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New to laptops-have newbie question

1K views 13 replies 6 participants last post by  joeten 
#1 ·
Hi all. I'm buying a laptop for the first time and have it narrowed down to either an HP Stream or an Acer Aspire. I can't afford much, so have to keep it under $200. My question is, I see there's no drive for a CD on these things and I have a Scrabble game on a CD that I would really like to put on the laptop. What would happen if I copied all the files from the Scrabble game onto a flash drive and tried to install it on the laptop? Would that work?

And as long as I'm asking questions here, is the HP better or the Acer? I just surf around, check e-mails, pay some bills on line, and do a little shopping. Other than Scrabble and Solitaire I don't do games. I have an Acer computer at home which serves me well, but I've also had HP in the past which was good too.

I can't seem to find any sales person who is really knowledgeable, even at Best Buy or HH Gregg. You guys have been a real help to me in the past and I trust your opinions. Thanks in advance for any help!
Carol
 
#2 ·
Copying all of the files from the CD to the USB drive should work fine.

HP and Acer both make good laptops but they can both have their issues. I've owned both and they've both been solid systems but I've also repaired plenty from both brands.

I know that doesn't make your choice any easier but assuming you get a good unit, both should serve you well.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I'm so glad that I can put Scrabble on the laptop via flash drive! I think I'm going to go with the Acer Aspire R11 for $249. Both are 11.5 inch screens, but the Acer is "touch" which I think is kind of cool. Don't know if it will be worth the extra $49 but I guess I'll just splurge on it anyway. The HP design (HP Stream 11) really doesn't appeal to me...looks like it's for a 10 year old, not something for an adult. (Just my opinion)

Thanks much for the responses!
 
#6 ·
Hello again. Sorry to bring up an old subject, but I have an issue with putting Scrabble on my laptop. There was no problem putting it on the flash drive, but when I tried to put it on the laptop I got an error about how it was unable to run due to copywrite or something to that effect, and I was instructed to insert the CD, which I can't of course because my new laptop has no optical drive. Is there a work around for this? Since I bought the CD I should be able to use it on my own computers don't ya think? This seems really trivial but it's starting to become the principle of the thing! By the way, I ended up buying a Dell Inspiron touch screen. A little more than I wanted to pay, but it was on sale. Nice machine!
 
#7 ·
There is a copyright fight between Hasbro and who has the rights to the Scrabble Dictionary which was independently developed. Are you trying to play against others online? If so, download from a reputable site. The original CD was made around 1990 and won't work in Windows8.1.
 
#8 ·
Actually, I'm running Windows 10 (started with 8.1 and upgraded) and it works fine. I looked for the date on the CD and it says copyright 1997-2008 by RAD Game Tools, Inc. What they have to do with Hasbro I don't know. I sure wish they would come out with a way to get these CD games on a laptop.
 
#9 ·
Your profile shows 8.1. Please update it. The date indicates the game would have to be installed/played in a compatibility mode. You would need XP or earlier in a VM. Hasbro patented Scrabble and licenses it. My wife suggested you play it on Pogo.
 
#10 ·
I have updated my profile to show Windows 10. Thanks for reminding me! I've used Pogo and it works well, but when I use my laptop at our campground I don't have wifi. That's why I'm so fixated on finding a way to get my game downloaded to my hard drive. Looks like I'll have to get over my obsession with Scrabble and find something else to play. Sorry to drag this topic on so long...thanks for everyone's input!
 
#11 ·
If you've got access to a computer with a CD drive you can copy the contents of the Scabble CD to the computer's hard drive as an ISO file, then move the ISO to a USB stick and copy it over to your laptop. You should then be able to install the game to a virtual CD drive on your laptop from the ISO without needing the game disc to be inserted.

Alternatively, try some of these free Scrabble games for Windows 8/10: 5 Best Windows 8, 10 Scrabble Apps
 
#13 ·
I tried the suggestion of creating the iso file. I created it just fine, I was able to put it on a USB no problem, successfully uploaded game to my laptop. When I clicked on the game icon, it said to use the original CD, not a backup copy. AARRGG! There is no way it will let me transfer the game to my laptop. So, like Joeten said, when all else fails, go to Best Buy and buy an external drive. I just really didn't want to drag that around with me. Maybe I can load it on the laptop from the external drive and not have to use the CD every time I want to play. I don't need to put it in the drive on my PC in order to play. Maybe the laptop will work the same way. Anyway, thanks again everyone.
 
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