virtual drive for win xp out there?

[kandmgard]

HI, I don't know how it works but a friend installed 'virtual cd
version 1' on an old laptop I have that runs win 98 SE. I have two
programs that have to have the disk in a drive to run. The 'virtual
cd' makes a new cd drive appear to be on the computer and allows the
program to think that the disk is in this drive and run without having
to take up my only actual cd drive on the laptop all the time. My
friend used it to install one of the programs so that I don't have to
keep putting the disk in the drive. I didn't see what he did so I'm
not sure what it entailed. I have a desktop computer running win xp
and would like a similar item to use on this computer so that I don't
have to always have the program cd in the drive. Does anyone know of a
program like this? a really simple to use program for a semi-computer
illiterate person? Thanks so much!!

 

[Toke Eskildsen]

I have a desktop computer running win xp and would like a similar
item to use on this computer so that I don't have to always have the
program cd in the drive.

Daemon Tools works fine for me under Windows XP.

http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/portal/portal.php

a really simple to use program for a semi-computer illiterate
person?

If you use one of the third party addons, mounting a CD image is just a
matter of right clicking on the file and choosing mount.

 

[Susan Bugher]

HI, I don't know how it works but a friend installed 'virtual cd
version 1' on an old laptop I have that runs win 98 SE. I have two
programs that have to have the disk in a drive to run. The 'virtual
cd' makes a new cd drive appear to be on the computer and allows the
program to think that the disk is in this drive and run without having
to take up my only actual cd drive on the laptop all the time. My
friend used it to install one of the programs so that I don't have to
keep putting the disk in the drive. I didn't see what he did so I'm
not sure what it entailed. I have a desktop computer running win xp
and would like a similar item to use on this computer so that I don't
have to always have the program cd in the drive. Does anyone know of a
program like this? a really simple to use program for a semi-computer
illiterate person? Thanks so much!!

from a recent post:

<q>
MountVD http://www.lando.co.za/walkerbrothers/mountvd.htm

"MountVD is a virtual drive mounter. Once installed - using Windows
Explorer (or such like browser) right-click on any folder and select
'Mount Virtual Drive'. Choose a drive letter and the folder will then be
mounted as a drive. To unmount right-click on the drive letter and
select 'Unmount Virtual Drive'. A list of previous mounts will be
displayed, clear the list or remount with right mouse click. Mount from
Win startup: Set a list of folders to mount, along with their drive
letters - and the next time windows boots they will be automaticaly
mounted."

-- Cheers, Sietse Fliege
</q>

ver 3.0 build 25 - date 2004-07-28 - size 1,420mb

http://www.lando.co.za/walkerbrothers/mountvd/software/mvdsetup.exe
(1388 KB)

Susan

 

[kandmgard]

Thanks for the reply Toke, what's a third party add-on? and which one
makes it a matter of right-clicking? is Daemon tools free?

 

[Elias Fotinis]

what's a third party add-on?

It's a different program that works together with Daemon Tools. You can
find all of them in the Daemon Tools download page:
http://www.daemon-tools.cc/dtcc/portal/download.php

and which one makes it a matter of right-clicking?

All of them work more or less the same. I've installed awxDTools myself,
but most of the time I just use the Daemon Tools tray icon; it displays
a list of the virtual drives and allows you to load a new CD image.

is Daemon tools free?

Yes, it's free for non-commercial use.

 

[Wayne D]

HI, I don't know how it works but a friend installed 'virtual cd
version 1' on an old laptop I have that runs win 98 SE. I have two
programs that have to have the disk in a drive to run. The 'virtual
cd' makes a new cd drive appear to be on the computer and allows the
program to think that the disk is in this drive and run without having
to take up my only actual cd drive on the laptop all the time. My
friend used it to install one of the programs so that I don't have to
keep putting the disk in the drive. I didn't see what he did so I'm
not sure what it entailed. I have a desktop computer running win xp
and would like a similar item to use on this computer so that I don't
have to always have the program cd in the drive. Does anyone know of a
program like this? a really simple to use program for a semi-computer
illiterate person? Thanks so much!!

Virtual CloneDrive 5.0.1.3

Create a virtual driver for the following types: *.ccd; *.dvd; *.img;
*.iso; *.udf

Virtual CloneDrive 5.0.1.3:
- fixed some blacklisting issues
- better support for CloneCD5 .dvd files
- accepts .dvd images created with SonicRomFormatter
- added support for .iso images with .dvd extension
- Some minor fixes and improvements
- updated languages

http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html

&

Free virtual CD ROM for Windows XP 2.1


Description
This free program for Windows XP lets you create a virtual CD drive on
your hard disk. Some visitors to the site have confirmed that it works
with Windows 2000 too (but this is not stated in Microsoft's official
readme). For anyone unfamiliar with the terms 'virtual CD' or 'CD
emulator', they mean that you can copy the entire contents of a CD-ROM to
your hard disk and run the programs or access the files without the need
for the original CD. This can make files more accessible, faster and more
convenient. Given the speed and size of today's hard drives, you could
easily fit a number of CDs onto your hard drive without noticing the
difference. Assuming you had 30 full CDs, these would take around 20GB on
a hard drive and all will be accessible after a few clicks of a mouse.

Hard drives are about 10 times faster than a CD, plus you can instantly
access the file instead of grabbing the CD case, inserting the CD and
awaiting for the contents to load. It's true, you could try copying the
files over to the hard drive, but this can get messy, plus some programs
require a CD to be loaded in order to run. This virtual CD program
'pretends' it is a CD drive (even though the files are on your hard
drive), so your programs will run as normal.

As mentioned above, this program is free, and it is absolutely tiny at
just 0.06MB. There are many similar commercial programs around, but they
will set you back $50-$100 and can be substantially larger.

There are three tricks with this free emulator:

1. It only runs on XP and unofficially Windows 2000.
2. Your CDs have to be converted to ISO files. That is not as hard as
it sounds. Programs like Nero can do it, but there is another free tool
for XP that will let you create ISO files in a flash. For more
information see http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com
3. Most types of copy protected CDs cannot be used by the emulator.


http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/xpvirtualcd.html


Regards

Wayne D

 

[kandmgard]

thanks for the info Elias

 

[kandmgard]

thanks for all the info Wayne, that really helps clear some of this
stuff up.