networking windows 7 to xp

dadsoldtruck

New Member
My husband just bought a new laptop yesterday but laptops don't come with cd drives anymore... so now the question is can we network his windows 7 laptop with my xp tower and use my cd/dvd drive? And if we can how do I do it?

Thanks so much
 
Laptops do still come with drives, although some don't (like netbooks). I would recommend getting an external cd/dvd drive just to make life a little easier. If you wanted though, you could make a disc image on the computer with a drive and then transfer it to the laptop and mount it as a virtual drive. As for just networking them and then using it... I don't think that's possible.
 
ya I'm just wondering if I can use the cd drive on my tower through the network. I was able to have his computer find the tower and access file I give him permission to... but when I click the cd drive from his computer it says I didn't give him permission even though I did.
 
You can. that's how it is at my house. You just make the device "Shared" under the drive properties.

Just checked it out. Didn't realize you could do this. Totally just made my life easier. On Windows 7 right click the drive and say Share With -> Advanced Sharing. Once the window opens click Advanced Sharing... then check the box and give it the correct settings. Sorry for providing inaccurate info.
 
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