Copy DVD onto Laptop with no DVD Drive?

Infopackets Reader 'Fran' writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I have 2 Dell Inspiron laptops. One has a DVD drive and the other does not. I want to move a program that came on a DVD to the laptop that can't read DVDs. Can this be done, and if so, what is the easiest way? I have thought of copying the DVD to a stick and installing it that way. Would it work? "

My Response:

DVDs can be single or dual layer -- the difference being the single layer can store 4.7GB and the double layer twice that (at 9.4GB). That said, the majority of DVDs I've come across for the PC are single layer.

To answer your question, yes, you can transfer the DVD contents over to a USB memory drive providing that it has a large enough capacity.

Copy DVD into .ISO and Mount Image

Another suggestion would be to copy the DVD into a single .ISO image file and then transfer it over the network (assuming your two laptops share a network). A program such as CDBurnerXP can convert the DVD into an .ISO file and is free:

http://cdburnerxp.se/

Once the file is copied over to the other laptop, you could make a mount the image / make a virtual DVD drive using Daemon Tools. This would make the .ISO file appear as if it was a real DVD drive inside your computer -- a very convenient tool to use. Note: last I checked, Daemon Tools LITE was free for non-commercial use, although there is a Buy Now button on the page -- just click the download button and you should be good to go.

http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/downloads/dtLite