You could try Mobile.HD. It is not free but cheap.

nvm, forgot we were talking about Windows store not Android.

SP3 software
 

I'm looking to get an SP3 and am wondering how to add older software since there is no DVD. I have old versions of Quark XPress and QuickBooks that still meet my needs and would have to load from disc.

Also have read the magnetic power cable is a frequent and premature point of failure?

Thanks

Buy a portable USB DVD drive - they go for $20-30. You don't need to travel with them. I have one at both homes for when I need to use a DVD or CD.

It's also probably possible to copy the installation DVD's onto USB flash drives.

Assuming he has a desktop with a regular DVD (or CD) drive, this is usually the easiest approach -- should work for everything except for copy protected software that relies on a disk check (pretty much just older games.)

Copying them to an external hard drive (or a NAS) is a good way to back up the CDs/DVDs themselves, against either loss or bit-rot on the optical disk.

A portable/USB DVD drive is still a handy thing to have.

Thanks to everyone for the info.

Anyone have experience with the magnetic power cable, with premature fraying and failing?

Doris

Or setup home networking and mount the CD drive on a physical machine as a mapped drive ^

That's what I do. Just right click on the DVD drive and share it on my home network.

:) It does require some TCP/IP knowledge ;)

I really don't know why people still have DVD's. I work in enterprise support for a very well known Fortune 50 tech company, and the only CD/DVD's I play with are ISOs. Why not convert the CD/DVD to an ISO and share it via a USB key. Food for thought anyways :D

Any recommendations for an app that lets you markup PDFs ? (highlight, make notes etc)

Acrobat Reader does that by itself. Doesn't it run on the SP3?

Nope. I'm on my third Surface, and third Surface Pro 3 (my first one got stolen, I have my second, and my wife has one). Zero trouble with the chargers.
Like any Windows machine, you can highlight and insert comments with the keyboard and mouse using Reader.

Drawboard PDF allows you to ink and highlight with the pen ($9.99 in the Windows store). I loaded it up with a 2200 page PDF to stress test it.

or, if you have an old laptop with a DVD drive, copy the DVD from that to a USB stick and install to the Surface from the USB stick

Not seen this issue, with 4 surfaces in past 2 years across the family. However, I have heard of this as an issue in some surface forums, probably related to a batch. A call to Surface support seems to fix the issue as if you report it/have a picture they ship you a replacement free of charge.