Caitlin writes: I love, love love my new MacBook Air, but it only just dawned on me that it doesn’t have a DVD drive. Do I need to buy another piece of hardware to play/open a DVD?
Mac Disc Drive Not Working
Hi Caitlin! Apple does, indeed, sell a so-called “SuperDrive” ($80) that’ll connect to your Air’s USB port, and there are also several third-party gadget manufacturers that offer MacBook-compatible CD/DVD optical drives for as little as $50.
Every Mac-formatted ZIP disk has a copy of the 'on-disk driver' on it. When you boot with the option key held down, this instructs the Mac to 'scan all connected drives' to look for bootable copies of the OS. Even though the ZIP disk doesn't have a copy of the OS on it, the Mac should scan the USB bus, and load the on-disk driver.
You can share a DVD drive on a Mac or PC with an optical drive-less Mac thanks to the Remote Disc feature.
But here’s the thing: you don’t necessarily need to cough up more money just to access the occasional DVD- or CD-ROM.
Cd Driver For Mac Pro
The MacBook Air (as well as other optical drive-less Macs, such as the Mac Mini and the new “retina” MacBooks) comes with a feature called “Remote Disc,” which lets you wirelessly borrow the optical drive of almost any nearby Mac or PC.
If you want to share a Mac’s DVD drive, all you need to do is tweak a few settings. On the Windows side, you’ll need to download a small (and free) utility; once that’s done, though, the process is almost exactly the same as it is on a Mac.
It’s a nifty, money-saving feature, but there are a few of downsides:
So, ready to open a DVD with Remote Disc? Let’s get started…
Install Disc For Mac
Just open the Sharing preferences panel to share your Mac’s DVD drive.
![]() With two Macs:
Yep, the Mac’s Remote Disc feature works on Windows PCs, too.
With a Mac and a PC:
Disc Drives For Mac Mini
Looking for more Mac tips? Click here!
Disc Drives For Macbook AirRelated posts:Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |