Check CD Drive Type

You should pay close attention to the type of CD drive your PC has because the retail version of Windows Vista only comes packaged with a DVD rather than a plain CD. Fitting everything for Vista on one DVD rather than having to use multiple CDs is beneficial; however, it’s not that uncommon for older PCs—even those sold in the past several years—to not include a DVD drive.
To see if your drive is DVD capable, just look at the front of the drive door. You should see a DVD logo (such as shown in Figure 1.17) along with others, such as the Compact Disc or CD writable/rewritable logos.
If your PC doesn’t have a DVD drive and you prefer not to upgrade your CD drive, you can order a set of plain CDs from Microsoft for a small fee and shipping costs. For more information, visit:
www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/1033/ordermedia
If you’re not afraid to open up your PC, you could upgrade your CD drive to a DVD drive, which is fairly easy. It would also save you from having to shell out more money to Microsoft and waiting for the plain CDs in the mail. Here are a few things to consider when switching out your CD drive:
Although only a regular DVD drive is needed to install Windows Vista, consider purchasing a drive with DVD writing capabilities in case you want to make DVDs in the future.
Keep in mind the color of the drive if you’re concerned about it matching your PC.
Most PCs have an extra CD drive slot into which you could install the DVD drive, instead of removing the existing CD drive.