The original idea to create an exact copy of a CD-ROM disc and
place the data into a file which can be stored on a hard drive or USB
flash drive was a great invention. This made it possible to store
collections or backups of your important optical media in one location.
These files, which can also store a copy of DVD or Blu-ray media as
well, are more commonly known as ISO images. Even Microsoft these days
utilizes ISO image files and some versions of Windows are distributed as an ISO.
ISO image files can easily be created, all you need is an optical drive and a real optical disc, alternatively they can be downloaded from many sources on the internet. Once you have the file stored on your computer, there’s several things you can do with it. The ISO can be burned to a new CD or DVD to create a copy of the original disc, it can also be written to a USB flash drive to install something like Windows or Linux more rapidly. Another option is using software to make the ISO image behave like a real disc, this allows you to install apps and games or read the disc just like if it was physically inserted into your computer.
The software to use is known as virtual drive software because the drive isn’t real and it just emulates a real optical drive, the the ISO image is then mounted to the virtual drive to create a virtual disc. Here we list 10 free virtual drive emulators that you can use to mount ISO images so they behave like real discs.
1. Microsoft Virtual CDRom Control Panel
Although
Virtual CDRom Control Panel dates back to 2001, Microsoft re-released
it in 2013 with a new webpage and an announcement that the program does
actually run on XP, Vista and 7 despite its age, but Microsoft
themselves offer absolutely no support for it. What we like about this
tool is it doesn’t require installation to mount ISO images and the
whole package is under 60KB in size consisting of only a driver file,
executable and a Readme file. It isn’t as intuitive and easy to use as
some other tools and requires some manual work to install the driver, so
make sure to read the Readme.txt carefully.
2. DVDFab Virtual Drive
This is a useful addition to the DVDFab range of tools that specialize in video ripping, conversion and playing. Virtual Drive is like a simplified version of Daemon Tools but has some nice advantages like support for up to 18 virtual disks, mounting a Blu-Ray ISO image or folder so it can be played in PowerDVD, and no adware/media tools offered during the install process. Although it doesn’t say on the website CD ISO images are supported, they work fine. DVDFab Virtual Drive supports mounting 8 types of disc image and can also create the newer .Miniso Blu-Ray format ISO images. It works on windows XP and above.
3. WinCDEmu
Mounting an ISO image file using WinCDEmu is really easy. Just install and all you need to do is to double click on the ISO image file to automatically mount it to a drive letter. If you want to unmount, just right click on the drive and select Eject. WinCDEmu has a simple option to create an ISO from a CD/DVD or Blu-Ray disc, just right click on the drive in Windows Explorer and Choose to Create ISO Image. A useful option for administrators is the requirement for admin rights to mount an ISO image. A portable WinCDEmu is also available but isn’t quite as up to date as the setup installer version. There is support for XP to Windows 7 including 64-bit, Windows 8/8.1 is not listed but works fine.
4. Virtual CloneDrive
Virtual CloneDrive is very simple to use, supports a number of different image file formats to mount a virtual disc, and allows up to 8 virtual drives at the same time. While there are no extra or advanced options available like creating or burning an ISO etc, which can be found in some other software, usage is as easy as double clicking on an ISO image file to auto mount it as a drive or right clicking on the tray icon. This is just a simple, no frills, light on resources and effective image mounting utility that does its job well. Supports from Windows 98 up to Windows 8/8.1 64-bit.
5. MagicDisc
MagicDisc is created by the same developer as the popular MagicISO image creation software. It can mount a wide range of CD/DVD image formats and can also create a CD/DVD image from disc. The program has no GUI and works entirely from the right click context menu found on the system tray icon. It supports just about everything from Windows 98 up to Windows 8. Make sure you download the correct version as there are 5 different ones available! One for 98, 2000 and ME, one for Windows 7 (x86 and x64), another for Windows 8 (x86 and x64), and separate 32-bit and 64-bit versions for XP, 2003, 2008 and Vista.
ISO image files can easily be created, all you need is an optical drive and a real optical disc, alternatively they can be downloaded from many sources on the internet. Once you have the file stored on your computer, there’s several things you can do with it. The ISO can be burned to a new CD or DVD to create a copy of the original disc, it can also be written to a USB flash drive to install something like Windows or Linux more rapidly. Another option is using software to make the ISO image behave like a real disc, this allows you to install apps and games or read the disc just like if it was physically inserted into your computer.
The software to use is known as virtual drive software because the drive isn’t real and it just emulates a real optical drive, the the ISO image is then mounted to the virtual drive to create a virtual disc. Here we list 10 free virtual drive emulators that you can use to mount ISO images so they behave like real discs.
1. Microsoft Virtual CDRom Control Panel
2. DVDFab Virtual Drive
This is a useful addition to the DVDFab range of tools that specialize in video ripping, conversion and playing. Virtual Drive is like a simplified version of Daemon Tools but has some nice advantages like support for up to 18 virtual disks, mounting a Blu-Ray ISO image or folder so it can be played in PowerDVD, and no adware/media tools offered during the install process. Although it doesn’t say on the website CD ISO images are supported, they work fine. DVDFab Virtual Drive supports mounting 8 types of disc image and can also create the newer .Miniso Blu-Ray format ISO images. It works on windows XP and above.
3. WinCDEmu
Mounting an ISO image file using WinCDEmu is really easy. Just install and all you need to do is to double click on the ISO image file to automatically mount it to a drive letter. If you want to unmount, just right click on the drive and select Eject. WinCDEmu has a simple option to create an ISO from a CD/DVD or Blu-Ray disc, just right click on the drive in Windows Explorer and Choose to Create ISO Image. A useful option for administrators is the requirement for admin rights to mount an ISO image. A portable WinCDEmu is also available but isn’t quite as up to date as the setup installer version. There is support for XP to Windows 7 including 64-bit, Windows 8/8.1 is not listed but works fine.
4. Virtual CloneDrive
Virtual CloneDrive is very simple to use, supports a number of different image file formats to mount a virtual disc, and allows up to 8 virtual drives at the same time. While there are no extra or advanced options available like creating or burning an ISO etc, which can be found in some other software, usage is as easy as double clicking on an ISO image file to auto mount it as a drive or right clicking on the tray icon. This is just a simple, no frills, light on resources and effective image mounting utility that does its job well. Supports from Windows 98 up to Windows 8/8.1 64-bit.
5. MagicDisc
MagicDisc is created by the same developer as the popular MagicISO image creation software. It can mount a wide range of CD/DVD image formats and can also create a CD/DVD image from disc. The program has no GUI and works entirely from the right click context menu found on the system tray icon. It supports just about everything from Windows 98 up to Windows 8. Make sure you download the correct version as there are 5 different ones available! One for 98, 2000 and ME, one for Windows 7 (x86 and x64), another for Windows 8 (x86 and x64), and separate 32-bit and 64-bit versions for XP, 2003, 2008 and Vista.
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