How can I tell if a drive can be used to boot from? For ages I couldn't work out why my P133 machine wouldn't boot of CDs even when the option was checked in the BIOS. Then I realised it was the drive ...

Optical drives are still practical for many users, whether to play old CDs and DVDs, install software, or create backups—especially with modern laptops, which are usually supplied without a drive.

In last month's column, I described the hurdles that Mac OS X puts in your way when you try to create a bootable disc, especially a custom bootable CD, DVD or flash drive. I offered various solutions ...

Do you keep a bootable USB drive handy? Maybe you still have the USB drive that you last used to install Windows, or any of the other bootable thumb drives that you've made over the years? Since we ...

We love that modern laptops have become so slim and light, but we aren’t happy about the disappearance of ports and features. It’s been forever since I’ve seen a laptop with an optical disc drive! If ...

Bootable hard drives. Creating a bootable hard drive in Mac OS X is not difficult, but is still a significant undertaking. The most common method is to boot from a Mac OS X Install disc, run the ...