Someone sent me this tutorial on burning CD's without special software, and
although it is several years old and may have to be adjusted to accommodate
later versions of Windows, I thought it might help, so I am posting it here
below.
Harvey

Below is a tutorial that I developed for a client to assist with burning 
CD's. Hope it helps.

How to Burn a CD without using the CD burning software

Minimize or close all running applications to eliminate clutter and 
unnecessary added steps.

CD Preparation:

Insert a blank CD into your CD burner: Most Cd's are slick on one side and 
rough on the other. The rough side goes up.

Know if you are using a read/write (RW) or Read only CD. It is important to

know this because files cannot be added or deleted from a Read only CD.

Close the CD door: After closing the CD door, a message may appear asking 
you what you wish to do with this CD. Press escape to exit out of this 
dialog box, as we will not need it.

Prepare to copy files to the CD drive

Open My Documents

How to select a file or folder to be copied

Find the file or folder that you wish to burn by arrowing through the 
document list.

You may select more than one file or folder by pressing the shift plus down 
arrow keys at the same time.

How to copy the selected files

Press the applications key located next to the right control key

Arrow down to "copy or get there quicker by pressing the letter "c". Press 
enter and file will be copied.

How to add copied files to CD drive

Minimize all applications so you will be at the desktop. This can be done by 
pressing the Windows key plus the letter M.

Open My Computer

Arrow down to the CD drive, which is usually the D, or E drive. Do not press 
enter.

Press the applications key and arrow down to paste, or get there quicker by 
pressing the letter "P".

You will hear a message that you have files waiting to be recorded. Hearing

this message means that you have successfully copied files to the CD drive, 
but that you still have to record or burn the CD.

Recording the CD

Note: you should still be in "My Computer, and the CD drive should still be 
selected.

Press the application key once again, and arrow down to "write these files 
to CD", and press enter.

A wizard will appear.

Name the CD by typing in the desired name. This is optional. The name will 
default to the date that the CD is burned if it is not named.

You can also check a box that will close the wizard after the burning 
process is complete.

Tab to the "next" button and press enter

The CD burning process will begin. Just let it do its thing and wait until 
the next dialog box appears in the wizard.

The next dialog box asks you if you want to burn another copy of this CD.

The default answer is "no", so if no additional CD's are needed, tab to 
finish and press enter.

The CD will eject after the burning process.