Short answer: In ImgBurn, choose Write image file to disc, load the FreeDVDBoot ISO, pick a DVD-R, set the lowest supported write speed, use Disc-At-Once (DAO) with finalise enabled, and verify after burning. High-speed, unfinalised, or DVD+RW burns are the most common reasons a correctly downloaded ISO still fails to boot.

Before you burn

Download the right file first: the universal Slim ISO for any Slim, or the matching 2.10/2.12 or 3.04 file for a Fat (see the compatibility list). Do not extract the ISO — it is a disc image, not a zip. Use a blank DVD-R, not a CD and preferably not DVD+RW: the README notes DVD+RW puts more strain on the PS2 laser, and rewritable discs reflect less light for a worn pickup to read.

If your PC has no optical drive, you need an external USB DVD burner first — see the burn kit guide. Modern laptop burners sometimes refuse to drop below 8x; if yours does, a different (often older or external) burner is a better fix than forcing a fast burn.

Steps in ImgBurn

• Open ImgBurn and choose Write image file to disc.
• Click the folder icon under Source and select your FreeDVDBoot .iso file.
• Insert a blank DVD-R and select your burner under Destination.
• Set Write Speed to the lowest available (1x, 2x, or 4x — whatever your drive and disc actually support).
• On the Options tab, set Write Mode to DAO (Disc-At-Once) and make sure the disc will be finalised.
• Enable Verify so ImgBurn re-reads the disc and compares it with the ISO.
• Click the big burn button and wait for both the burn and the verify pass to complete without errors.

The VIDEO_TS warning (custom discs only)

If you are building a custom disc rather than burning a prebuilt ISO, ImgBurn will warn that VIDEO_TS.BUP is missing. The README says to click Continue anyway — the PS2 does not require that file. For a prebuilt ISO burn, you should not see this warning at all; if you do, you have loaded the wrong thing.

After burning

Set the console language to English (System Configuration, Circle from the browser with no disc), then boot the disc. If uLaunchELF does not appear, do not immediately re-download — check the burn first: try a real DVD movie in the same console to prove the laser works, then work through black screen and red screen. A verify failure in ImgBurn means the disc itself is bad; re-burn on a fresh DVD-R.

Next steps

• Burn with CDBurnerXP instead
• Install FreeMCBoot with FreeDVDBoot
• Download the right ISO (homepage)

Verified against: CTurt FreeDVDBoot README (burn the ISO: clean dust, lowest speed, finalise) and ImgBurn’s standard Write image file to disc workflow, checked 2026-10-24.