Accessing CDs without a CD Rom drive?

[Dyne]

Hey,

I just got a laptop, and it doesn't have a CD Drive in it, as it is an ultraportable. Now, I don't want to lay down the cash for an external drive, so I was wondering what my options are when it comes to accessing CDs. This computer is hooked up on a wireless network, and has a large enough hard drive to accomodate CDs. Could I just copy over all the files on the CD to my laptop? Also, could I access the CD drive on my main computer over the network? (it's not scsi).

Here are the specs for both computers:
Main:
P4 2.26 Ghz, 512MB DDR333 RAM, GF4Ti4400, 48x TDK CDRW, 40x Pioneer Slot load, SB Audigy. Windows XP Pro

Laptop: Sony N505VE (a real dinosaur!)
Celeron 333Mhz, 64MB RAM, 2.5MB Video RAM, Windows 2000 Pro.

EDIT: (Shoot... if this isn't appropriate, would a mod move it to the drives forum? Sorry)

[Force Flow]

I believe you can set the drive as a shared drive for access over a network.

If you have enough room on your HDD for the CDs, then that shouldn't be a problem.

[ceminess]

i think force_flow2002 is right, you might need extra software, but you can set a drive as shared access over a network,

if that does not work, you could always create iso's of your cd's and get a virtual cd'rom program for your computer. sence your hard drive is big enough.

[glc]

No extra software required, just share the CD drive on the desktop and then find it in My Network Places on the laptop, and map it.