In 2025, booting from a USB flash drive is the standard. It’s faster, rewritable, and convenient. However, for a vast ecosystem of older hardware—industrial machines, legacy point-of-sale systems, vintage gaming PCs, and budget laptops from the early 2000s—USB boot support is either unreliable, absent, or locked behind BIOS limitations.
— Article by a system administrator who keeps a binder of burned DVDs labeled "Boot Tested 2010–2015." free dvd boot compatibility list
Why, in the age of USB drives, a DVD can still save your legacy hardware. In 2025, booting from a USB flash drive is the standard