with your help...we can save the endangered cd blanks from extinction!

so your friendly neighborhood happyfunboy was perusing one of his old haunts on the internet, and happened to see an item mentioned that he thought visitors here at the funcave would find very very useful.

most of you are prolly aware that microsoft delivers a lot of material via .iso images.

folks who are developers are sure to know this, since software product delivered as part of your msdn subscription nearly all arrives as .iso images, especially if you have elected to receive your subscription on dvd media.

speaking for myself...i get real annoyed sometimes at having to burn a cd if i want to use something off some of our discs.

however, with the following utility provided by microsoft, you can simply mount the .iso file virtually, rather than having to first burn it to cd media.

hey...it's free, so even if it only saves you five minutes here or there...it's still more than paid for your time to download and install it.

Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel for Windows XP

enjoy!

oh...and one more thought about receiving msdn or technet subscriptions on dvd.

you really need to switch those subscriptions to dvd format if you haven't yet.

the sheer amount of discs you receive if you are still getting cd-only format has gotten to a point where it can feel like a full time job just updating the library when a new monthly shipment comes in.

which is exactly what i've heard from some other partners and professional peers.

the time to keep those subscriptions straight when updates come in takes so long because there are so many discs, folks don't keep their subscriptions organized at all. so then when those same folks do need something from msdn or technet, it's a big mess, and the folks have to waste even more time trying to figure out what's current, where stuff is, and so on...that in the end they don't even use those subscriptions at all.

which is a shame...because both technet and msdn have been fantastic benefits to our firm, from the very first day we became a microsoft certified partner in 2000.

also...for certified partners or above...any and all license grants you receive for certain microsoft software products as part of your partner program membership can only be installed using media delivered via the msdn subscription you also receive as part of the partner program.

install the same software from any other media...even if it's for one of those allowed purposes...and you are still in total violation.

which is such an idiotic position for any partner to put themselves in.

seriously.

if you're too stupid or lazy to read and understand the terms of the partner program...you prolly aren't the sharpest knife in the drawer anyway, and are prolly better off washing dogs for a living, rather than trying to be a technology consultant.