virtual emulator. How a virtual hard disk and virtual CD-ROM are created

Last week we asked you to share your favorite disk image tools, then we rounded up the five most popular responses for a vote. Now we're back to highlight your favorite. DAEMON Tools led the pack by a comfortable margin with 40% of the vote.

Softpedia.com DAEMON Tools Lite is a software solution that will impress you, especially thanks to its advanced features that can deal with virtually all image formats on the market. Reliable application that creates virtual drives on your computer, providing you with the possiblity to emulate CDs and DVDs for instant access.

PCWorld.com If you spend a lot of time swapping and hence waiting on CDs or DVDs to mount, Daemon Tools Lite is worth its weight in gold. Even if you don "t, it" s a program you should download to keep in your bag of tricks--you "ll find a use for it eventually.

Download.com The advantage is that you can burn the images you"re using with DAEMON Tools Lite right away or just test an image before burning it to see if it was created correctly. DAEMON Tools Lite works with most image formats.

Filecluster.com Pros
- Small and highly stable program.
- Low resource requirements.
- Simple and functional interface...

Software.Informer.com DAEMON Tools Lite manages to be more comprehensive and feature-rich than many of its competitors. And that "s quite remarkable, especially considering that DAEMON Tools Lite is free while many of its competitors are not.

downloads.tomsguide.com As a disc imaging tool, Daemon Tools Lite's free nature automatically makes it a lot better than many competing applications simply because it offers most of what they offer at the vastly reduced price of free.

www.techadvisor.co.uk When you have a disc that you know you"ll need to access regularly, then, DAEMON Tools Lite allows you to create an image in just a couple of clicks. This then shows up in its Image Catalog for speedy reloading later, and you can put the real disc away.

techgyd.com Daemon Tools Lite is one of the best software for emulating and organizing your disc images. The software is very easy to use and fulfills all your disc related requirements. The virtual drives support is amazing.

maddownload.com If you are looking for the best software to work with ISO, MDX, MDS, and MDX files? Well, you have come to the right place. DAEMON Tools Lite is an easy and ready to use downloadable software compatible with Windows. It is well known reputable software that gives you the power of having a DVD-ROM emulator right into the comfort of your own home.

GIGA.de Mit dem Daemon Tools Lite Download könnt ihr virtuelle Images erstellen, speichern und einbinden sowie virtuelle Laufwerke emulieren.

Good day everyone!

Ordinary CD/DVDs, no matter how sad it may be, are losing their popularity year by year (they used to be sold at every corner ☻). Still, the development of network technologies is doing its job ...

Meanwhile, there is another side of the coin - the so-called virtual disks - a single file(s) made from an exact copy of a physical CD/DVD. They are also called images. The most popular image formats are: ISO, BIN, MDS/MDF, NRG, CCD. By the way, now a lot of files are transferred over the network in images (for example, even to create a bootable USB flash drive with Windows, you must first download the installation image with the system from the Microsoft website).

You can’t open such an image just like that, you need (you guessed it) a special virtual drive (or drive. Also called CD/DVD emulators).

In general, I decided to build this article in the form of questions and answers on working with images (of which there are always a lot). Along the way, I will present programs that best cope with the task. I think it will be easier to present the basics for an inexperienced reader. And so, let's get started...

The most popular questions about working with virtual disks

❶. How to create a virtual disk/ISO image, etc.

First of all, to get started, I recommend installing one program - Daemon Tools (Lite version, it is free and its capabilities for creating and emulating images are more than enough). And in general, in my opinion, it is one of the best (and most popular, by the way) programs for working with disk images. I definitely recommend for installation and familiarization.

Daemon Tools (Lite)

This program allows you to mount almost all types of images, and also emulates the simultaneous operation of up to 4 drives. In addition, the program allows you to burn ready-made images to physical discs, convert from one format to another, create protected images, and much more (by the way, some of the functions are paid, unfortunately). The program organizes the storage of images quite well: you can always find the right disk from your collection.

And so, let's say we have several CDs with music, games that are often used, and you are just tired of inserting them into the drive (and over time, discs deteriorate, scratch, and make noise when inserted into the drive). Therefore, it is logical, having made images of these disks once, you can use them easily and without noise.

1) First you need to insert the CD into a real physical drive.

3) After you need to specify the drive with the disk, specify the folder where the image will be saved, and the image format (in my example, I chose ISO). To start copying, press the "Start" button.

5) When the image is ready, you will see a message that the operation was successfully completed, as in the screenshot below.

In general, that's all. Now you can use this image (only you first need to create a virtual drive, more on that below).

❷. How to create a virtual CD/DVD-Rom drive/emulator

Let's use the same Daemon Tools...

First you need to run the program and click "Add drive" (in the left menu of the program).

A new drive should appear at the bottom of the window: in my case, under the letter "F: (empty)".

DAEMON Tools Lite - new drive (F:)!

❸. How to open images: ISO, MDF, NRG, etc. and run the application from them

After the virtual disk drive in Daemon Tools has been created, you can start opening and reading images in it. In general, Daemon Tools opens almost any images: ISO, BIN, MDF, NRG (even archives, 7z, rar, zip, etc.).

At the bottom of the window - left-click on the virtual drive (which we created in the previous step). See screenshot below.

DAEMON Tools Lite - first left click on the drive

If the automatic launch of CD / DVD discs is disabled for you (and nothing appeared on the screen), go to "My Computer / This Computer": among the drives there should be a virtual one, with a disk (i.e. image) that we opened.

If you are asked whether to allow this application to make changes - answer yes (at least for familiar drives ...).

❹. How to Burn an Image to a Physical CD/DVD

Daemon Tools, of course, can burn images to physical discs, but this feature is only available in the paid version of the program. Therefore, it is better to use analogues, especially since there are enough free versions in this segment.

Why not Nero? Because the Nero package is paid, it weighs several gigabytes, it is very "brake" and clumsy. Hardly many people will use at least a tenth of its functions (not to mention the fact that most just need to burn a disc and that's it ...).

CDBurnerXP

CDBurnerXP is a free CD and DVD burning software, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. The program also works great with ISO images, allowing you to not only create them, but also burn them to physical discs. The program supports dozens of languages (including Russian). Works in Windows XP/7/8/9/10.

Key features:

record data (files, documents, pictures, etc.) on any type of disk;
recording audio CDs;
creating and burning ISO images;
creation of boot (installation) disks;
BIN/NRG image converter → to ISO;
the ability to print covers.

After starting the program, press the button "Burning the ISO Image to Disc" (see screenshot below).

Then specify the ISO image to burn, the physical drive, the recording speed (highlighted in yellow in the screenshot below - by the way, do not set the highest speed, errors are possible) and click "Burn Disc". In general, this is all - in 10-15 minutes. your disc will be burned!

Burn Settings // CDBurnerXP

❺. What other programs can be used to work and read images

Alcohol 120%

Alcohol 120% is an excellent and very powerful imaging program. It does everything: creates images, mounts them into virtual drives, burns them, creates a library on your PC (for quick search and reading).

Although the program is paid, there is a free trial period of 15 days (and there is also a free version with reduced features). In general, I recommend to get acquainted!

Key features:

creation of up to 31 virtual drives;
creation of disk images (support for formats: MDF/MDS, CCD, BIN/CUE, ISO, CDI, etc.);
burning from disc images: CD, DVD and Blu-ray;
erasing discs: CD-RW, DVD-RW and BD-RE;
search and creation of a library from image files on the PC hard drive;
the presence of an audio converter for working with audio CDs.

Ultra ISO

Official site: https://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/

Very powerful program for working with ISO-images. It allows you to create them from real discs, burn them, emulate them in a virtual drive, and, most importantly, edit them on the fly. Those. you can open an ISO image, remove an unnecessary file from it (or add it) and save the image. Actually, it is done very quickly!

In addition, the program will help create a bootable (installation) disk, USB flash drive. You can also try to compress current ISO images, etc. In general, I recommend everyone who works with ISO to have it on their PC...

Burn4Free

A very reliable and simple program for working with CD/DVDs. Allows you to perform almost the entire range of tasks that may be required by the average PC user. With all this, it takes up very little space on your hard drive (several megabytes!).

Main advantages:

burning CD / DVD discs in a few mouse clicks;
the program is very light and simple, the design is made in the style of minimalism;
you can copy audio CDs of various formats (WAV, FLAC, WavPack, WMA, etc.);
support for SCSI - IDE / EIDE - SATA - USB;
Russian language support;
creating and burning ISO images;
the ability to record MP3 discs;
support for all versions of Windows: 10, 8, 7, Vista, 2008, 2003, XP, 2000, 98;
support for most drive models (more than 4000!).

In general, I’ll add on my own that this program worked even in cases where its counterparts refused to either start or see the drive. I recommend having it in your arsenal for anyone who often works with ISO or optical discs.

Virtual Clone Drive

This program is free and designed to create a virtual drive. The program is very simple and reliable. Supports up to 15 virtual drives, fully integrated into Windows Explorer for easier and faster operation.

In general, compared to many similar programs in this spectrum, it stands out noticeably. I recommend to get acquainted.

Key features:

support for all popular image formats: ISO, BIN, IMG, UDF, DVD, CCD;
emulation of up to 15 virtual drives (CD, DVD, and Blu-ray);
there is a history of using images (for faster search and reading of the desired file);
convenient embedding in the explorer (now any image can be opened with a couple of mouse clicks!).

Instruction completed...

Successful work!

Virtual disks are software emulated devices that can be used to open virtual disk images. This is sometimes called the files obtained after reading information from physical media. The following is a list of programs that allow you to emulate virtual drives and disks, as well as create and mount images.

Daemon Tools is one of the most popular programs for working with disk images and virtual drives. The software allows you to create, convert and burn files to discs, emulate drives for playing information from optical media. In addition to CD and DVD devices, the program can also create virtual hard disks.

Daemon Tools includes the TrueCrypt utility, which allows you to create encrypted, password-protected containers on your computer. This approach helps to preserve important information and protect it from intruders.

Alcohol 120%

Alcohol 120% is the main competitor of the previous reviewer. The program, like Daemon Tools, can capture images from disks, mount them in emulated drives and burn files to discs.

There are two main differences: the software allows you to create images from files and folders, but is not able to emulate an HDD.

Ashampoo Burning Studio

Ashampoo Burning Studio is a combiner for working with CDs and their images. The program is focused on converting, copying and recording audio and video to discs, creating covers for discs.

One of the key features is the ability to create archives with backup copies of files and folders, from which, if necessary, you can restore important information.

Nero

Nero is another multifunctional program for processing multimedia files. Able to burn ISO and other files to discs, convert multimedia to various formats, create covers.

A distinctive feature is the presence of a full-fledged video editor with which you can edit: cutting, applying effects, adding sound, and creating slide shows.

UltraISO

UltraISO is a program designed exclusively for working with disk images. Allows you to take images from physical media, including hard drives, convert and compress finished files.

The main task of the program is to create images from files and save them to a computer or burn them to discs or flash drives. Among other things, the program has the function of creating a virtual drive for mounting images.

PowerISO

PowerISO is a program similar in functionality to UltraISO, but with some differences. This software also knows how to create images from physical disks and files, edit ready-made ISOs, “burn” discs and emulate virtual drives.

The main difference is the grabbing function, which allows you to digitize music recorded on an audio CD with high quality and without loss.

ImgBurn

ImgBurn is a software aimed at working with images: creating, including from files on a computer, checking for errors and recording. It does not have a heap of unnecessary functions and solves only the tasks voiced above.

DVD Fab Virtual Drive

DVDFab Virtual Drive is an extremely simple program designed exclusively for creating a large number of virtual drives. It does not have a graphical interface, so all actions are performed using the context menu in the system tray.

The programs presented in this review can be divided into two parts: the first is software for working with images, the second is virtual drive emulators. As you may have noticed, most developers strive to combine both of these features in their products. Despite this, there are bright representatives in each category, for example, UtraISO is indispensable for creating and editing images, and Daemon Tools is great for emulating virtual media - CD / DVD and hard drives.

Filecluster.com Pros
- Small and highly stable program.
- Low resource requirements.
- Simple and functional interface...

GIGA.de Mit dem Daemon Tools Lite Download könnt ihr virtuelle Images erstellen, speichern und einbinden sowie virtuelle Laufwerke emulieren.

DAEMON Tools is the best program for creating virtual disks and their mounting (emulation), which significantly reduces disk space and allows you to back up all the necessary files. The main difference between this program and many others similar is that the developers of the utility put the interests of their users much higher than everything else. This is evidenced by the constant updating of versions of the program, which is becoming more and more convenient to use and universal in application. The main advantages of the utility include:
- the ability to create images (CD/DVD/Blu-ray) as a file and mount them.
- the ability to replace the physical wear of all types of discs.
- convenient and clear interface will not make absolutely anyone use the program by all categories of users.
- allows you to use all possible image formats.
- provides the ability to copy boot disks, as well as the ability to protect saved files with a password, which will ensure complete security for storing the file.
In order to be able to use the program, you need to take the following steps.
First you need to download and install the program on a personal computer:

After that, select the desired program components to use and determine the program installation folder. Installation will take a matter of minutes.

After installation, you need to run the program and select the image creation tab, after which a window will open in which you need to select the disk drive parameters, recording speed, and the location of the new disk image. Select the file for the image and its format. It is desirable to specify the maximum reading speed and, if necessary, you can specify a protection password.

At the end of the selection of parameters, you need to click on the start button and the image will be created automatically in the previously specified folder.
A fairly convenient interface and ease of use are the main advantages of this program, which is designed to greatly secure and expand the range of possibilities of your disk images up to 4 different units, which will replace the need to save disks and be afraid of their failure.