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I've been trying (since I have a pack of 100 DVD+Rs) to burn Windows 10 to one and install it on my laptop. However, whenever I try, it just boots as normal and doesn't consider the DVD ROM a boot device. Previously I used a DVD-R to install Windows 8.

I have the order set in the BIOS to be Disc > Hard Drive > Network, but it still doesn't recognize it. I’m using the official “Technical Preview ISO,” and burning it with the Windows 8.1 built-in disc burner (right-click ISO, burn disc image).

Does this mean it’s impossible to use a DVD+R (rather than a DVD-R) as an install disc for an OS? Is this instead an issue with the Windows 10 ISO? I tried again with Ubuntu on a disc from the same pack, but it, too, was ignored.

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  • It should work. Do you get any BIOS prompt when booting, like "Press any key to boot from CD"? You can check your download is not corrupt by using some SHA-1 calculating utility and comparing to the appropriate value on windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-iso. Nov 23, 2014 at 20:03
  • @JakeGould I am specifically talking about DVD+R instead of DVD-R
    – Ky -
    Nov 23, 2014 at 23:33
  • @AndrewMorton no, it goes straight form BIOS into Windows. I tried spamming F-keys, too, but to no avail. I thought it was a bad download, so I re-downloaded it, but got the same results. I'll try that hashing method.
    – Ky -
    Nov 23, 2014 at 23:39
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    @JakeGould That'd be a great answer!
    – Ky -
    Nov 23, 2014 at 23:41

3 Answers 3

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I've found that DVD+RW is more reliable than DVD+R.

I wasted 7 DVD+Rs trying to burn ISOs of Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. But, when I burned the same ISO OS files onto DVD+RW, they became bootable!

This is because DVD+RW's Cartridge Configuration is different than DVD+R's.

If you can't buy DVD+RW then buy DVD+pro! No need to change the setting on the ISO file to make bootable; burn it into DVD+RW or DVD+pro and it will become bootable.

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  • Note that RW media is designed to be used in an "RW" drive.
    – fixer1234
    Mar 29, 2016 at 0:59
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DVD+R or DVD-R or anything else. It doesn't matter. That stuff is all just media. How it is partitioned, formatted & burned is what matters. That's why you can download an ISO and just “burn” it to anything: CD-R, DVD-R, DVD+R, USB Flash, SD, Hard Drive… Whatever. It’s all just media to put data on and read.

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No, you should be able to use a bootable DVD ISO image to make a bootable DVD.

In your specific case of installing Windows 10 onto a PC running 8.1, you should be able to simply right click and mount the image, and run the setup from there.

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  • Wouldn't it unmount when the computer has to do its several restarts for installation?
    – Ky -
    Nov 23, 2014 at 18:49
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    It would, but by that point it's got everything it needs (that's how I installed it on my test machine) Nov 23, 2014 at 18:58
  • Thank you, I'll test this method! I upvoted to counteract that downvote :3
    – Ky -
    Nov 23, 2014 at 23:37

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