Today I thought I would show you a neat trick you can do with your PC or laptop and a blank CD or DVD. Using something that Microsoft calls their Live File System, you can create or format a blank disk that will then allow you to use that disk (while it is in your disc drive) just like you would use a floppy disk or USB flash drive. You can copy files to and from the disk, erase files you no longer need, etc. All without “burning” files like you might be used to, just drag and drop right from Windows Explorer or whatever your favorite file manager might be.
There are some caveats with this, it appears that creating these disks is something you can do on Windows 7 machines only. However, once created, they can be read on Windows versions going back to Windows XP and in some cases even Windows 98. There is a URL at the bottom of the article that will take you to a Microsoft page with more information. In addition, the reason I so far have only said CD, DVD and disk without getting specific is because you can create this kind of disk on standard writable media (-R) as well as re-writable media (-RW) meaning the list of disks you can format for mobile data storage starts to get kinda long, like so: CD-R, CD+R, CD-RW, DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, or DVD-RAM.
The process for setting up a disk for this kind of use is quick and easy, you simply insert your blank disk into your drive and wait a second. If you have autoplay enabled, you know where your CD’s that you insert start automatically, you will get a window that pops up asking you how you want to use the disc, like a USB flash drive, or with a CD/DVD player (like a normal writer). If you don’t have autoplay enabled, simply open Windows Explorer or My Computer and locate your CD or DVD drive. Double click on it and you should receive the same window asking you how you want to use the disk.
Once you see the window, make sure that use “Like a USB flash drive” is selected and then press next. You will then get a message that the disk is being formatted. Just wait and watch, and after a minute or two it should be complete and will disappear. Once the formatting windows goes away you are done and ready. You should now be able to drag and drop files to and from the disk, delete any that you want to, and manner of good stuff like that. I hope you find this useful!