Are CDs A Good Way To Back Up My Computer Files?

Yes and No.

Backing up to a blank CD is one of the most popular ways of saving files externally, but there are pros and cons.

Firstly, you can cram 700MB of files onto a CD and then have a back up as well as a means to transfer the information onto multiple computers. Burning the CD and then copying from it can be a bit time-consuming depending on the speed of the CD-RW drive. Newer machines with DVD-RW drives allow up to 4.7GB of data storage on one disk – more than enough for most people's top priority files.
NT Backup, which is usually built-in to Windows, will let you create compressed back ups directly onto CDs.

While backing up to CD has the advantages of ease and portability, there are drawbacks. It is essentially a messy storage business having your files spread over numerous CDs, retrieving an individual file can be a time consuming business. Furthermore, CDs can easily be damaged or corrupted; they are not a safe permanent archival record.