I need to be able to view a DVD on a PC laptop, (Win 10) which has no drive. I have an Apple external DVD drive but am cautious about connecting it before I know about compatibility, additional drivers needed, etc. Can anyone tell me if the drive can be made to work, and what additional software, if any, I need?
You're not going to damage your laptop by connecting the Apple DVD drive to it. Windows is programmed to recognize USB-connected optical drives, so the Apple drive should show up in the list of Devices and Drives. Keep in mind that Windows 10 didn't ship with a DVD player program, so you'll need to get the software to watch DVD content. There are third-party software products to check out, but most include a suite of additional programs to burn DVDs, edit video, audio, and photo files, etc. If your primary interest is playing DVDs, you can purchase the Windows DVD Player app from the Microsoft store. A web search will provide a number of free apps, but some of them come with add-on bloatware that downloads in the background. You can try blocking the app from having internet access with your firewall settings, but that might prevent the program from functioning as designed. Research the user feedback for any free app in advance, before downloading one.
I should have mentioned using the free app "VLC Player," which can be found here. For some time, it has been a reliable option for media playback on both the Mac and PC platforms, with versions for both.
Apple external DVD player with PC
