I purchased a new computer and some software. I really like the computer, but I failed to notice that it doesn’t have an optical drive. I don’t expect that to be a big deal, except that I bought Quicken. Quicken is available for download, but you have to purchase it from the dealer (Intuit directly, or Amazon, etc.). Well, I already bought and paid for it.
I have another computer that does have an optical drive. Could I copy the required files from the disk then move them to the new computer via flash drive or whatever? I have the software to create a complete disk image. If I were to do that, how do I get the new computer to run the image as if it were actually reading it off of a disk drive?
There doesn’t seem to be an activation code or anything in the box. The disk is a legitimate purchase. I’m not trying to get anything without paying for it. I just need to get Quicken going on the new computer.
And in either case, an external (USB) DVD drive will run you about $15, and they’re always handy to have in a pinch – most of them are write-capable, and make good backup devices, too.
Honestly if you didn’t break the seal on the media, and the price is right, the quickest solution is to download the software and return the disc to the store at a later date.
I’ve been able to set up a home workgroup and set up the optical drive on the desktop as a shared drive. Then I could access that drive from a netbook and install software on the netbook using the desktop optical drive.
edit: with the two computers connected over a network, of course.
Since it doesn’t need to be a bootable CD just download MagicDisc. It’s a great freeware app which will create a virtual CD/DVD drive on your PC. Copy the ISO file onto your computer and just ‘mount’ the ISO file onto the virtual MagicDisc drive. Windows will see it exactly as a physical disc in an actual drive.
FinsToTheLeft is probably right about not needing a disk image. Nearly all installers work fine with just the bare files. A few programs need the disk to actually run after the install, but these are usually games, and not programs that are designed to be used all the time at a moment’s notice.
That said, I’d like to cover what you would need anyways, as it’s less that people seem to realize. You see, Windows 8.x can natively mount ISO images. You just double click on them, and it creates a virtual drive in My Computer. To remove the drive, you just choose “Eject” from the drive’s right click menu.
So all you need is a way to make ISOs in the first place. The simplest, no frills solution is a powertool created by Alex Feinman called ISO Recorder, which will add a right click option to make an ISO from all optical drives in My Computer. While the link says it’s for Windows 7 or Vista, it still works fine on Windows 8.x. (An older version for Windows XP is also available.)
Still, copying to a USB drive should be sufficient for your needs.