Octopus Overlords

My wife is always telling the family how computer savvy I am, "even builds his own computers", she'd say.
So here I am now in the middle of a new build and just now realizing the beautiful new 3-sided glass computer case doesn't have any external drive capability.
And to really mortify me, I bought an OEM full edition of Windows 10 but its on a DVD. WTF?
Hey, what's the easiest way to deal with this situation guys?

USB dvd drive? I'm not 100% sure I understand the situation. But assuming I do.

Something like one of these: https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=usb+dvd& ... Ray+Drives

Win10 can be downloaded.

Dave Allen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:54 pm My wife is always telling the family how computer savvy I am, "even builds his own computers", she'd say.
So here I am now in the middle of a new build and just now realizing the beautiful new 3-sided glass computer case doesn't have any external drive capability.
And to really mortify me, I bought an OEM full edition of Windows 10 but its on a DVD. WTF?
Hey, what's the easiest way to deal with this situation guys?

I would suggest skipping installing from the DVD entirely if I were you, as it's likely to be fairly obsolete anyway (so you'll end up needing to download more updates).

Just use Rufus or the Media Creation Tool to put the latest version of Win 10 on a USB drive. If you're rusty, here's a step-by-step walkthrough for how to create a Windows 10 USB drive with the Media Creation Tool or Rufus.

TheMix wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 12:58 pm USB dvd drive? I'm not 100% sure I understand the situation. But assuming I do.

Something like one of these: https://www.newegg.com/p/pl?d=usb+dvd& ... Ray+Drives

Ordering a drive like that would definitely work. But is there another way that won't cost me another $30+ and make me wait another 2 weeks

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:15 pm I would suggest skipping installing from the DVD entirely if I were you, as it's likely to be fairly obsolete anyway (so you'll end up needing to download more updates).

Just use Rufus or the Media Creation Tool to put the latest version of Win 10 on a USB drive. If you're rusty, here's a step-by-step walkthrough for how to create a Windows 10 USB drive with the Media Creation Tool or Rufus.

Ok I'll look into that. And if I do it that way - I can still use the KEY that came in my DVD package?

Dave Allen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:30 pm

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:15 pm I would suggest skipping installing from the DVD entirely if I were you, as it's likely to be fairly obsolete anyway (so you'll end up needing to download more updates).

Just use Rufus or the Media Creation Tool to put the latest version of Win 10 on a USB drive. If you're rusty, here's a step-by-step walkthrough for how to create a Windows 10 USB drive with the Media Creation Tool or Rufus.

Ok I'll look into that. And if I do it that way - I can still use the KEY that came in my DVD package?

Yes, the key should work. I've re-installed several different licenses from the same Win 10 thumb drive.

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:48 pm

Dave Allen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:30 pm

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:15 pm I would suggest skipping installing from the DVD entirely if I were you, as it's likely to be fairly obsolete anyway (so you'll end up needing to download more updates).

Just use Rufus or the Media Creation Tool to put the latest version of Win 10 on a USB drive. If you're rusty, here's a step-by-step walkthrough for how to create a Windows 10 USB drive with the Media Creation Tool or Rufus.

Ok I'll look into that. And if I do it that way - I can still use the KEY that came in my DVD package?

Yes, the key should work. I've re-installed several different licenses from the same Win 10 thumb drive.

Is there any difference between Rufus and the Media Creation Tool?

Dave Allen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 2:17 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:48 pm

Dave Allen wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:30 pm

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Wed Jul 15, 2020 1:15 pm I would suggest skipping installing from the DVD entirely if I were you, as it's likely to be fairly obsolete anyway (so you'll end up needing to download more updates).

Just use Rufus or the Media Creation Tool to put the latest version of Win 10 on a USB drive. If you're rusty, here's a step-by-step walkthrough for how to create a Windows 10 USB drive with the Media Creation Tool or Rufus.

Ok I'll look into that. And if I do it that way - I can still use the KEY that came in my DVD package?

Yes, the key should work. I've re-installed several different licenses from the same Win 10 thumb drive.

Is there any difference between Rufus and the Media Creation Tool?

Rufus is much faster. It's also more flexible, and can make life easier when installing on a system with a legacy BIOS.

I use Media Creator. Now I wanna know what I'm missing.

Also, the last time I checked USB DVD players can be had for under $20. If DVDs are a thing for you $20 seems like a small price for the tool. If this is a one time thing, then Media Creator (or Rufus? ... To the Internet!!!)

I've got a Microsoft Win10 thumb drive around here somewhere, and a Microsoft Win10 DVD. I never use them. I just use the media creation tool with whatever thumb drive I have lying around, download the latest build, and use the correct key. Microsoft doesn't care what format the data was in as long as you have a key (and downloading generally nets you a later build, which means less Windows Update.)

USB DVD/BD drive (I have one here, haven't connected it yet), downloaded Win10 image, downloaded Win10 to thumbdrive (better be USB3...)

Thanks, guys for the input. The usb from Rufus worked flawlessly.
I've finally (successfully) made the leap from Windows 7 to Windows 10. I've configured it to (pretty much) resemble Windows 7. Migrating Firefox and Thunderbird felt like I had accomplished a minor miracle.

The real impetus (the straw that broke the camel's bank) for all this forward motion was NVMe. After switching to SSDs a few years ago, and being amazed at the difference, I became incredibly curious about this new technology. I am now the proud father of a 1Tb NVMe-based system drive.