MacBook – Can a MacBook Air use another computer’s optical drive when running Windows on Boot Camp

bootcampmacbook prooptical-drivewindows

I installed boot camp on a MacBook Air by following these directions. In step 2 under "Step 4: Install the Windows Support Software", I did exactly as the guide said, and launched WindowsSupport/Boot Camp/setup.exe instead of WindowsSupport/setup.exe. I noticed that the latter has a Read Me.rtf associated with it which reads:

Double-click setup.exe, in the root level of this disc, to install the following:

• Boot Camp drivers, which allow you to use your Mac-specific hardware with Windows, including your Apple keyboard, mouse, trackpad, and built-in iSight camera. For more information on Boot Camp, see http://www.apple.com/bootcamp.

• Remote Install Mac OS X, which allows MacBook Air users on your local network to install Mac OS X using a Mac OS X installation disc in your computer's optical drive. For more information, refer to the MacBook Air User's Guide.

• DVD or CD Sharing, which allows MacBook Air users on your local network to use your computer's optical drive. For more information, refer to the MacBook Air User's Guide.

I believe that by double-clicking the setup.exe in the Boot Camp directory, the first of these bullet points was installed. The second refers to something about installing Mac OS X, which isn't relevant to me. The third bullet point sounds like the exact opposite of what I'm trying to do. I'm trying to read a DVD off another computer, not have another computer read the DVD off of mine. Therefore, I don't think that it's a problem of not installing the right drivers.

Is it possible to use the optical drive of other computers on the same network in Windows as I can do in OS X?

Best Answer

Not as seamless as OS X, but you just share the optical drive via Windows File Sharing (SMB).