“How do you share a CD or DVD drive across a network?” This was the question that dropped into my head recently as it became apparent that I would need to access data on some archive DVDs.
How to start up your Mac from a bootable CD/DVD Step 1: Turn on your Mac by pressing the power button, or restart it if it’s already on by choosing Restart in the Apple menu. Step 2: Press and hold the C key on your keyboard immediately upon hearing the startup chime. If your Mac is in warrantee, bring it to the Apple Store, or an Apple Authorized Service Provider. If it’s out of warrantee, an Apple Store still might help you without charging – although it’s equally possible you’ll get charged a service fee, or the optical drive may need to be replaced.
IsoBuster supports the HFS and HFS+ file-systems which are used by Mac computers on all types of Mac formatted media, such as optical discs (CD, DVD, BD) as well as Flash media, floppies and Hard Drives of all types and makes. Mac startup key combinations. Start up from the built-in Apple Hardware Test or Apple Diagnostics utility, depending on your Mac model. Or use Option-D to start up from this utility over the Internet. N: Start up from a compatible NetBoot server, if available. To use the default boot image on the NetBoot server, hold down Option-N instead.
If I was using a standard PC this wouldn’t be a problem; as it is, I’ve been the owner of an Acer Iconia W700Acer Iconia W7 Windows 8 Tablet PC Review and GiveawayAcer Iconia W7 Windows 8 Tablet PC Review and GiveawaySlimline, sleek, sexy and silver - but you can’t have everything. The Acer Iconia W7 is a Windows 8 tablet priced between $799 and $999 (depending on the chosen model) that looks as though it..Read More for several months now and one of the key drawbacks of a tablet computer is that they don’t come with integrated DVD drives.
Now, I do have one way around this problem. Recently I purchased a caddy for an old laptop DVD drive, but I haven’t got around to putting it together yet. Judging that clicking a few boxes on Windows would be quicker, quieter and less painful at 10pm one evening, I decided to look at the network option.
Surely there must be a way to share the DVD drive on my wife’s laptop across the home network?
Getting Started: Share the Drive
Often, wrestling control of the laptop and the latest Facebook games from the addicted claws of Mrs Cawley is a bit of a challenge. Fortunately, 10pm was a good time to attempt it.
The starting point of sharing a CD or DVD drive across a network requires you to first share the device, so on the computer with the drive you want to share, open Computer, right-click the appropriate drive and select Share with > Advanced sharing….
In the Properties box, click Advanced Sharing… and click check the Share this folder option in the following screen. You should then assign a meaningful name (“CD drive” or “DVD drive” both seem particularly apposite) and click the Permissions button.
The idea here is to ensure that the drive, once shared, can be accessed. Select the Everyone group and check the box to Read under Allow and click OK to confirm. On a home network, this should give you all of the security you need.
Setting Other Security Options
On a home network, you can disable password-protection on the drive, which by default requires you to have a user account and password for the computer with the shared drive.
You can change this in the Properties box on the Sharing tab, under the Password Protection setting – here, click Network and Sharing Center and click Home or Work (current profile), expanding the options to find Turn off password protected sharing. Select the option you want (off speeds things up on home networks but you wouldn’t want to make that choice in any other scenario) and click Save changes.
Note that there are many other options here, such as changing the encryption type, but the default options are best left alone unless you understand the effect changing them will have.
Once you’re done here, the Properties box will summarise the current sharing details, such as the network path and whether password protection is in use. Note that you can disable sharing later by opening the Advanced Sharing… screen and clearing the check in the Share this folder box.
Find & Map The Share
![Best Best](/uploads/1/2/6/8/126891787/742117025.jpg)
With the optical drive shared, you can now map a connection to it from your own computer. The process for this is similar to mapping any network drive.
On your desktop or in the Start Menu, right-click Computer, select Map network drive… and browse for the share you created earlier.
It is possible to map a drive letter that will be assigned to this drive each time you start your computer. Select the letter you want and check the Reconnect at logon box to do this, clicking Finish when you’re done.
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When you’re ready to access the drive, load the disc into it and then return to your computer, double-clicking the device to begin reading the disc contents. Software for mac cac card reader.
Alternatives To Sharing A CD Or DVD Drive
As mentioned, there are other ways of connecting a CD or DVD drive to a device that doesn’t come equipped with one (such as a Windows tablet, a MacBook Air or MacBook ProWhich Is Best, A MacBook Air Or MacBook Pro? Both Models Compared Side-By-SideWhich Is Best, A MacBook Air Or MacBook Pro? Both Models Compared Side-By-SideYou might think Apple’s relatively small laptop selection would make choosing a model easy. For some people, that’s true, but for others the tight range of options and prices makes for a difficult choice. A..Read More or even an OTG enabled Android device). Similarly, you might have removed your DVD drive – perhaps from an older MacbookHow To Swap Out Your Macbook's DVD Drive For An SSDHow To Swap Out Your Macbook's DVD Drive For An SSDIs your old Apple laptop starting to struggle? Is the boot time so long that you can actually go out and buy a coffee? If so, perhaps it's time to think about upgrading your main..Read More – but still require the ability to read optical drives from time to time.
While external DVD drives are inexpensive, if you have an old laptop with a standard removable slimline DVD drive you will be able to house this in an inexpensive caddy and connect it to your computer via USB.
These caddies (like the one pictured which I finally set up) are available for under $10 and can be powered from your computer’s USB drive or with an external USB-compatible power source. As the housings are manufactured to seat a standardised hardware format (the slimline optical drive), you should find that they’re virtually identical in construction and price.
Note that fitting a slimline DVD drive into one of these caddies is straightforward, but you will need to pay attention to the instructions provided in order to avoid problems (such as the case being too tight for the eject function, for example.)
Disposing Of An Old Laptop – What To Recycle, What To KeepDisposing Of An Old Laptop - What To Recycle, What To KeepDisposing Of An Old Laptop - What To Recycle, What To KeepLaptops are a treasure trove of parts that can live more than one life. Whether they continue a life as spare part or become the subject of a DIY tech project, you can get a..Read More provides more information for anyone stripping down a laptop for parts.
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Conclusion: Sharing Is Good, But Not the Only Way
Although the option of having a working DVD drive is useful, optical discs seem to be falling out of favour, with flash drives and other portable solutions taking their place. While we’ve still got Blu-ray (and the sharing process is just the same as described above for DVD and CD drives), there will remain a place for optical discs.
Sharing an optical drive across a network might just be the most effective and economical way of getting around the lack of a suitable device on your own computer, but don’t overlook the benefits of an external optical device, whether this is a standard external drive or one cannibalised from an old laptop.
What is your preferred option for connecting an optical drive to a computer or tablet?
- You've provided an excellent step-by-step on just how to do this. To be honest, we didn't even know that sharing a CD/DVD drive through a network was a thing. So we definitely learned something new.
In fact, we liked this post so much that we shared it on Twitter and Facebook. - Hi, Thanks for these instructions. They work fine for reading a DVD. But I'd like to be able to burn a DVD. When I put in a blank DVD on the second laptop, the first laptop says the device isn't ready. Do you know what the issue is here? Many thanks. Frank in the UK
- Does anyone know how to fix the 'Device is not ready' error?
- You might mention that you cannot set up a DVD or CD drive for sharing while there is a disk in it--at least, I found this to be true while trying to install a program from a disk drive on another computer across the network. Take out the disk, close the drive, follow the instructions above for sharing (on the other computer), then reinsert the disk. The optical drive will then appear as a network location and the disk can be accessed from the client computer.
- Have you heard of 'Paragon Net Burner'?! It's an application that works across you network an can use any optical burner driver from one PC to another providing that both PC's are on the same LAN.
- Can anyone advise how to put a DVD in a windows machine, and watch it on another networked machine?I'd rather not have to rip it first.Thanks.
- It's far more productive to learn to work a programs like WinISO and Daemon Tools for the limited set of circumstances where a shared optical disc is necessary and useful. Access times will be faster and you won't have to leave a disc in a drive on another machine.For the most part, users are even better off if they just dump the contents of a disc in a reasonably organized folder structure (e.g. 'Z:librariesOffice 2010 Standard x64'); even someone without the local disc space to store the data from an optical disc is being shown how to share a folder in this process, and that's 95% of the work all by itself.
- It's a suitable alternative and one that I think would be ideal with preparation.However sharing across a network is ideal for those times when you're ill-prepared..
Presentation
MacDisk is an utility for reading, writing and formatting Apple Macintoshmagnetic media on an IBM compatible PC, without any hardware modification ofthe computer and without any add-on.
MacDisk is a 32-bit application and runs under all recent versions of Windows(Vista and 7/8 included, even 64 bits).
MacDisk is a 32-bit application and runs under all recent versions of Windows(Vista and 7/8 included, even 64 bits).
Supported Media
- HD (High Density) floppy disks (1.44 MB),
- Plain hard disks without any capacity limit (see also our page onDisk Interfaces and on Hugedisks). Caution, Thunderbolt disks are not supported yet.
- CD-ROMs, pure HFS, hybrid (HFS/ISO 9660) and evenISO 9660 CD-ROMs with Apple extensions
- DVD-ROMs, which are in fact just huge CD-ROMs
- Iomega Zip cartridges, 100 and 250 MB
- Iomega Jaz removable disks, 1 and 2 GB
- External hard disks connected on the USB or FireWire (IEEE 1394) bus
- SyQuest cartridges, all capacities
- Bernoulli disks, all capacities
- USB media (keys, drives, token)
- Magneto-optical cartridges of 128 and 230 MB (3.5') and of 300, 350, 600, 650 MB (5.25').
Macintosh CD-ROMs are managed as read-only volumes. If you want to createMacintosh CD-ROMs or DVD-ROMs on your PC, please checkMacImage.
All kinds of Zip cartridges are supported(be it on SCSI bus, on USB bus, on IDE/ATAPI bus or on the parallel port).
Under Windows 2000 and higher, we don't use the Aspi layer any more, but a servicelaunched under the local system. See the MacDisk datasheet and the Lsdiorw page.
All kinds of Zip cartridges are supported(be it on SCSI bus, on USB bus, on IDE/ATAPI bus or on the parallel port).
Under Windows 2000 and higher, we don't use the Aspi layer any more, but a servicelaunched under the local system. See the MacDisk datasheet and the Lsdiorw page.
File System Compatibility
MacDisk manage the old HFS volumes (classical magnetic Macintosh media)and the recent HFS+format (also called Extended Mac OS, journalled or not).
MacDisk, when launched from a Windows partition created by the boot managerBootcamp on a Macintosh with Intel processor, can access the Macintosh partitionto copy files back and forth.
MacDisk, when launched from a Windows partition created by the boot managerBootcamp on a Macintosh with Intel processor, can access the Macintosh partitionto copy files back and forth.
Why MacDisk?
MacDisk is aimed at all users needing to exchange data files between theMacintosh and the PC.
MacDisk is an indispensable tool for data exchanges between sibling applicationsthat exist in both Macintosh and PC (Windows) versions, like MS-Word, MS-Excel,PageMaker, Quark Xpress as well as transfering compatible data formats (Ascii,graphical files).
To get a better understanding of MacDisk features, you can download theHelp File.
MacDisk is an indispensable tool for data exchanges between sibling applicationsthat exist in both Macintosh and PC (Windows) versions, like MS-Word, MS-Excel,PageMaker, Quark Xpress as well as transfering compatible data formats (Ascii,graphical files).
To get a better understanding of MacDisk features, you can download theHelp File.
MacDisk Version 8.0
MacDisk is a 32-bit program. The latest version for Windows 2000 and higher addsmany new functions: it now supports all CD-ROM drives (SCSI, USB, IDE/ATAPI),all kinds of CD-ROMs (HFS, HFS+, hybrid, even multi-session ones). The 32-bitversion is much faster than former ones. For an example, a 80-MB file is copiedfrom the CD-ROM drive to the hard disk in less than a minute!
More, the new interface offers an Explorer bar to navigate the Macintosh volumeand a listview which allows to sort the items according to the name, to the type,to the data or resource length, to the creation/modification date and to thesignature.
More, the new interface offers an Explorer bar to navigate the Macintosh volumeand a listview which allows to sort the items according to the name, to the type,to the data or resource length, to the creation/modification date and to thesignature.
This feature is very interesting, for an example if you get an USB token withboth Word and Excel files. A sort according to the signature will allow you tocopy selectively the Word files in a specific subfolder and the Excel files inanother one. Likewise, if you do DTP, you'll be able to copy selectively theTiff pictures, the EPS files and the layouts.
See our Preview Page on its newfeatures and its new user interface (with numerous screen captures).
See our Preview Page on its newfeatures and its new user interface (with numerous screen captures).
And What About DD Floppy Disks?
MacDisk cannot read Apple Macintosh DD (400 KB or 800 KB) floppy disks.Apple chose to implement the GCR coding (Group Coded Recording) witha variable spindle speed to squeeze more data on the outer tracks of the medium.There are no software solutions to mimic that on the PC, and the existing hardware solutions become more and more of 'historical nature' (Central Point Option Board DeLuxe, Apple external floppy drive connected to a MicroSolution controller).
However, I recently learned that one of those cards is still available: theCatweasel board can read DD imageswith a normal PC-floppy (connected to it) as well as many other formats.
For the time being, the only practical solutions is to find a working Macintoshwith a floppy drive to copy the files onto another floppy (HD) or anothermedium.
However, I recently learned that one of those cards is still available: theCatweasel board can read DD imageswith a normal PC-floppy (connected to it) as well as many other formats.
For the time being, the only practical solutions is to find a working Macintoshwith a floppy drive to copy the files onto another floppy (HD) or anothermedium.
MacDisk Features
MacDisk manages the Macintosh signatures and addsa corresponding extension to the files copied from the Mac to the PC.Conversely, MacDisk gives a signature to the files copied on the Macintoshvolume to make 'double-clickable' icons. The lookup table is freely editable(with the SignEdit utility).
MacDisk is a low-level disk utility and not a conversion program. It doesn'tmodify the contents of the files (to avoid yet another source of problems). Itis bundled with MacText, a little text converteraimed at some Macintosh text formats.
MacDisk is a low-level disk utility and not a conversion program. It doesn'tmodify the contents of the files (to avoid yet another source of problems). Itis bundled with MacText, a little text converteraimed at some Macintosh text formats.
Cross-Platform Compatibility
Most big applications existing on both platforms open the files created onthe other platform. That is, Word for Windows opens Word Mac files. This holdstrue also for Excel, PageMaker, Xpress and many others. See ourHints & Tips for more information about convertingand transferring data files between Macintosh and PC.
Font Transfers
Download microsoft visio viewer for mac. From version 4.5, MacDisk offers certain features to transfer and convertfont files between the Macintosh and the PC.
How to Buy MacDisk?
Please see our Price list and ourOn-line Order Desk. The on-line order processing isdone on a secure server (SSL) and offers all the security you want and need (inparticular, your credit card information never travels on unsecured links).
As soon as your credit card is charged, you are redirected to the downloading page,where you can download the full version of the program. A confirmation messageis also sent by email with a downloading link.
If you encounter problems, don't hesitate to write us, we'll answer as soon aspossible to help you.
As soon as your credit card is charged, you are redirected to the downloading page,where you can download the full version of the program. A confirmation messageis also sent by email with a downloading link.
If you encounter problems, don't hesitate to write us, we'll answer as soon aspossible to help you.
To Go Further..
- Download a demo package to check yourself whatthe program may do for you
- Testimonials Page (a few sentences may say itbetter than thousand words..
Cd Reader For Mac
Updates and Upgrades
External Cd Reader For Mac
If you're a registered user of one of our products (including our discontinuedproducts MacCD, MacSQ orMacScuzzy), see our Upgrade &Update Page. We also offer a competitive upgrade for users of similarproducts.