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I have Ubuntu on my computer, and I have Windows 8 recovery DVDs. I do not have a build in DVD drive on my computer, so I bought an external one. Will the external DVD drive be able to read the Windows 8 recovery DVDs if I remove Ubuntu from my computer first?

Kamil Maciorowski
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Evorlor
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Optical drive's ability to read disks doesn't depend on operating system. It doesn't even know what's on your hard drive, it's just a dumb thingie that will do what the computer tells it.

If you wonder if you'll be able to boot from external drive then the answer is yes. But these days it's easier to find an empty 4 GB thumb drive than a working optical drive, so installing from pendrive is usually a better idea.

gronostaj
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  • Excellent, thanks! Can I put the 3 recovery DVDs onto a thumb drive? – Evorlor Dec 14 '13 at 21:16
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    Oh, I thought you have a single Windows DVD. It's a bit more complicated with recovery disks, because there's no standard way of making them and every manufacturer uses its own methods. It *may* be possible to boot them off a pendrive, but it probably won't be easy and/or doable without a lot of trial-and-error testing. Installing from DVDs may be easier in this case, unless you have a lot of spare time and don't mind learning how the entire booting concept works ;) – gronostaj Dec 14 '13 at 21:23