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Old September 8th 04, 07:37 AM
mike
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Mike Richter wrote:
mike wrote:

The problem is that I can't just burn a CD.
I have to INSTALL a bunch of software that may or may not overwrite
existing windows files/drivers.



So, what I want is a way to burn a CD without INSTALLING ANY software.



Re the Subject: No, you need an OS; you then need an application which
manages the operations required to write.

Re the Body: You can use XP with its built-in applet.

Depending on what you want to do with the program, you may find mkisofs
sufficient. Otherwise, to use the Windows interface some installation is
necessary for general-purpose writing. One exception is DAO from
Goldenhawk - but I suspect that it will be too limited for you and may
not support your drive.

There's a lot of work behind writing a CD beyond simply copying the
data. The ATIP must be read, the leadin and TOC must be written, the
leadout is also required. That's apart from the higher-order activity
such as CDTExt. Those operations require interfacing with the hardware,
which is supported by Windows through either its own interface or ASPI.

Mike


OK, I'm not communicating. I'll try again without so many nits to pick.

Looking at the big picture...
I want to take an existing Intel Pentium Computer (assuming sufficient
horsepower, memory, hard disk space, ports, etc. ) with a (working)
clean install of Windows 98SE.

I want to walk up to the machine, plug in my USB drive, copy as many
files as necessary to one new directory on the hard drive in the
computer, Burn A CD, Delete all the files I copied and leave the
computer in the state it was before I started this process.

The files I copy can interface any part of the system they want with
whatever additional capability they want as long as
they don't change any files outside their resident directory tree, including
the registry. Yes, they'll have to duplicate/implement at least some
windows functionality.

Anticipating another nit, let's say that windows will create some "most
recent" entries in the registry. I don't care about those. What I care
about is leaving the computer in the same state as it started without
any new programs running, no system files overwritten,
no side effects.
I want it right back the way it was before I started my TEMPORARY
burning session.

I want a burning application that does NOT integrate itself into the system.

A USB drive that requires a major software installation is not portable
at all. A USB drive that requires installing software that conflicts
with existing software is a disaster.

mike



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