Installing applications without optical drive.

I just replaced my old Mac Mini (old one is dead) with a new one. The new one does not have an optical drive. I have several applications on CD/DVD disks I would like to install.
Two questions.
1) Short of purchasing an external optical drive is there a good method of installing these apps?
2) Any suggestions on an external DVD drive? I have read that the Mac Mini cannot supply the power (via the PCI bus) needed for apples external super drive.

First off which App's, many older ones are no longer compatible with Lion?
See > App Compatibility Table - RoaringApps
Second, you will need either a USB or FireWire 800 External DVD Drive.
I have Mac compatible LG GE24LU20 USB Optical Drive and it works great with my iMac and Mac Mini.
LG GE24LU20 Optical Drives - 24x External Super-Multi DVD Rewriter - LG Electronics US
There are other USB Optical Drives on the market, but you need to look closely at the spec's to be sure that they are OS X compatible.
Then there are FireWire Optical Drives from OWC and Lacie, but you needs to besure that they are FireWire 800 so that you do not end up having to spring for a FireWire 400 to 800 adapter or cable.
SuperDrive DVD, DVD Dual-Layer, CD-R/RW, Blu-Ray Optical Drive Solutions FireWire, USB2, eSATA
LaCie - Desktop DVD±RW Drives: FireWire & USB 2.0

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Can I install Windows without optical Driver

Hi!
I have a Macbook pro Early 2008 - MB134LL/A but its optical driver cannot read any disc. Now I want to install Windows via BootCamp but it cannot. Anybody know how can I install Windows without optical Driver? I tried to boot by USBflash, USB DVD Driver but it cannot boot.
I think that does external optical drivers via firewire work?
Thanks alot!

Thank you for your reply, and the information. This is what I came up with:
I added the strings as instructed, however when I went to sign the script in terminal, I was told:
/Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app: replacing existing signature
/Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app: code object is not signed at all
In subcomponent: /Applications/Utilities/Boot Camp Assistant.app/Contents/info.plist
Also, here are screen captures of the lines that I added. Mine are the top string entries:
Thank you for your help, thus far!

Installing Software without Optical Drive

I just bought a new Mac Book and I want to uninstall my CS4 off my old laptop and download it to my new laptop. One problem, no optical drive. Is there somewhere online I can enter my licens information and download it directly to my computer?

Use this method:
Direct Download Links for Adobe Software
Follow the isntructions precisely...
Mylenium

Per Adobe website, a download for Acrobat 9 for Mac is "not available." What alternative does Adobe offer to those who have bought and paid for Acrobat and now have computers without optical drive to install that previously purchased software? Buy a PC? B

Per Adobe website, a download for Acrobat 9 for Mac is "not available." What alternative does Adobe offer to those who have bought and paid for Acrobat and now have computers without optical drive to install that previously purchased software? Buy a PC? Buy an external CD drive? Is the answer really "too bad"?

Acrobat 9 for Mac can be downloaded from
Download Adobe CS5 Free Trials – All Direct Links without Akamai | ProDesignTools
Follow the Very Important Instructions on that page first BEFORE you click the download link.

IMac G5 education without optical drive, what can I do?

I've just bought on ebay an iMac G5 1,6 Ghz (without isight) with the motherboard dead. It is very easy to open.
What was my surprise to see that there was no optical drive...In fact, it could receive one : the slot is there, the IDE cable too, the sloat-loading hole too, but...it is impossible to introduce any CD or DVD because there is a plastic and metallic band all around that makes it impossible....
As I didn't understand, I made a research on the web anf found out the answer....Incerdible! I didn't know that Apple had made an iMac G5 model for education, without optical drive : from outside, impossible to distinguish it, but when you try to introduce a CD or DVD in the slot, you can't!
So the only solution is to buy an external firewire drive?
I tried to see if it was possible to put out the metallic band to free the access for one CD, but it seems impossible! The metallic piece is riveted, or something like that....
Does anyone has tried something?
Thanks, I apologize if my english is not very good

I've just bought on ebay an iMac G5 1,6 Ghz (without isight) with the motherboard dead.
I assume you managed to fix that "motherboard dead" problem, since there would be no point in installing an optical drive in a Mac that does not work.
If you can't get the slot open because it is intentionally closed, maybe you can get an external optical drive and stick something else into that internal space. For example, will it fit a 2.5-inch (laptop size) IDE hard drive for additional internal storage? Or you can get an IDE-to-compact-flash adapter card and give your iMac a solid state flash drive (like MacBook Air); CF cards are getting pretty cheap, even at the 16GB size, and you can get even larger ones for a higher price. Maybe you can even boot from it.
Just some ideas...

Installation of Master Collection CS3 (disc version for Windows) on a laptop without optical drive

Installation of Master Collection CS3 (disc version for Windows) - is there any possibility of installing my legitimately purchased MC-CS3 on a new laptop without optical drive? Perhaps through a download link or will tranfering all Adobe files from my old to my new computer do the trick as well? Or do I necessarily have to buy an external optical drive? Thank you for answering.

No need to buy an optical drive and don't try transferring, it rarely works.
Download the installer from Download CS3 products
Install then enter your serial number to license it.

Windows 7 won't boot without optical drive (SSD, Dual HD)

I recently purchased an SSD and an optical drive HD caddy so I could use two HDs on my macbook pro. I installed the SSD in the normal HD slot in order to install Windows via optical drive. When I move my SSD over to the optical drive slot, Windows hangs on a black screen before the Windows logo and never boots. I tried moving the SSD back to the main HD slot but without the optical drive installed, the same symptoms occur - no boot. This leads me to believe that Windows will not boot without the optical drive (which was present during installation).
Perhaps this is a problem with primary/slave drive settings? I learned today that the intel chipsets in macbooks do not have BIOS for Windows and do not allow you to access the EFI. Not sure if that would help anyways.
Has anyone experienced this and/or have a solution?

I am suffering the same issue. Macbook pro 15 inch late 2009 with 8gig ram. I have a 256gb ssd newly installed, a dead superdrive (thanks a bunch for the drop in build quality without the drop in price apple) and an optibay caddy which i intend on having my 500gb 7200rpm previous HDD installed in. I had the normal annoying issues trying to get bootcamp working with an external optical drive. I then had the bright idea of taking my external optical drive case apart and discovered its a sata drive with a sata to usb convertor attached. Got bootcamp/win7 installed fine using the superdrives sata connector with the optical drive (essentially having a temporary internal optical drive again).
OSX and windows function fine as long as the optical drive stays connected. There does not need to be a disc in the drive, i thought windows might be getting boot info from the win disc. Osx boots fine if its just the ssd. Windows hangs with a white screen right at the beginning. Also doesnt boot using boot menu via alt key. Nor using the reEFIt boot menu (installed later now deleted).
Disk utility says it cannot repair the windows partition and says to back up the data and reformat the drive. This also happens if i use a normal sata drive. I am attempting a few more ideas but at this rate i will be virtual machining windows instead. Far from ideal but seeing as my windows pc is now officially no more and there are two pc only programs i need to use for university i dont have much choice i NEED windows. Anyone got a bright idea that may help?

How do I install Tiger without DVD drive?

How do I install Tiger without DVD drive on a Powerbook?
My Powerbook had some problems recently, the HDD and the Superdrive where gone. I replaced the HD but can not get Tiger installed here because the DVD drive isn't working. I boot right now from a FW HD. Any Ideas how to install the OS on the internal drive?
Any ideas would be apreciated.

See Option 2 in
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304129> or Option 1 in
<http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303028>
It has worked for at least one person:
"Kenichi Watanabe
Posts: 853
Registered: 2-Sep-2003
Re: Using DVD drive in iMac G4 for iMac G3 in Target Disk Mode-->won't read DVD
Posted: 26-Oct-2006 4:37 PM in response to: AJ Nealey
Reply Email
I just tried it between a Power Mac G5 and a PowerBook G3 (Pismo) and it worked. The G5 was Mac in Firewire Target Disk Mode. I started the G5 with the T with no DVD in the drive. I started up the G3, and the G5's hard drive appeared on the G3's desktop. I pushed the eject key (on the G5 keyboard) and the SuperDrive opened. I put in a DVD (the Tiger installation disk) and closed the SuperDrive. The DVD appeared on the G3's desktop. I restarted the G3 with the Option key held down, and the DVD in the G5 appeared as a valid startup choice."

Installing a second optical drive....problem!

I've installed a second optical drive in my Mac Pro and when I go to system profiler it is not seeing any of the drives! The original one will show if I disconnect the new one.
Any advice please?

Hi,
make sure that the second optical is jumpered (somewhere on the back) to 'Cable-Select', not 'Master' nor 'Slave'.
There must be a sticker on the top of the drive showing you how to change the jumper.
Most Optical drives in the market nowadays come with the jumper set to 'Master'.
Regards
Stefan

Already i download driver for install the windows, i can get the drivers but i can't install windows, how i can install windows without downloads driver again

already i download driver for install the windows, i can get the drivers but i can't install windows, how i can install windows without download driver again

This seems to be a commercial product. For the best chance at finding a solution I would suggest posting in the forum for HP Business Support!
You can find the Commercial Laserjet board here:
http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Printers-LaserJet/bd-p/bsc-413
Best of Luck!
You can say thanks by clicking the Kudos Star in my post. If my post resolves your problem, please mark it as Accepted Solution so others can benefit too.

How to install Windows 8.1 without optical drive

I just got a ZBook 14 which was preinstalled with Windows 7. I want to use Windows 8.1 Pro which was alsp delivered on DVDs in the packages. However, this machine does not come with an optical drive. How can I install Windows 8.1 on this machine?
Thanks

Excuse me for being blunt but that is simply b***hit. Windows 8.1 comes delivered with the machine which is brand new and any reasonably new PC is fully capable of running Windows 8.x. The question was just how I was supposed to load it onto the machine as it lacks an optical drive. I suggest you do not give advice unless you know what you are talking about.
For all others thatwant to the same thing.
1. Make a copy of the Windows 8.1 DVD that comes shipped with the machine. See the following guide http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/
2. Set Boot mode in BIOS to UEFI instead of legacy BIOS.
3. Boot from the USB stick and install Windows 8.1, wipe all existing partitions. Please note that this will effectively remove any possibility to revert to Windows 7 by using the recovery partition but since Windows 7 DVDs are also delivered you can use the same procedure as above to install that. I guess that boot mode in this case should be set to legacy instead of UEFI.
Of course, you do the above at your own risk but it has worked successfully for me. You could copy the content of the Application and Driver Recovert DVD for Windows 8.1 to a USB stick as well and install that afterwards.

How to install OS/reset password without optical drive?

I was given a white G3 recently, 900 MHz 1 GB of RAM, pretty decent for as old as it is, only problem is that it doesn't have an optical drive. All of the user accounts have passwords and I can't use a disc to do a clean install or reset passwords. Any clue on how to do do anything without a disc? The closest thing I have to an external optical drive is an IDE drive with an IDE to USB adapter, but it doesn't recognize that on boot. I have an external hard drive if I can somehow mount an image on that. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

How to share cd/dvd:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-10427176-263.html
& on the computer with the cd/dvd:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1777?viewlocale=en_US
Change Password
Mac OS X:
Changing or resetting an account password via GUI:
Resetting a user's password
Resetting the original administrator account password
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106156
You do not have a CD/DVD
Changing password from single user mode:
You can also change the administrator's password from single user mode or create a new administrator account.
You need to get into single use mode for steps one and two that are listed below.
This page will tell you how to get into single user mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492
Basically, you hold down the command-s key then powering on your machine. The command key has a little apple symbol on the lower left. It is between the alt/option key and the space bar. On a PC keyboard, it will be the windows key, I think.
1) You can change the password on an account. ( Do you know Unix. You are in a Unix single user console. ) The setup commands you need should be listed on the screen. For Mac OS 10.4.11, the commands are:
# Type the follow two instructions to access the startup disk in read/write:
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
# Start up some utility processes that are needed.
sh /etc/rc
# You will probably need to press the return key once the system stops typing.
# To find out the users on the system type, use the list command. The l is a lower case L:
ls /Users
# One of these accounts will be the administrator.
# Pick one of the users which I'll call a-user-name and type it in this command:
passwd a-user-name
# and enter the new user password. You need six characters.
# You will need to enter your password twice. Your typing will not show up on the screen just
# press enter when you complete the typing.
# For cryptic information on these commands try:
man ls
man passwd
The root account isn't enabled by default. I am not sure if changing the password on root will enable it.
2) Get the Mac to set up an additional administrative account. You can then change the password on your old account.
Start with your computer power off. Hold down command-s. Power on your computer.
Type in the following:
The first two commands will depend on your release of Mac OS X. Look at what is typed out in the console to determine the exact format.
# Type the follow two instructions to access the startup disk in read/write. Press return after each command.
/sbin/fsck -fy
/sbin/mount -uw /
cd /var/db
pwd
#List all files. The l is a lower case L.
ls -a
#The move command acts as a rename command in this format.
mv -i .applesetupdone .applesetupdone.old
reboot
Once you've done that the computer reboots and it's like the first time you used the machine. Your old accounts are all safe. From there you just change all other account passwords in the account preferences!!
Limnos adds detailed explainations:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8441597#8441597
The above the idea came from a post by JoseAranda at September 9, 2006 3:48 AM
http://www.askdavetaylor.com/howdo_i_reset_my_mac_os_x_admin_rootpassword.html
You will need to scroll down to see this post. Search for applesetupdone
Once you have a new administrative account, you can change the password of your old administrative account
blue apple > System Preferences > Accounts
• You can see that it is easy to change your administrator password. You can set a firmware password that you enter before your machine will boot.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1352
• For the best data security, you should use FileVault. Create a good logon password. Define and use a good backup plan. I do not recommend using FileVault unless you really need the security because it is much harder to recover your data should you have a hard drive problem and you do not have your data backed up.

Install windows 8.1 without optical drive?

Hello,
Just bought windows 8.1 and i wanna bootcamp it. I have no optical drive on my mac. Where do i get an iso file on windows 8.1?

Excuse me for being blunt but that is simply b***hit. Windows 8.1 comes delivered with the machine which is brand new and any reasonably new PC is fully capable of running Windows 8.x. The question was just how I was supposed to load it onto the machine as it lacks an optical drive. I suggest you do not give advice unless you know what you are talking about.
For all others thatwant to the same thing.
1. Make a copy of the Windows 8.1 DVD that comes shipped with the machine. See the following guide http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/
2. Set Boot mode in BIOS to UEFI instead of legacy BIOS.
3. Boot from the USB stick and install Windows 8.1, wipe all existing partitions. Please note that this will effectively remove any possibility to revert to Windows 7 by using the recovery partition but since Windows 7 DVDs are also delivered you can use the same procedure as above to install that. I guess that boot mode in this case should be set to legacy instead of UEFI.
Of course, you do the above at your own risk but it has worked successfully for me. You could copy the content of the Application and Driver Recovert DVD for Windows 8.1 to a USB stick as well and install that afterwards.

Install without optical drive

How can I install software without having an optical drive on my MacBook Air?

If you're talking about the current version, you can download the trial and enter your serial number into that. For older versions, one way would be to copy the contents of your discs to something like a thumb drive and use that instead. If you're near an apple store they'll sometimes let you do this there, using an external disc drive.

Install windows on iMac Late 2009 without Optical drive

Hi, i have an iMac 27 i5 11.1 where i want to install windows 7 (or 8). I already did it 2 years ago without problems, but in the mean time i formatted the drive and my optical drive stopped working so i replaced it with an ssd.
I'm trying to install windows but i don't know how without a superdrive. I tried with an external usb dvd drive and it didn't work (you can't install windows from a non apple dvd drive, it is a known problem) but it don't work, so i tried to create an usb installation key of windows with microsoft official tool and also with boot camp tool, both doesn't work (when i select them on the boot i get an apple alternated with a prohibition mark and a folder with a question mark, exactly as with the dvd drive). So i thought that maybe if i can install windows on an external drive and boot it from there i will be able to launch the install directly from windows skipping the problem, but you can't install windows on an external drive..
I'm running out of ideas, someone can help me installing windows on my imac? thanks in advance

emanuelefromrescaldina wrote:
Csound1 wrote:
You can't install Windows on your machine as it stands.
There is your answer, now stop stressing and move on without it.
Sure, good answers.
Apple doesn't want to = You can't
Apple doesn't let you = You shouldn't
Too bad i made it. So it is possible, even if you and apple said it's not.
I installed virtualbox, created a virtual machine with the full disk access, started installing windows, when the copy of the files ended and the vm was rebooting i simply closed it and rebooted my imac and finished the installation directly on the imac, everything went well...
Luckily i didn't take apple's word as a written law and i use my own brain..
If you had posted in a Virtual Machine forum, or asked if you could install Windows using other than Bootcamp Assistant then someone would have advised you to use a Virtual Machine like Parallels, Fusion, or VirtualBox. But you posted in the Bootcamp forum so we assumed you wanted to create and use a Bootcamp partition.
So the answers provided you, based on your questions in this Bootcamp forum were spot on and appropriate.

Installing applications without optical drive.

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