DISCLAIMER: DO NOT USE THIS GUIDE FOR ILLEGAL PURPOSES (IE. PROGRAMS THAT YOU DO NOT HAVE LICENCES!) This guide does not circumvent any copy protection methods such as securom, etc.
This is a guide for making ISO's in Windows

Programs needed (all freeware, no need for licences):
Daemon Tools 3.47 (http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/download.php)
InfraRecorder (http://infrarecorder.sourceforge.net/)

Equipment needed:
1. Computer with Windows OS and optical drive.
2. Wind
3. Network connection between computers/usb hdd/flash key with enough capacity

Workflow:
1. Install InfraRecorder to computer no. 1
2. Insert optical media to computer no. 1 optical tray, then close tray.
3. Start InfraRecorder and go to ACTIONS menu => COPY DISC => TO A DISK IMAGE...
4. Choose the optical drive where you inserted the optical media as a source, press ...-button and input image name. Press OK to start image writing process.
5. Copy the image to Wind with any of the three mentioned ways.
6. Install Daemon Tools 3.47 to Wind.
7. Mount created ISO-image with daemon tools.
8. Begin installation process from mounted image.

This will work just fine for anything but installing an OS. I've actually mounted disk images from a network share without even copying them to a local drive before. Of course it's pretty slow through wireless, not to bad over 100 Mbps though.

I've actually mounted DVD images off my Media PCa to watch on my laptop over wireless. You need a really strong 802.11g signal to do it and even then will probably get some skips but it is doable.

Martian

The more recent versons of Daemon Tools come bundled with adware.

You can download older (clean) versions from here.

I think there's an option that lets you choose whether you want to install the adware or not.

Daemon tools 3.47 does not include adware...

That's way overly complicated dun - how about this instead

Equipment needed:
1. Computer with optical drive. or just the optical drive
2. USB 2.0 To IDE (less than £5 online $9.80)



Workflow:
1. Remove the side case and swap the power and data cables from the optical drive to the adapter
(you can remove the optical drive if needed)
2. insert USB into Wind and install what you like
3. have tea and cake

Heh, I did something similar except I didn't buy a thing extra. I had an old HDD external enclosure laying around and I had a spare DVD burner. 5 mins later, I was installing XP on my Wind.

Can anybody refer me to a USB2 to IDE adapter (from NewEgg preferrably) that they have verified is working for optical drives? I was going to purchase this one but then read many user reviews that it isn't ideal for optical drives as it somewhat blocks the molex connectors.

Are there any that someone could recommend from those listed here?: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=%22USB+2.0+To+IDE%22&x=11&y=36

I bought this one from Newegg a couple months ago. I've used it for 3.5 in IDE and 2.5 in SATA hard drives and a 5.25 in IDE optical drive. I used it to install Windows XP Pro on my Wind with no problems.

Excellent, thanks dude.

No problem.

I prefer Alcohol 120% over Daemon tools; you can also rip cds from it, And I have successfully installed Vista from an image mounted with Alcohol.

also, if you don't have access to an optical drive whatsoever, it is actually legal for you to download "backups", as long as you actually own the license to the software and it has been unedited, so that's something to consider

Worked a treat, I now have Colin Mcrae working a treat. many thanks

Yes, there is an option to not include the adware. Just installed the latest Daemon Tools last night w/o adware.

If adware is your concern, why not try this freeware utility called MagicDisc.

Not only it allows to mount cd/dvd images, it also allows you to create them (so be sure to install it in your "base" computer as well).

One of the downsides to using a HDD is how much power it draws.

If you're using the 3-cell Wind (like many of us) you DVD viewing pleasure will be short-lived.
I used the same software tools (Daemon-tools, etc) and stored the .ISO images onto 4/8GB SDHC cards.
This takes care of two(2) issues...

1. Less hardware to carry around.
2. The power requirements from an external drive are not an issue.

The price of SDHC cards greater than 4.0GB is DROPPING!

Something to consider.
________________________________
Black, 3-cell Wind owner.
Her name is "NightStorm, and she ROCKS!

Well I jsut connect my Wind to my network and share a dvd drive on one of my PCs. Works great for installing software.

For installing OSs I use the USB to IDE adapter and an old DVD drive I have lying about.

I have the Windows version of the Wind, and when I decided to install the MS Office suite on it, I just needed to copy the contents of the original CD to a USB key (caveat : there are some hidden files), and voilà !

Yes, I prefer MagicISO since it using propietary SCSI emulator device that not SLOW DOWN the BOOT process, I try using Alcohol 52% free edition it slowing down the XP boot up 80%, and after research I found the problem is on their SPTD driver, and since daemon using same driver with alcohol, then I think it will slow down boot proccess again, so I prefer the MagicISO which not slow down the boot process at all.

xbox360 hd-dvd drive works fine, just use it..