZipCD drive.

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Drive Controls and Indicators

Your ZipCD^™ drive has controls and jacks on the front and back panel of the drive that are labeled with various indicators. The following section describes these controls and indicators.

Controls and Jacks

LED Status Lights

The ZipCD^™ drive has two LED indicator lights on the front of the drive that work together to show the status of the drive. Their locations are shown in the illustration below:

The General Status LED will either be green or red. It indicates that a disc is spinning up, the drive is ready, the disc is being accessed, or there is an error.

The Write Status LED will be orange. It indicates that a write (or test write) is in progress.

The following table lists some of the drive functions and error messages that the general status LED indicates:

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Identifying the Drive Letter Assigned to your ZipCD^™ Drive

If you have more than one CD drive connected to your computer, you may not know which drive letter is assigned to your ZipCD drive.

In order to find the drive letter for your ZipCD drive, doubleclick the My Computer icon on your desktop. Right mouse click on the CD Drive icon and select Eject from the menu. The tray of the selected CD drive will open.

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