Cannibalisation of DVD writer to use on chromebook?

stirlinggaz · World Chat Champion Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Karma :

Hi all,
Another stupid question from a guy who grew up when the only computers around were BBC Micros solely for use by chess club members.

Take this into consideration when replying.

I have a few old broken laptops/desktops

The DVD writer from tower is desktop (so are the internal dvd drives on the laptops, they just slot in/out) can this be used in some way to.plug into my laptop which doesn't have a dvd drive?
It's only to transfer files I have on cdr's to sd cards or hdd.
I know I could buy a stand alone dvd player/writer with a USB cable intended for this purpose
But it seems a waste to chuck the one out of the desktop.
It has all the pins at rear so couldn't some sort of harness be sourced to get it powered up & get it into a usb port?
Or even doing same with the slimline versions from laptops?
It's not a question of money, I know the plug in dvd players are cheap but I'm on a recycling/upcycling mission.
Any ideas? I like a challenge especially when I'm learning something.

cheers,
GAZ

defblade · World Chat Champion Joined: 30 Apr 2009 Karma :

Is the DVD drive IDE or SATA?

(I may not be able to help beyond that, but it's definitely the first question!)
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Evil Hans · World Chat Champion Joined: 08 Nov 2015 Karma :

It can be done. Apparently.

https://youtu.be/OgrQkyAUIHw
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xX-Alex-Xx · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 Sep 2019 Karma :

Either way you're going to at least be buying a SATA to USB adapter to get the drive plugged in, and hope it can power it. If it's an IDE drive then your options will be a lot more limited.

Best option really is just to get a proper external slimline drive.
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Easy-X · Super Spammer Joined: 08 Mar 2019 Karma :

A proper slimline DVD drive... £15. Seriously not worth the effort to convert.
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Ste · Not Work Safe Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :

You can get a USB slimline DVD drive for £8.99 and you won't get an adapter cable for less than that.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/USB-External-DVD-CD-ROM-Disc-Burner-Drive-Reader-for-Windows-07-08-10-Laptop/313232205001

andym · World Chat Champion Joined: 16 Nov 2010 Karma :

dynax · Trackday Trickster Joined: 06 May 2019 Karma :

t121anf · World Chat Champion Joined: 23 Feb 2007 Karma :

People still watch DVDs?

Ste · Not Work Safe Joined: 01 Sep 2002 Karma :

bugeye_bob · World Chat Champion Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Karma :

stirlinggaz · World Chat Champion Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Karma :

Hi all,
Ordered plug in dvd rewrite.
BUT I have some software on a CD that needs windows to run ( it's a network security camera thing,)

I only need to play the CD once when setting it up, which I need to do now as I'm reinstalling it.
1: I'm guessing the cd won't upload the program on my chrome book as it doesn't run windows.
Any way round that.
2 : can I copy the programme from cd onto sd card or flash drive seeing as cd/DVD's are antiquated it seems.

cheers,
GAZ

xX-Alex-Xx · World Chat Champion Joined: 12 Sep 2019 Karma :

Windows software won’t run on chrome OS, they’re totally different. If your camera has an android app however, that will be able to install from the play store on it.

Yes you can copy the files from the cd to a flash drive etc. Just copy and paste using a file explorer.
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