Sharing discs
- How To Open Contents Of Game Cd On Mac Keyboard
- How To Open Contents Of Game Cd On Mac Laptop
- How To Open Contents Of Game Cd On Mac Computer
- How To Open Contents Of Game Cd On Mac Os
If your Mac doesn't have a built-in optical drive and you need to use a CD or DVD, you can connect an external drive like the Apple USB SuperDrive. You can also share discs from the optical drive of another Mac, or from a Windows computer that has DVD or CD Sharing Setup installed. DVD or CD sharing allows you to access documents stored on these discs, and allows you to install some software.
DVD or CD sharing isn't designed for some kinds of optical media. Connect a compatible optical drive directly to your Mac if you need to use one of these discs:
These instructions are for Mac OS. If you are using Windows, see Flash Player games, video, or audio don't work Windows. If you have problems with games, video, your webcam, or audio using Flash Player on a Mac, try one of these solutions: Solve problems with online games; Solve video and sound (audio) problems; Solve webcam problems.
- Audio CDs
- Blu-ray or DVD movies
- Copy protected discs (such as some game discs)
- Recordable CDs or DVDs that you want to burn or erase
- Microsoft Windows installation discs
If you have a Microsoft Windows install disc that you want to use with Boot Camp, you can create a disc image of this disc and copy it to a USB flash drive for installation instead.
Setting up a Mac to share discs
To share discs from a Mac that has a built-in or external optical drive, use these steps:
- On the Mac that has an optical drive, choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
- Click the Sharing icon in the System Preferences window.
- Make sure you've entered a name that you can easily recognize in the Computer Name field.
- Enable the checkbox for DVD or CD Sharing.
- You can also restrict who has access to your optical drive by selecting 'Ask me before allowing others to use my DVD drive.'
Setting up a Windows PC to share discs
To share discs from a Windows PC that has a built-in or external optical drive, use these steps:
- Download and install DVD or CD Sharing Update 1.0 for Windows.
- From Control Panel, open 'Hardware and Sound'
- Click 'DVD or CD Sharing Options.'
- Select the checkbox for DVD or CD Sharing.
- You can also restrict who has access to your optical drive by selecting 'Ask me before allowing others to use my DVD drive.'
If you're sharing discs from a Windows computer and your PC has firewall software enabled, be sure to allow access to the following programs from your firewall:
- ODSAgent
- RemoteInstallMacOSX
Use a shared DVD or CD
After you've enabled DVD or CD Sharing, you can use that computer's optical drive at any time. Insert a disc in the optical drive of the computer that's being shared. The disc should then be available on any Mac that's connected to the same network.
- On the Mac that doesn't have an optical drive, open a Finder window.
- Select Remote Disc in the Devices section of the sidebar. You should see the computer that has DVD or CD Sharing enabled.
- Double-click the computer's icon, then click Connect to see the contents of the CD or DVD available from that computer.
If you can't use a shared disc
If your Mac already has a built-in optical drive, or an external optical drive connected, you won't see the Remote Disc feature appear in the Finder or other apps.
If you're using a compatible disc and you don't see it from Remote Disc, make sure the sharing computer is turned on, is connected to the same network as your Mac, and has a compatible CD or DVD in its optical drive. If you've enabled the option to ask for permission before using the drive, click Accept on the computer that is sharing its optical drive.
When software comes on a CD or DVD and you want to install it on a MacBook Air, you can’t just pop open the disc drive or slide a disc into a slot, like you would on a computer with an optical drive. The MacBook Air forgoes the optical drive to keep it thin and small. So you have to resort to one of the following means to get your programs installed.
Use Shared Optical Drive From Another Computer
This will be different depending on what kind of computer you use as the source optical drive. If it is a Windows computer it will require setting up the optical drive (CD or DVD drive) as a shared resource in Windows. The best way to do that is open Windows Explorer and right click the drive. Choose Share With and then Advanced Sharing from the fly out menu.
In that box choose the Advanced Sharing… button and then check the top item which says “Share this folder” at the top of the resulting box. Click OK and then OK again and the drive is now shared.
Back on the MacBook Air, open Finder. Select Go from the top menu and choose Connect to Server. Or you can just press Command+K on the keyboard. In the resulting box type the following where the word COMPUTER is replaced by the name of your Windows PC and DRIVE is replaced by the shared name for your optical drive on that PC. So in the server address you type the following:
smb://COMPUTER/DRIVE
As you can see from the dialog box my computer is named Lenovo and I gave my D drive the shared name optical. So the path would be:
smb://Lenovo/optical
Now hit the Connect button and that drive will open in Finder. You can now use it as if it was attached to your computer.
If there is no Windows PC available, then this is now very easy in the most recent versions of OS X. Open System Preferences from the Apple Menu. Click on the Sharing app. The list on the left has one item called DVD or CD Sharing. Check the box next to it. For safety’s sake check the box that says “Ask me before allowing others to use my CD drive.” Now your drive should be seen by your MacBook Air.
Now from a Finder window click on the Go menu and select Network. You should see the computer’s name with the shared optical drive. You can open it from there and install the software that way.
Buy an External Optical Drive
How To Open Contents Of Game Cd On Mac Keyboard
This is the simplest solution, but will cost more money. If you don’t have another computer, it may be the only solution unless another computer is borrowed.
The key is finding a drive that is compatible with OS X and plugging it into the MacBook Air via a USB port. You can always get Apple’s MacBook Air SuperDrive. It costs $79 and only works on a Mac. Another option is to get a more generic drive that can be used on both a Windows and Mac.
When shopping just make sure it works with both Windows and Mac. One option is the LG Portable Super Multi Drive with model number GP08NU6B. We can confirm that it does work with the MacBook Air and it costs just $44.65 on Amazon, a savings of about $35 off the SuperDrive. It may not be the fastest or best drive. But since it is unlikely you will be using this drive a lot, something inexpensive like this will work fine. It connects via single USB port and gets its power via the same cable it connects with. It comes with a cable that has both a data USB connection and another USB connector for just power. But the second USB connection is not needed, which is good since the USB ports are on opposite sides of the MacBook Air and the cable will not reach to plug in both connectors.
Make a Disc Image On Another Mac
How To Open Contents Of Game Cd On Mac Laptop
If you don’t want to share over a network and don’t want to pay for an external drive, one solution could be to just make an image of the optical disc you wish to access on the MacBook Air. The following summarizes the steps from Wikihow.
On another another Mac with an optical drive, first make a new folder somewhere to store your files from the disc and then copy the files into that folder. Now right click on the folder and choose Get Info. Take note of the total size of tall the contents in the folder. You will need this info in the next step.
Now open the Disk Utility. It is in the Utilities folder of the Applications folder, or open spotlight and start typing the name till it appears. Click on New Image to make a new image. Enter the name and size from the previous step. Add a little extra room. For example if the files total 356MB, then choose something like 400MB. Set encryption to None and Format to “read/write disk image” or “DVD/CD Master”.
A newly mounted disc will appear on the desktop. Just drag the files into that image. Now you can drag that image onto a USB flash drive and use it to install the software on the MacBook Air.
Look for a Downloadable Version
Obviously, this is the simplest solution if you have Internet access and can find the software. Many applications that can be purchased on CD can also be downloaded. For example, we installed Photoshop Elements using the downloaded version from Adobe. After a few days of use we felt like it was a good solution for image editing and purchased a copy during the recent Black Friday deals. Staples had it for much less than Adobe did. So we bought the boxed disc and just used the serial number to activate the trial version downloaded from Adobe.
How To Open Contents Of Game Cd On Mac Computer
Look at the web site for the company that makes the software you wish to install and see if this is possible. One problem you might face is some companies don’t use serial numbers. They have two separate downloads – one as a trial version and one is a full version that can only be accessed after paying the company. If you have already purchased the disc see if you can take it back and buy it directly instead. Most stores will accept returns of software if it has not been opened at all. If the box has been opened you are stuck. Buying directly can sometimes cost more, but could be worth a few more dollars for the convenience of having a download to deal with.
Backup Your Software
The result of the above steps mean you will have your MacBook Air software on something other than just optical discs. It is good to backup your software and backup doesn’t mean that you have it stored in one file or disc somewhere. Backup means it has at least two different copies on at least two different storage media and in at least two different locations. Find a good online backup solution like Carbonite or DropBox and put the files there. Then put them on a good backup hard drive or flash drive as well.
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