Optical drives let your computer read and interact with discs like CDs, DVDs, and Blu-rays. While nearly every computer had them a few years ago, they're rare to see on new computers now. If you ...

Got too many CDs about the place? Create a music server filled with their contents and listen to them anywhere.

You may be able to just boot from CD without doing anything. Put a bootable CD in the drive, restart the computer, and see. If it doesn't work for you, here's what to try next: ...