How to overcome the lack of DVD reader in your Surface Pro 3

[ctitanic]

Ok, couldn't you also copy all the files from a cd or a dvd into a new folder in a flash drive and then execute the .exe file? Without the need for an iso? I know there are certain things where an iso is better, for games and maybe movies as an example. But for most simple programs wouldn't copying and pasting work just as well? I have done this numerous times without any problems. Maybe I haven't looked into newer software for creating isos, in the past I always found it cumbersome and time consuming, maybe it has improved.

Of course, you could. But people that wants to attach a DVD mostly are gamers or they are asked for some kind of DVD verification.

 

[PocketAce]

I know the external dvd drives need 2 usb ports to power it. what about using the main connect to the SP3 and connecting the second connection to the charger ? Will that work?

 

[ctitanic]

I know the external dvd drives need 2 usb ports to power it. what about using the main connect to the SP3 and connecting the second connection to the charger ? Will that work?

According to some reports, yes.

 

[PocketAce]

I know the external dvd drives need 2 usb ports to power it. what about using the main connect to the SP3 and connecting the second connection to the charger ? Will that work?

I just tested this and it worked with my Asus external DVD drive. I had to do this close to the outlet. You need to a usb extention cable to reach the SP3's power brick. In a Jam you can just sit close to the power bring and connect everything.

 

[BaritoneGuy]

I don't recall if you can mount multiple ISO at once. I think that I have two mounted by mistake at one point. I don't see the use of it beside wasting resources. When you say disc formats, do you mean music CDs or movies DVDs? For these two the answer is yes.

Yes you can mount multiple ISO files. Each appears as a different drive letter. To unmount simply right click and eject the "drive".

 

[sharpuser]

I like the ISO file use, as ctitanic the OP discusses here... except when I am using my Surface Pro 3 to 'replace my desktop'. Sometimes I might want to burn some DVDs or MP3 CDs, watch movies on DVD, or use my SP3 on the road with other companies (geophysics/earth science/geotectonics), which sometimes require me to read disks ad hoc.

Also, lately, I'm flying with Flight Simulator (it is back), which works great with the type cover, and I roll some terrain in from disks sometimes mid-flight. For that, I'm going ISO, which I also can make myself with a DVD drive.

(Hijack alert)

So here is a comparison I did recently of drives for DVD+R,DVD+R DL, DVD-R,DVD-RW,DVD-RAM,DVD-ROM,CD-R,CD-RW,CD-ROM use. They are quite cheap:
Comparison of 3 portable DVD drives using Surface Pro 2

 

[Matt]

Cool article. I dont see that much need for ISOs in day to day use (as pointed out above, just copying files to a USB flash drive is easier).

However i carry a load of OS installation ISOs. I have found Win2Flash to be excellent for building bootable USB installation media

http://wintoflash.com/home/en/

 

[hughlle]

I like a mix of both albeit the only thing I've actually used a DVD drive for in the past 2 years is burning OS (don't always have my USB stick available) or making a new CD for the car. Mostly I just keep everything I really need in a big folder of isos on my media/server PC. Although due to steam etc, its only older games, or let's say, alternatively acquired games, which cause me to reach for daemon tools.

 

[bkydcmpr]

this thread is about how to live without buying one of those.

you can't get iso images without one if you are using sp3 as the "one device for everything". so the more important thing is, how to make the external drives to work. it must be something wrong if it couldn't power up the drives designed for usb 2.0 which has much lower ampere output in specs than usb 3.0.

 

[Buelligan]

I have a completely different way. The only thing is it requires a network and a desktop on that network. When I am home I have a gaming desktop with DVD and A Blu-Ray burner. All I did in "Libraries" was to select "Map Network Drive" then browse to the desktop and select the drives. Now I just pop in my disc and go to my Surface, open "libraries" and the drive shows up. Double click and install. I have not burned anything but I would imagine it will work just fine. I'll try burning a music CD and let you know.

Although this is a Surface Pro 1 but I imagine it should work on the Pro 3 as well.

 

[bluegrass]

I just created an iso file from a movie and copied it to my SP3. It wouldn't start with WMP but it would play but not the menu with VLC player. I am contemplating building a very large library of my movie collection on a USB hard drive. Typically a non bluray movie is about 4.5 gig, so I can put quite a few movies on a terabyte hard drive.

I had started with a few by creating a movie title folder and copying the VIDEO_TS folder to the hard drive. I was planning on doing this with all of my DVDs. The only problem I found playing them from the hard disk, I couldn't seem to figure out how to get the movie to start with it's menu. I tried all of the small files. I was sure one of them would have been the file that plays automatically when you put the DVD into the DVD player.

Any ideas? Also are you suggesting that it would be better to just create one iso file for each of the movies and I could just name the iso, the name of the movie. Any idea how to make the iso start just like pushing in a DVD when the autostart is set to play a DVD when you insert it? I see the only reason to use an iso file is the convenience of it taking all the files and making it just one file.

 

[ctitanic]

In my own experience the best way to create a movie collection is to convert (rip) the movies into mkv files. MKV format allows you to store multiple tracks and subtitles.