OldGrayGary

Hi again

Well, for some software, you might be able to install OK from a folder on the hard drive. It all depends on the way the software vendor setup its installer. Some are coded in such a way that the install must be run from the CD. Some can start from many locations, so long as the installation folder has the necessary files. To be certain, you'd have to check on the support websites for your programs, or contact the vendor. Or simply keep the CDs around.

It's generally a good policy to hang onto installation CDs/DVDs: they certainly are handy in case programs need to be reinstalled [hard drives do die eventually]. It's also often true that the installation CDs can be used as "proof of prior version" for upgrades to newer versions of your favorite programs (the savings can be significant, frequently in the 50% range - and sometimes even more).

*Theoretically*, so long as you backup the CD images to a hard drive, and then backup the hard drive to a third storage location, you could then re-create the CDs (for those that require CDs) by burning the images back onto a CD-R or CD-RW. Some vendors do use some copy-protection schemes that make this a little risky, since the copy-protection can sometimes make a burned copy unusable for installation purposes. [If I remember from my reading correctly, one trick was for the installer to look for a certain amount of "garbage" at a particular location on the CD -- such "garbage" is often discarded by copying software as simply a defective area on a disk]. Never a dull moment in DRM.

If you decide to keep the installation CDs/DVDs after all, one way to save space is to store them all in an inexpensive CD/DVD 'wallet' - some will store 25 to 50 easily, and some of the wallets go on sale for as little as $5 [to get you into the store to buy things that cost much more :) ]

Best of luck
. . . Gary