Do you need an optical drive if your building a new computer?

[richman16]

Do I have to buy one for the computer to install my OS or is there a way to do it without having to spend money on an optical drive that i will use once in my life...

 

[mesab66]

You don't need one - providing your OS is on another media format e.g. bootable USB stick - and providing your BIOS allows booting into this other format. You could, for example, purchase a downloadable OS then use a tool to transfer this to a bootable USB stick.

 

[richman16]

You don't need one - providing your OS is on another media format e.g. bootable USB stick - and providing your BIOS allows booting into this other format. You could, for example, purchase a downloadable OS then use a tool to transfer this to a bootable USB stick.

Ill probably just buy one because I have no idea how much memory is needed on the usb or even how to tell if the bios has the option to switch.

 

[DarkSable]

Yep. Personally, I don't bother with optical drives any more - I have an external drive with install ISOs of every product I'd need, along with their (Legal) keys and/or I use the keys on the back of the newly purchased licence.

 

[DarkSable]

Ill probably just buy one because I have no idea how much memory is needed on the usb or even how to tell if the bios has the option to switch.

You can install windows 7 from a 4GB usb drive, and if you're building a new computer, than it'll have the option - it's standard.

EDIT: The other option is to just borrow a friends' for the day.

 

[richman16]

You can install windows 7 from a 4GB usb drive, and if you're building a new computer, than it'll have the option - it's standard.

EDIT: The other option is to just borrow a friends' for the day.

Alright maybe i will just use the usb trick, thanks for the help!

 

[richman16]

Best answer selected by richman16.

 

[maestro0428]

I personally don't buy drives much anymore, but I do have an external one if need be.
Unless you have all of your media networked, it is nice to be able to burn home movies and music for the car. They are cheap too.

 

[richman16]

You can install windows 7 from a 4GB usb drive, and if you're building a new computer, than it'll have the option - it's standard.

EDIT: The other option is to just borrow a friends' for the day.

One other question how do I install windows 7 on to the usb drive?

 

[DarkSable]

One other question how do I install windows 7 on to the usb drive?

Get a perfectly legal SP1 .iso from here:

http://www.mytechguide.org/10042/windows-7-service-pack-sp1-official-digitalriver-download/

Then use the microsoft USB tool here:

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store/msstore/html/pbPage.Help_Win7_usbdvd_dwnTool

After you set your bios to boot from USB first, just plug the usb you made in and it'll work the same way as a CD would - you insert your CD key the same place.

 

[Snookslayer]

Old thread but...

I recently realized I almost never use optical drive anymore either. But I can't imagine not having one because I don't have digital copies of my mobo driver disc and OS. Mobo driver could probably be found online and put on thumb drive, but like most people my OS is on in disc form (Windows 7).