I recently purchased a Lenovo x41 that does not come with an optical drive at
all. I have a couple programs that I need to install, and I'm wondering if
there is any way to do so without buying an optical drive?

pjsfoda wrote:
> I recently purchased a Lenovo x41 that does not come with an optical drive at
> all. I have a couple programs that I need to install, and I'm wondering if
> there is any way to do so without buying an optical drive?

I've had no problems installing most software either from SD card, USB
hard drive, or USB thumbdrive, but I almost always install from a
network file share. Maybe you can copy the CDROM contents to one of
those (using another PC) and install from there?

In addition to what has been mentioned, guessing you have a home network (or
one available at work), you can sometimes share a CD/DVD ROM on another
computer and install from the remote location (depending on the program).
Otherwise, you can use that drive to copy the entire contents to your hard
drive on the Tablet PC.
--
Chris H.
Microsoft Windows MVP/Tablet PC
Tablet Creations - http://nicecreations.us/
http://forums.mobilepcworld.net
Associate Expert
Expert Zone - www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone

"pjsfoda" <pjsfoda@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7C88E66C-40B3-49A5-8444-D76A33D8F0B4@microsoft.com...
>I recently purchased a Lenovo x41 that does not come with an optical drive
>at
> all. I have a couple programs that I need to install, and I'm wondering if
> there is any way to do so without buying an optical drive?

Many people, particularly those with Tablet PCs, have a USB optical drive.
Ask around and you may be able to borrow one.

"pjsfoda" <pjsfoda@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7C88E66C-40B3-49A5-8444-D76A33D8F0B4@microsoft.com...
>I recently purchased a Lenovo x41 that does not come with an optical drive
>at
> all. I have a couple programs that I need to install, and I'm wondering if
> there is any way to do so without buying an optical drive?

Chris H wrote:
> In addition to what has been mentioned, guessing you have a home network
> (or one available at work), you can sometimes share a CD/DVD ROM on
> another computer and install from the remote location (depending on the
> program). Otherwise, you can use that drive to copy the entire contents
> to your hard drive on the Tablet PC.

Even with no home network installed (hard to imagine!) it is still
relatively easy to temporarily peer network either with wired or
wireless networking.

Without knowing exactly what the OP is trying to install, or the file
sizes involved, there are other ways of working this.

Email - sometimes installation files, even though they are on CDROM,
aren't particularly large. Gmail now has a 20MB file limit, you could
email installation files up to that size easily, though you may need to
zip up directory contents and rename some filetypes. Just send yourself
a gmail from one PC and download from the tablet.

For larger files are some of the online temporary file storage services
- filebucket and the like (they delete the files after a few days), or
even the services that offer storage as part of other services. Desktop
on Demand is great, even if you never use the remote desktop you get
1GB of storage free, Openomy is also excellent. I use both extensively.

Also a list of several services that will let you send large files:
http://www.email-unlimited.com/stuff...huge-files.htm

There really are a zillion different ways to do this, and none of them
require an optical drive on the tablet.

As others have said, you can use a USB thumb drive or memory card to install
most programs, or network another computer.

However, an external USB CD drive will be needed for some programs, mainly
those that need more than one CD to install, such as Microsoft Streets &
Trips. You may also want one for burning disks.

Keep your eyes peeled for a cheap drive, or go to www.newegg.com and look
for one there.

While it's usually a simple matter to borrow one, at least once or twice, I
highly recommend you buy your own, for a variety of reasons.

CS

"pjsfoda" <pjsfoda@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7C88E66C-40B3-49A5-8444-D76A33D8F0B4@microsoft.com...
>I recently purchased a Lenovo x41 that does not come with an optical drive
>at
> all. I have a couple programs that I need to install, and I'm wondering if
> there is any way to do so without buying an optical drive?