Installing

Having noticed the lack of a CD or DVD drive you might be wondering how to install software on your netbook. As previously mentioned on this site, you could certainly purchase a CD or DVD drive that will connect to one of the USB ports on your netbook. Make sure to check out the vendors advertised on this page if that's what you wish to do.

A different approach is to use image files of CDs or DVDs and convince your netbook that it has an optical drive when it actually doesn't. I recommend using a free program called Alcohol 52% though similar programs such as Virtual Clone Drive will also work assuming you already have image files of the software you want to install. You will have to install Alcohol 52% on both your netbook as well as a desktop computer that has it's own optical drive. Take the CD or DVD that contains the software you want to install on your netbook and insert it in the optical drive of the desktop. Use Alcohol 52%'s image making wizard to create an image file of the CD or DVD.

Once you have the image file, you need to get it on to your netbook. You can transfer the image file on to an SD card or USB memory stick and then from there on to your netbook. Alternatively, you can use Windows' file and printer sharing and transfer the file over your home network.

Once the image file is on your netbook, use Alcohol 52% to mount the image on the virtual drive Alcohol 52% created when it was installed. Voila! Your netbook thinks it has an optical drive and that you just put a disc in it.