Giveaway of the Day Forums » General discussion

GGOTD on CD Disks?

(13 posts)
  • Started 8 months ago by turkishvan007
  • Latest reply from RunesageMagik

  1. turkishvan007
    Member

    Hi,

    I love your site and I hope I'm posting in the correct forum for this.

    I'm wondering if there is a way we can put some of our games that we downloaded on playable CD's? I'm not sure if I'm stating this correctly. I'm trying to condense the amount of items on my main drive of my computer and was wondering if we can move or transfer the games from our main computer onto a CD that will play the games, and if this is possible, how do we do it?

    Also, Bubby, thank you for all the information you provide and I've noticed a much nicer/kinder comments section for both of your sites since you moderated. I enjoy the comments people make when they are constructive but it was really turning me off when the commenters made disparaging remarks about other commenters. A personal Thank you for the help you provided to correct this. Also thank you for helping a fellow computer operator/continuing computer education learner to broaden the learning experience, your kind help about the forum pages and about the graphics/Direct X software vs computer video card was extremely helpful. I also found out I will have to save my pennies to buy a new video card to play some of the games but I will still download them and hope they will still play once I'm able to get a new card.

    Posted 8 months ago #
  2. pauloparra
    Member

    Turkish,

    The answer to your first question is yes, this is the right place to post. This forum is for General Discussion and your questions fall into that category.

    As for the second question, yes, you can install software in removable media like an external USB HD or something else that the computer sees as external storage device, which does not apply to CDs or DVD. Note that, if you do install the software on a removable HD, the program will only run when the removable media is mounted.

    It makes no sense to backup the .zip files offered here. If the computer crash, you can't reinstalled a GAOTD that you got at an earlier date.

    You can use an image based to backup your entire system. I believe that you should be able to restore your system entirely s it was durind in the event of a HD crash.
    No use in backing the installation programs as they will only work on the day it was offered.

    I agree with you that Bubby is very nice and useful, but let's not forget all the other Moderators and staff behind the scenes that make GAOTD a continuously improve as time goes on.

    Finally, if your are upgrading your graphics card you should not have any problems, as long as the update is done properly. Graphic cards are notoriously hard to change.

    Aupa GAOTDko laguna,

    -Mario

    Posted 8 months ago #
  3. Use Thinstall together with the Giveaways to make those programs portable.

    Posted 8 months ago #
  4. graylox
    Member

    @ jinkazama

    what is Thinstall ?

    Posted 8 months ago #
  5. graylox
    Member

    @ jinkazama

    ok, I googled it, but that looks very complicated to me, I'll have another and surly a third look at it. Thanks !

    Posted 8 months ago #
  6. RunesageMagik
    Member

    Hey, Graylox, take a look at these step by step videos and see if they help you and yours -
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqbQSDKw-iY
    www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlB22k0oTAM

    Posted 8 months ago #
  7. turkishvan007
    Member

    Thank you Mario,Jinkazama, and RunesageMagi for your reply(s). I hope I've got your names right!

    Mario, I did not mean to leave any moderator out, I had only had dealings with Bubby and this is the first time I've used the forum so am unfamiliar with the other moderator's names. I'm sorry if I inadvertently hurt anyone's feelings.

    Thank you for the USB info, back-up info and graphics/video card advice (I won't actually install the graphics card so hopefully the expert(s) will be able to look after the card's touchiness). I tried to update the software for my graphics card but there is no upgrade to allow me to go from DirectX 6 to DirectX 9 according to the update driver using the device manager (which took me a long time to remember how to get to) and I need DirectX 9 to run some of the newer games you offered like Arabica and some of the screensavers you offered need newer graphics. I know it would probably be easier to invest in a new computer but I like XP and have heard too many people who have problems with Vista.

    Thank you for the prompt reply and advice.

    Jinkazama and RunesageMagi, thank you for the thinstall info. I will have to look that over carefully. It looks simple from the youtube video but I'm not very computer user literate (if that's the correct term to put it). I know just enough to be dangerous to my system. I will definetly look it over and see if I can figure it out.

    Posted 8 months ago #
  8. graylox
    Member

    @ turkishvan007

    "I know just enough to be dangerous to my system."

    You're not alone in that club - we are 2...

    Posted 8 months ago #
  9. @ turkishvan007 - Hi & thanks for your comments.

    I think part of the problem in allowing the software to be made portable, redistributable or transferable - is the issue of the giveaways becoming a commodity that could be distributed further. The game developers and the distribution companies would probably be reluctant if they knew there was no safety net that "attach" a giveaway to a single PC.

    The obvious solution - is to support the developers and register the games that you wish to own permanently, and with that you would get an install program that could be copied to CD or DVD as a backup, and you could install that on any of your PCs (license permitting).

    Hopefully it works as in natures "survival of the fittest" - the good developers survive through the support they receive, and continue to produce even higher quality software, and the rest - find a career in an unrelated field (hopefully).

    @ jinkazama - how do I get a licensed Thinstall for a more reasonable price than USD$ 4,995 ? (Do they have an "Owner of a Mortgage" Edition?)

    Posted 8 months ago # | Login to Send PM
  10. RunesageMagik
    Member

    Bubby, hadn't bothered to delve into Thinstall's prices, so I nearly choked when I read your post. Your solution might have worked before the global real estate meltdown caused by crooked fatcats bundling subprimes for their monetized gambling games, but now?

    I might have found a free 14-day trial of a slightly cheaper model (seems to accomplish the jinkazama's goal, and for "only" one grand vs five grand) -
    http://www.shareup.com/Thinstall_Studio-download-2190.html

    Posted 7 months ago #
  11. copmom
    Member

    turkishvan007.. you don't HAVE to get Vista on a new computer.. I know Microsoft is trying to force that down everyone's throats, but (for example), when I checked the Dell website, there was a choice of which OS you wanted!
    A friend of mine got her laptop w/Vista and all kinds of problems. She finally formatted the HD and installed XP, even tho' she was told that would void the warranty. She figures she's better off having a working computer than a warranty on one that wouldn't work, and now her machine is flying, it's so much faster. She said Wal-Mart cannot keep XP on the shelves, they fly off as fast as they get them in because everyone hates Vista!
    My brother, who is a doctor, bought 2 new expensive laptops.. and they came with guess what? Vista! He hates it. All the expensive programs he has (medical ones, and an aeronautical GPS type for flying.. yes he also is a pilot) will NOT work in Vista!
    SOOOO I think everyone should just format their hard drives and install XP and no more problems!

    Posted 7 months ago #
  12. @RM

    I might have found a free 14-day trial of a slightly cheaper model (seems to accomplish the jinkazama's goal, and for "only" one grand vs five grand)

    Thanks - I've already put the Mother-In-Law up on eBay, I guess now I will only need to come up with another $900 (assuming someone clicks on Buy-Her-Now).

    Posted 7 months ago # | Login to Send PM
  13. RunesageMagik
    Member

    Reformatting will destroy all those nice GAOTD registrations turkishvan's accumulated. Maybe just buying a second hard drive, installing WinXP on that and assigning it as the C drive would work and not lose old functionality? Only if GAOTD installed software doesn't recognize something would files and reg keys have to be migrated over to the new C. In my case, many shortcuts that still point to the old C:\Prog files still run, so I never deleted system files that were left behind in the old C:\ now K:\ drive.

    I just confirmed with Dell tech (gold tech, not the cheaper outsourced paint-by-numbers group on Gilligan's Island) that reformmating and installing a (legal) copy of WinXP doesn't void any Dell warranty.
    NOTE- I'm not talking about a dual boot set-up. That is a horse of another color and Gates&Co have made it a much more tempermental animal than in the old days.

    He admitted that at worst, some lower tier tech support personnel might be unable/unwilling to conduct thorough diagnostics if there's a problem which is why IMHO DELL gold tech is worth it's weight in gold. They go the extra mile. If you kept Vista on the original HD and simply chained the second ahead of it, if a tech wanted to run their off-site GOTOASSIST tests using the Vista OS, they still could because it would still be installed. I am terrible at hardware (computer, auto, small appliances) but it took me under 15 minutes armed only with a small phillips screwdriver and a vodka/OJ screwdriver to add another ludicrously cheap hard drive. :-)

    Bubby, that's cool, but have you seen all the mother-in-laws stacked up on ebay?? Worse than the real estate backlog. It's definitely a buyer's market.

    Posted 7 months ago #

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