Operating systems starting from Windows 7 are equipped with a program for creating a virtual hard drive. There are no difficulties when using it, because the OS identifies such a device as a regular “hard drive”. Creating a virtual hard disk can be useful to conveniently delimit HDD space, organize file storage, and even install an operating system.
The virtual partition is created as a VHD file, after mounting (this operation can be performed without installing additional software), the system works with the image in the same way as with a regular hard drive. The closest parallel can be drawn from ISO disks, however, unlike them, it can be written to an image new information and the old one was deleted. A virtual HDD also allows you to encrypt its contents; this can be useful if unauthorized persons should not have access to the information. After installing the operating system on a virtual partition, it can be easily and quickly transferred to another computer.
Built-in program for creating a virtual disk
There are no differences in creating a virtual HDD between the seventh and eighth versions of Windows. The only innovation that has been made in Windows 8 is that mounting can be done by double-clicking on the file. In this case, you will not need to make additional settings and assign a drive letter manually.
Disk Management
To need to run special utility"Disk Management". Just click on the icon by going to the panel through the Start menu.
Creating a VHD
In the utility that opens, click on the top menu “Action”, in the list that opens, select “Create a virtual disk”. In the same list you can see the inscription “Attach virtual disk”; it will be useful if you already have a VHD file and need to read its contents.
After clicking on the item that involves creation, a wizard will open, so familiar to Microsoft products. Here you will need to choose where to save the VHD file and how much to limit it to. Also here you need to decide whether to create a partition dynamically or leave a fixed size. After clicking the “OK” button, a new disk will appear in the manager. At this time, the virtual disk creation program may begin installing additional drivers.
Initialization
In the next step, you will need to right-click on the disk that was just created and click on “Initialize”. After clicking, the program for creating a virtual disk will ask you to choose which partition table to use on the partition - GPT or MBR. If the volume size is more than two terabytes, choose the first option, if less - the second.
Creating partitions
The last stage of preparing a virtual HDD is creating partitions and connecting them to the operating system. As before, right-click on the disk and click on “Create Volume”. If you specify the size that the system recommends, the virtual disk creation program will create a partition that takes up the entire HDD space. If necessary, you can make several sections. Right there in the window you can set a letter for each.
After all operations are completed, the icon of the new hard drive will appear in the Explorer window. All operations with it can be performed exactly as if it were a physical HDD. But remember that the VHD file is actually stored on a real volume, which means all the data resides on it.
Daemon Tools
Each user has various CDs (with games, programs, video files). Any laser disk is suitable for creating its image or, in other words, a virtual disk. The image file will contain all the data on the CD. The information will be stored on the HDD. This can solve several problems - improve the longevity of the physical CD, use the disk even if the drive fails, completely reduce the noise of the real disk drive when reading data. In addition, access to information will be carried out at greater speed.
Creating an image
But to make an image, you must first download a program to create a virtual disk for Windows 7. It's called Daemon Tools and is distributed free of charge. To start the process, open the program window by clicking on the icon on the desktop or the tray icon.
Here, click on the “Create image” button, and then specify the location where it will be stored and give it a name. It is advisable to leave the type standard - ISO. Otherwise, difficulties may arise in the future when working with this image. After setting the parameters, click on the “Save” button. If it is important for you to save as much disk space as possible, check the “Compression” checkbox. Then click on “Start”, then the program for creating a virtual disk will do everything itself.
To open a virtual disk, you need to double-click on the icon of the file in which it was saved. You can go another way: open Daemon Tools, go to the “Virtual Drive” tab, and click on the “Mount” item. After this, a standard file selection dialog will open; here, indicate to the program the image that needs to be mounted.
Daemon Tools Lite This is a tool for emulating CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives, free program for reading and creating virtual images of laser optical discs. Using Daemon Tools Lite, you can create up to 4 virtual CD/DVD/Blu-ray drives in the system and you can use them like regular optical drives, with the only difference that you need to insert electronic impressions, images of optical storage media into them. The Daemon Tools Lite utility is an excellent solution for a computer that does not have a laser drive. Install Daemon Tools Lite and you will be able to create *.iso, *.mdx and *.mds disk images, as well as mount images of *.iso, *.nrg, *.cue, *.vhd, *.ccd, formats into a virtual drive. *.bwt, *.b5t, *.b6t, *.cdi, *.isz, *.dmg.
Reading images
Using a virtual disk image allows you to store information more reliably, because the disk image file cannot be scratched, and the reading speed from a virtual drive is many times higher than the reading speed of a conventional drive; moreover, when accessing a virtual drive, there is absolutely no noise that occurs when a laser disk rotates. Storing information in the form of image files on disk is also convenient, because it does not take up space on shelves. Mounting disks is possible directly from the Explorer window; the program is built into its context menu during installation. Daemon Tools Lite implements algorithms to bypass copy protection Laserlock, CDCOPS, Protect CD, SafeDisc, Securom, StarForce and others, thanks to this, you can emulate both regular and protected disks.
Screenshots of Daemon Tools Lite
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In this section of the catalog we present to you best programs for working with disks. You can download them to your PC right now and completely free. The utilities have been tested for the absence of virus code, they are safe to use and multifunctional.
Daemon Tools Lite
Despite its rather light weight, the utility has great power and a wide range of tools. With Daemon Tools Lite you can play literally all possible disk images (B5T, BWT, ISO, etc.) made by one of the copying programs. One of the features of the software is that it allows you not to use the original disk every time.
In addition, Daemon Tools Lite will allow you to run pirated copies. The program has several special modes that are necessary for the normal operation of copies of discs with an advanced level of protection (a useful option for discs with modern toys).
Among the advantages of the utility, we need to highlight a simple and intuitive interface, multilingualism, and functionality. With it, you can use any image of CD and DVD discs as if they were recorded on a disc located on the CD-ROM itself.
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Alcohol 120%
Another free and useful utility. Alcohol 120% will allow you to copy to protected and unprotected discs, burn to CD and DVD. You will be able to create exact images of the disk, and then load them into virtual drives without using physical media.
The list of program advantages includes support for literally all CD and DVD formats, as well as modern formats such as ATAPI SCSI. You can create up to 6 virtual drives, all of which support disk imaging at 200x speed. The list of possible disc formats is very extensive (CUE, CCD, MDS and many others). There are several custom image file extensions. You can create up to 31 disk images completely free of charge.
Depending on the emulator program, you can install five or six or even 10–20 virtual drives on your computer, and all this will not cost the user a penny, whereas the number of physical drives is usually limited to one or two.
Most users use CD/DVD drive emulation programs for the following purposes:
Run CD/DVD images from your hard drive without having to burn it to a physical optical disc.
- Increased data access speed (hard disk speed is much higher than optical disk).
- Backup several disk image files to a new hard drive, which is much easier than burning several new CDs/DVDs.
- Prevent CD/DVD discs from scratches or wear due to frequent use.
- Saving a copy of the optical disc to your computer's hard drive in case of damage, loss or theft.
- Freeing up work space by getting rid of large quantity physical disks.
- Launching disk images from a laptop or netbook that does not have built-in CD/DVD drives or with the drive turned off (to save battery charge).
- Providing access to the disk for users on the network.
- Disk encryption for security.
Keeping most of the above mentioned purposes in mind, all the following CD/DVD emulators are reviewed and rated according to the following parameters:
Number of available virtual drives.
- Supports ISO and other image formats.
- Possibility of creating a disk image from a CD/DVD.
- Interface and additional functions.
Review
- this wonderful product allows you to mount an ISO file (or a disk image in another format) onto a virtual drive created using this program. Once the image is mounted, it will appear in Windows Explorer as a “real” CD/DVD or hard drive.
Gizmo Drive supports up to 26 virtual drives. In addition to ISO, it works with other images, including VHD, IMG, BIN, CUE, NRG, CCD, MDS, MDF and GDRIVE.
In addition to running disk images on virtual drives, Gizmo Drive is useful for creating ISO images (both disks and individual folders), or for burning content ISO file or folders on an optical disc. To perform various tasks, the program provides a special manager and image wizard.
Gizmo Drive's user interface is informative and useful. Additional program features include creating GDRIVE images to simulate a hard disk with compression and encryption, creating a virtual hard disk with support system memory to improve performance in accessing time-sensitive data, etc.
Another emulator designed to create and manage virtual CD/DVD drives. It allows you to run many types of disk images without burning them to a CD or DVD. This program will also help you create disk images and save them in various formats (including ISO, BIN/CUE, NRG and UIF).
MagicDisc Virtual DVD/CD-ROM has a simple interface and supports up to 15 virtual drives simultaneously. Other features supported by this program include compression of various formats (ISO, NRG, CUE, MDS, CCD) into UIF, and recovery of UIF into ISO. The function of burning images to CD/DVD discs is not supported by this program.
Another easy-to-use emulator is called . With its help, a disk image can be mounted on a virtual drive in just two mouse clicks. Just as with the above-mentioned programs, this is achieved using auxiliary commands that appear in the Windows Explorer context menu, and are used to mount and unmount images.
IN latest versions Virtual CloneDrive can be installed (as in MagicDisc Virtual DVD/CD-ROM) up to 15 virtual drives. The original useful features of the utility also include automatic mounting of the latest image and special icons that indicate virtual drives (to distinguish them from physical ones).
Virtual CloneDrive's supported formats include ISO, CCD, IMG, UDF, BIN, etc., but NRG, MDF/MDS, and some others are not supported. This, as well as the lack of the ability to create and burn disk images, is a disadvantage of this program.
Other programs
In addition to the above-mentioned products, there are a number of free programs that perform similar functions. Below you can see a list of some of them:
Alcohol 52% Free Edition is a stripped-down version of the commercial product Alcohol 120%. Free version limited to 6 virtual drives, and installs a search bar in your browser (can be disabled). Additional features - CD/DVD manager and wizard for creating images in ISO, MDS, CCD and CUE formats.
DAEMON Tools Lite supports a total of 4 virtual drives. Supported formats include ISO, ISZ, CCD, CDI, CUE, MDS, NRG, BWT, PDI, etc. DAEMON Tools Lite also allows you to create images in ISO and MDS formats. This program, like the previous one, installs an additional search bar in your browser and changes the main search provider.
Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel is a free utility from Microsoft that runs in the operating system Windows system XP, and allows you to add virtual drives from A to Z, or remove them. Supported formats: ISO, UDF, CDFS, ROCK or JO. Cons: not very user-friendly interface and lack of ability to create images.
WinCDEmu is an open source program that allows you to mount CD/DVD images by simply clicking on the desired file. To dismantle the image, you just need to double-click on it again, or remove the corresponding drive using the context menu. The utility supports ISO, CUE, NRG, MDS/MDF, CCD, IMG formats and works in operating systems from WinXP to Win7. Disadvantages - lack of an uninstaller, and the inability to create images.
Hello.
In this article I would like to touch on two things at once: a virtual disk and a disk drive. In fact, they are interconnected, just below we will immediately make a short footnote to make it clearer what will be discussed in the article...
Virtual disk (the name “disk image” is popular on the Internet) is a file whose size is usually equal to or slightly larger than the actual CD/DVD disk from which this image was obtained. Often images are made not only from CDs, but also from hard drives or flash drives.
Virtual disk drive(CD-Rom, disk drive emulator) - roughly speaking, this is a program that can open the image and present you with the information on it, as if it were a real disk. There are quite a lot of programs of this kind.
The best programs for working with virtual disks and drives
1. Daemon Tools
Link to the lite version: http://www.daemon-tools.cc/rus/products/dtLite#features
One of the best programs for creating and emulating images. Supported formats for emulation: *.mdx, *.mds/*.mdf, *.iso, *.b5t, *.b6t, *.bwt, *.ccd, *.cdi, *.bin/*.cue, * .ape/*.cue, *.flac/*.cue, *.nrg, *.isz.
You can create only three image formats: *.mdx, *.iso, *.mds. You can use a lightweight version of the program for home (for non-commercial purposes) for free. The link is given above.
After installing the program, another CD-Rom (virtual) appears in your system, which can open any images(see above) which you can only find on the Internet.
To mount the image: run the program, then right-click on the CD-Rom, and select the “mount” command from the menu.
To create an image Just run the program and select the “create disk image” function.
After this, a window will pop up in which you need to select three things:
The disk whose image will be obtained;
Image format (iso, mdf or mds);
The location where the virtual disk (i.e. image) will be saved.
Conclusions:
One of the best programs for working with virtual disks and drives. Its capabilities are probably enough for the vast majority of users. The program works very quickly, does not load the system, supports all the most popular Windows versions: XP, 7, 8.
2. Alcohol 120%/52%
Link: http://trial.alcohol-soft.com/en/downloadtrial.php
(to download Alcohol 52%, when you click on the link above, look for the download link at the very bottom of the page)
A direct competitor to Daemon tools, and many rate Alcohol even higher. In general, Alcohol is not inferior in functionality to Daemon Tools: the program can also create virtual disks, emulate them, and record them.
Why 52% and 120%? It's a matter of the number of options. If in 120% you can create 31 virtual drives, then in 52% - only 6 (although for me - 1-2 is more than enough), plus 52% cannot write images to CD/DVD discs. Well, of course, 52% is free, and 120% is a paid version of the program. But, by the way, at the time of writing, the 120% version is given for 15 days for trial use.
Personally, I have version 52% installed on my computer. A screenshot of the window is shown below. The basic functions are all there, you can quickly create any image and use it. There is also an audio converter, but I have never used it...
3. Ashampoo Burning Studio Free
Link: https://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/pin/7110/burning-software/Ashampoo-Burning-Studio-FREE
This is one of the best programs for home use (and it's free). What can she do?
Work with audio discs, video, create and burn images, create images from files, burn to any (CD/DVD-R and RW) discs, etc.
For example, when working with an audio format, you can:
Create Audio CD;
Create an MP3 disk (https://site/kak-zapisat-mp3-disk/);
Copy music files to disk;
Transfer files from an audio disc to your hard drive in a compressed format.
Video discs are also more than decent: Video DVD, Video CD, Super Video CD.
Conclusions:
An excellent combine that can easily replace a whole range of utilities of this kind. As they say, install it once and always use it. Of the main drawbacks, there is only one: you cannot open images in a virtual disk drive (it simply does not exist).
4. Nero
Website: http://www.nero.com/rus/products/nero-burning-rom/free-trial-download.php
I couldn’t ignore such a legendary package for burning discs, working with images, and in general, everything related to audio-video files.
With this package you can do everything: create, record, erase, edit, convert video-audio (almost any formats), even print covers for recordable discs.
Minuses:
A huge package that contains everything you need and don’t need, many even 10 parts do not use the program’s capabilities;
Paid program ( free test possible for the first two weeks of use);
It puts a lot of stress on the computer.
Conclusions:
Personally, I haven’t used this package for a long time (which has already turned into a big “combine”). But in general, the program is very worthy, suitable for both beginners and experienced users.
5. ImgBurn
Website: http://imgburn.com/index.php?act=download
The program pleases you from the very beginning: the site provides 5-6 links so that any user can easily download it (from whatever country he is from). Plus add to this ten three various languages, supported by the program, among which there is Russian.
Basically, without even knowing in English, this program will not be difficult to understand even for novice users. After launch, you will see a window with all the features and functions that the program has. See screenshot below.
Allows you to create images of three types: iso, bin, img.
Conclusions:
Good free program. If you use it in combination, for example, with Daemon Tools, then the possibilities are enough for your eyes...
6. Clone CD/Virtual Clone Drive
Website: http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html