PC Optical Drives: Gone With The Wind

[Judge]

Will they still load the same?
Must they each need to be in the root directory of their respective drives, or can I load multiple installation discs on one flash drive?

Unknown for sure....depending on the application in question.

With that being a question, I'd simply save the data onto a flash drive precisely as it is structured on the disk.

 

[Crossbreed]

IIRC, a DVD holds 8G? (There would be no point in getting a bigger drive if they each need to be loaded into their own root directory.)

Should I make them read-only after being copied?

 

[Judge]

IIRC, a DVD holds 8G? (There would be no point in getting a bigger drive if they each need to be loaded into their own root directory.)

Should I make them read-only after being copied?

A normal DVD takes 4.7GB. A Dual-Layer DVD-RW takes 8.5GB.

I'm not suggesting you can run a USB flash drive identically to how it operated on a CD or DVD. I suppose it depends on the application itself as to whether that is even possible. But I never tried.

I have very few productivity applications (Photoshop) where I transferred them to USB from a CD. But when I install them, I always transfer all the CDs directories as is to my hard drive, and then install them. If you are talking about complex games, I have no idea. Keeping in mind I'm a Linux user now, and don't even have Windows on another removable drive.

I don't think much about all the original CD applications I have, because virtually none of them work using Wine in Linux Mint. Not to mention that some are 16-bit apps which just don't seem to work on any modern OS.

But for data you archive on disk, by all means transfer them to a USB flash drive.

 

[Outdated]

Will they still load the same?
Must they each need to be in the root directory of their respective drives, or can I load multiple installation discs on one flash drive?

You can have them in folders or on the root of the USB drive, and you can just plug them directly in to your TV, no external device required. TVs will play video, audio, and display images.

Read the manual of your TV to find out what formats it supports.

Your TV will also read larger external harddrives just fine. Load them up with movies and TV series and plug it in.

 

[Crossbreed]

You can have them in folders or on the root of the USB drive, and you can just plug them directly in to your TV, no external device required. TVs will play video, audio, and display images.

Read the manual of your TV to find out what formats it supports.

Thanks, but I am focusing on app installation discs, like Paint Shop Pro.

 

[Judge]

You can have them in folders or on the root of the USB drive, and you can just plug them directly in to your TV, no external device required. TVs will play video, audio, and display images.

Read the manual of your TV to find out what formats it supports.

That's my primary audio system for all my MP3 files. I keep my USB stick inserted in my television, and use my tv's Digital Audio Port to connect to my multi-channel receiver.

Produces excellent sound, comparable to playing the original CD audio disk. I must say, the audio directly from my Samsung TV ain't bad either.

 

[Judge]

Thanks, but I am focusing on app installation discs, like Paint Shop Pro.

I'd think a program like Paint Shop Pro might just install fine from a flash drive. Give it a try. Just make sure the entire disc and its directories are copied verbatim to the flash drive.

Photoshop is astronomically more sophisticated, yet I can not only install it from a flash drive, but can also run it in Linux better than it ran in Windows 10! Plus I could add all my extensions like Extensis filters and even Xenofex filters as well.

Though I can't say how it may work when it comes to multiple disks. That's just something to experiment with. Multiple disks may dictate multiple separate directories.

 

[Outdated]

Thanks, but I am focusing on app installation discs, like Paint Shop Pro.

In that case just copy and paste from CD to to USB stick, when you plug it in to the computer it works the same.

A lot of older games wouldn't run unless you had the CD disk physically inserted in the disk drive, in that case search on the net for a No-CD patch for your game.

 

[Crossbreed]

A lot of older games wouldn't run unless you had the CD disk physically inserted in the disk drive, in that case search on the net for a No-CD patch for your game.

For AutoCAD LT97 on my XP machine, I just had to create a shortcut to its EXE file...

 

[Judge]

For AutoCAD Lt97 on my XP machine, I just had to create a shortcut to its EXE file...

My version of Photoshop 5.5 was released in 1998. Makes me think Autocad even that old might work in Wine for Linux, along with Paint Shop Pro as well.

 

[Crossbreed]

...along with Paint Shop Pro as well.

I have PSP for both 98/XP (v.5) & Win 8 (v.6). The former seems to be more capable with its GIF animation tool.

 

[Judge]

I have PSP for both 98/XP (v.5) & Win 8 (v.6). The former seems to be more capable with its GIF animation tool.

When I designed websites decades ago I used to use a small, but effective freeware gif animation program. (Microsoft GIF Animator) approx 1.1 MB. The important thing is whether or not such older programming (even in 32-bit) is still able to function properly in either Windows or Linux.

Just googling Microsoft GIF Animator shows it's still out there to download. With no guarantees...but it is quite amusing to see when such older programs work just fine.

Of course Windows 10 is about to end support next month, forcing users to either pay $30 to extend it to a supposed maximum of one year, unless you already have Windows 11, which is full of its own issues at the moment. And you don't even want to consider running Windows 10 without proper security updates beyond this October.

 

[Crossbreed]

...unless you already have Windows 11, which is full of its own issues at the moment.

My current desktop came with 11. Its biggest nuisance is that it dropped support for my fax modem. (Its emoji humans look uglier than 10, too.)

 

[Judge]

My current desktop came with 11. Its biggest nuisance is that it dropped support for my fax modem. (Its emoji humans look uglier than 10, too.)

Windows 11 nuisances? Oh my...wait until you read this.

I still recall struggling to load Windows 10 when it kept rejecting my network card. Finally had to replace it to a newer one just to install the OS. Ugh. Though with a built-in Realtek Ethernet port on newer motherboards, Windows hasn't given me such a problem again. Plus I gave up running Windows moving to Linux Mint. I was contemplating running Windows 11 on a separate removable SSD just to play games. Until this happened:

Your biggest problem right now as a Windows 11 user is to determine whether or not your SSD uses a Phison controller. It's a growing scandal right now between Microsoft and Phison. The problem is with Phison controllers, but it didn't start until Microsoft released a recent security update known as KB5063878. That large file transfers can trip the problem that physically damages SSDs. Forcing a user to replace their entire Solid State Drive and reinstall Windows 11 from scratch.

And the situation from day-to-day seems to change regarding whether Microsoft or Phison is willing to accept any responsibility, as they seem to continually claim they cannot recreate the problem while others have. Seems the most important thing Windows 11 users can do at the moment is to absolutely determine who makes the controller of your SSD (Solid State Drive-M2 NVMe or SATA).

If it's Phison, and you have already installed the KB5063878 update, you've got a serious problem. If not, so far it should be fine. Though as I mentioned, things continue to evolve each day over this grim issue. Worse still, it appears that even if you uninstall the update, the problem still persists.

It's not the end of the world to have to replace your SSD and reinstall Windows 11 if it happens, but most Windows users are probably not technically able to accomplish such a thing themselves.

SSD Controller List 2025

Feel free to google this issue in YouTube, to see just how many computer gurus are reporting about this. meanwhile Microsoft and Phison continue to send mixed messages to the public. Meanwhile support for Windows 10 is about to run out next month. WTG Microsoft!

 

[Crossbreed]

I have the WD PC SN740 SDDPNQD-256G-1006 drive.

 

[Judge]

I have the WD PC SN740 SDDPNQD-256G-1006 drive.

You win!

"The WD PC SN740 SSD model SDDPNQD-256G-1006 does not use a Phison controller; it is designed with a proprietary controller from Western Digital." - Search Assist AI, Duck Duck Go

Hopefully this mess doesn't expand to other controller developers. But so far, so good for you. I'm guessing search engines and AI systems are all gearing up for these kind of questions in huge numbers given that Microsoft controls around 70% of the OS market when it comes to Windows.

So far from what I've read, this issue seems to hit Japan more than other nations and users. But it seems to boil down to anyone involved with large file transfers (>50mb?) whether uploading or downloading. Even if just initially loading files to play an elaborate game.

 

[Crossbreed]

I could send every file of my PSP installer to a flash drive except desktop.ini.* Is that holdout mission critical?

(FYI, the installer still starts when it is not in the root directory.)

*I opened it in Notepad and saved it to my flash drive. Does that count?

 

[Outdated]

Its biggest nuisance is that it dropped support for my fax modem.

There's still people that use faxes? Here that officially ended in 2005.

 

[Judge]

Then again, Silverstone has recently created a full-fledged "retro" computer case, with no less than three frontal 5.25" drive bays. I guess the market isn't quite so ready to bury old technology just yet.

Nope...it's no joke. They really did it. But it's not cheap either. Yet it also is designed internally along the lines of a current computer system, making it a "sleeper".

SilverStone reveals the FLP02 late-80s style tower PC case

And for those seeking a clearly current computer case that still maintains two hidden, but frontal 5.25" drive bays, Fractal Design's "Pop Air" line of cases seems to be a good bet:

Pop Air

 

[Judge]

Two YouTube channels (Brite09 and BrenTech) are both now posting that it appears that the SSD problem is related to Phison's update of firmware, and not the result of Microsoft's recent Windows 11 update. Let's hope it all pans out like that. Likely meaning that the problem is considerably more contained, only to those using Phison controllers in their SSDs.

Though I know wonder what the SSD manufacturers will do next. Phison may have become the "kiss of death" for those SSD developers who continue to use Phison's controllers.

.