What is WinToFlash

There may come a day that optical drives are as hard to find as 5.25 floppy drives are today.
WinToFlash starts a wizard that will help pull over the contents of a windows installation CD or DVD and prep the USB drive to become a bootable replacement for the optical drive. It can also do this with your LiveCD.
You don't have to worry about scratches on the disc or misplacing your original media discs once you transfer their contents to the flash drive. The optical drive is quickly becoming a thing of the past, especially in office environments, as media is shifted to the cloud.
Read about all supported features on the Overview page.

Best video tutorial from user mullinsJ08

Problems and solutions

Incorrect source of Windows/DOS files

Discussion forum

Please, visit our discussion forum for latest news, update notes and new functions discussions.

Three Tech Items You Should Never Buy Refurbished

There are exceptions. Here's a rundown of the three kinds of tech gear I won't buy refurbished:

1. Hard drives
The argument for buying anything refurbished goes like this: if it was returned because it had a problem, that problem has already been fixed -- meaning you're potentially better off with a refurbished unit than you are with a new one.
I don't think that applies to hard drives. Whether it was returned owing to a defect or simply because a person didn't like it, the fact is that it's been used. There is no "refurbishment" process I'm aware of that can restore a hard drive to factory-new condition. And with drive prices so low already, is it really worth gambling your data on a unit that's already seen some action?
2. Printers
This is more of a guideline than a rule, as a refurbished printer might prove to be a decent deal.
My chief concern is that if ink or toner has already cycled through the printer's innards, then what you're really getting is a used printer, not one that's been restored to factory-new condition. And as we all know, ink and toner have a way of gumming up the works, especially if the printer sits idle for a long period.
That said, if you can confirm from the seller's description that the printer has indeed been recertified by the manufacturer, and that it comes with brand-new ink/toner, it might be worth buying -- especially if the savings are significant.
3. Televisions
Buying a refurbished TV can save you a decent chunk of change, sometimes amounting to hundreds of dollars. But I flatly refuse to buy one, in part because I already did.
In fact, I've purchased two refurbished TVs in my life, and both arrived in a condition best described as "horrendous." One had a broken stand, the other looked like it had been packaged by monkeys. And I've heard from others about scuffed, damaged, and/or poorly shipped TVs.