I'm not sure about any Open Source programs that do this, but I would really like to see a portable Disc Image emulator, like DAEMON tools... Unless there already is a portable program that does this...
New: DesktopSnowOK (Jan 6, 2025), Platform 29.5.3 (Jun 27, 2024)
1,100+ portable packages, 1.1 billion downloads
No Ads Nov/Dec/Jan!, Please donate today
Visit the Community page
Join our forums
Subscribe to our email newsletter
Subscribe with RSS
Follow us on BlueSky
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Mastodon
Follow us on Twitter
I was just talking to Zach H about this. If I ever did write a full out program, and open source CD emulator would be it. I'd need lots of help, of course. I believe they would all require admin rights, however.
It'd be nice if it didn't require admin rights, but I'd still have a lot of uses for it even if it did.
As it 'mounts' the CD image to emulate a drive, it would need admin rights. Still I also would like to have an open source CD/DVD mount app.
So would I
Why does it need administrator rights anyway and what if I already have them?
Mounting anything that will appear as a drive in Windows needs a system driver, and for that you need admin rights.
So any solution that mounts a device as driveletter would need admin rights, and if you have admin rights it will work, if you have normal user rights it will not work.
So is this the reason why only commercial alternatives are available?
But they are freeware, not opensource.
For me I'm more insterested in so-called portability because it means I don't have to constantly re-install every time I renew my OS.
Which is the problem with portability.
You'd need a launcher that installed the driver at startup (which would require admin privileges), launched the front-end of the app so you could mount the image, and then stayed around so it could unload and uninstall the driver once you'd finished with it to clean up.
It could certainly be done, but it wouldn't be a simple launcher, and, due to the admin issues, it would be unlikely to ever get official support here, even if there was an open source one around that did what you need.
What if it passes WHQL?
then the ADMINISTRATOR who installs it can be happy as he does so
I didn't think they had a WHQL program for disc emulation drivers. I recall Nero ImageDrive warning about this (the driver being unsigned because MS doesn't sign these types of drivers) before installing its driver, back before I switched to DAEMON Tools.
I did find one on source forge, one night. I don't know how good it was.
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
If you remember the link, please let us now.
I found this looking for the link
ISO Creator It says C#/.nte2.0, but Sourceforge lists it as C#
Here you go!
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
well c# = .NET
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
The second link is the one we want, I just thought somebody would be interested, as we get requests for that often enough.
Too many lonely hearts in the real world
Too many bridges you can burn
Too many tables you can't turn
Don't wanna live my life in the real world
Microsoft has an unsupported program to make virtual cd drives and mount ISO's. It is easy to use, and is small enough to fit on a jump drive, and I don't think it leaves anything on the host computer. You just need to remember to remove the virtual drives and stop the driver. Also, it doesn't need admin privileges. You can download it here:
http://preview.tinyurl.com/tyxx
I'm sure it DOES require admin rights. I use this and if I recall correctly, a while back, when I did not have admin rights at work, I could not use it.
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on." -- Robert Frost
"In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: baby ain't mine." -- Adam Holguin
What is really needed is something that works with MMC.
Well... I've used it on computers that did not give me admin rights. What you may be thinking is that the driver must be copied to C:\Windows\system32, which does require admin rights. However, I have found that copying the driver to that directory is not necessary, and the driver can be installed from inside the VCD directory.
Tried it, does not work unfortunately. Fails to mount. Fails to load the driver.
Wondering how the U3 system works, it does not require admin priveleges but it goes ahead and mounts a cd image that is different from the usb stick. It also will go ahead and install stuff on its own. Could this same way somehow be leveraged to mount an ISO of one's choice?
I only mention ISO because it has been such a bitch to remove from my USB.
being a hardware device that identifies itself to the OS as being as USB CD-ROM drive, which the OS already has a driver for, which was installed by the administrator (at OS installation time).
The default action for CD autorun is to jsut run the app silently, which means that U3 already has the admin bit done (the standard system CD driver) and doesn't even need confirmation to fire up any arbitrary app on the device that the evil user has replaced the standard iso image with.
No magic, and nothing that you can leverage unless the iso you want to mount is small enough to fit into the CD partition of the USB drive (about 7MB)
Universal Customizer. I don't think there's a limit.
Insert original signature here with Greasemonkey Script.
Even the sandisk launchpad-updater (the versions that accept an ISO placed in the same DIR) can be used to transfer any size ISO you want, only limit is the UFD's capacity .
It does take quite some time if you make the ISO larger
than the original as the entire drive is reformatted
if the new ISO is larger than 6291456 bytes.
So is this a class level driver or kernel mode?
Hi
There's an old M$ application called "Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel" that can do the work.
It works fine on XP and on 2000 Pro
I'm not sure it need admin privilege but I don't thinks so.
I've found it here:
http://www.softwarepatch.com/windows/xpvirtualcd.html
and here:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4402.html
There's a little description but it simple load a driver and then mount a disk on the sistem.
For me works really fine.
IT specialist
Writing/book coach
Ghostwriter
Game creator
I've covered this already.
The M$ app is rubbish, please don't mention it again.
Please refrain from mentioning to people what You think they should or should not mention, others may benefit even if you don't, and it seems a little,... well, I just don't think I want to say how it seems ...
Tim
-
Things have got to get better, they can't get worse, or can they?
There is really no Open Source disk emulator?
U3 can emulate another disk, but I think that might be the hardware.
Simplifying daily life through technology
U3 is not a disk emulator, it has a fake CD partition.
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
The point is there needs to be a program that not only allows one to edit .iso images without any convoluted save, as well as being able to mount images depending on certain conditions; otherwise it would have to operate via MMC unless there's some philosophical reason why it has to be under the super user account.
Why cant you use a fake disk?
Simplifying daily life through technology
A fake CD partition is NOT a mounted .iso file, it's a drive partition formatted to look like a CD.
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
Here is one I found, not sure if it was mentioned above or not: http://sourceforge.net/projects/wincdemu/
I haven't tried to use it yet either.
JRM
DUDE that is awsome! that is a spec$%*^ingtacular find. i hope this can be made portable!
here is their home webpage http://wincdemu.sourceforge.net/
FantomDVD : http://www.fantomdvd.com/eindex.htm
MagicDisc : http://www.magiciso.com/tutorials/miso-magicdisc-overview.htm
Cheers
ChEtTeDeBoEuF
Both of those are closed source.
And only launcher ?
Cheers
ChEtTeDeBoEuF
This site mostly deals with OSS software.
This is not to say someone cant make a launcher for it but they mostly deal with OSS software.
I'd like to bump this thread in the hopes that the interest in a PortableApps version of WinCDEmu or any FOSS ISO mounting software can be rekindled.
I have used WinCDEmu for quite some time but I've had problems with its caching of its mounted content. Its authors claim that they have had a workaround for it but I'm afraid the problem persists. My current workaround on this problem is to actually reboot my machine to enable me to mount another ISO image. I have used the WinCDEmu that has been built on November 2008. I have encountered the above mentioned problem in 3 desktops and 1 laptop so it is my belief that the problem I experienced is in a general nature. I have been able to successfully use WinCDEmu in Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7 (all 32-bit editions), and I have seen the same problem persist on all platforms.
I am glad to have tried the weirdly named and officially unsupported winxpvirtualcdcontrolpanel and at its little size, one can really say it has its merits and the advantage of gaining native OS support. I am enjoying its stability over WinCDEmu although I consider myself a FOSS follower and supporter more (on Windows) than a blind proprietary slave - which is very unfortunate.
Ultimately, the only portability workaround I can think of right now is that I can CARRY both WinCDEmu and winxpvirtualcdcontrolpanel in my PortableApps-run USB drives and then I can install them wherever and whatever PC I can come across with as long as I gain administrative rights. However, I have this nagging theory - for which I care not and dare not to test yet - that the winxpcvrtualcdcontrolpanel COULD WORK even without administrative privileges on a Windows XP machine. As a side comment, I DO NEED to have administrator privileges when working with Vista and Windows 7 due to the nature that I work with my machines so engaging a commentary on the use of ISO mounting software on these newer operating systems would be pretty moot and academic.
Thanks for the heads up on winxpcvrtualcdcontrolpanel.
In any case, the new homepage is http://wincdemu.sysprogs.org
And here are lots of stuff this program leaves behind forever: http://forum.sysprogs.org/viewtopic.php?t=354
Bump under the original comments? What are you talking about? I replied directly on the WinCDEmu post, the comment threading of Drupal is just the way it is.
Back to topic, I'm glad WinCDEmu has released a more stable version 3. Even with its problems on leaving traces after uninstallation, I'll still be glad in using it. Besides, there is no real "forever", as they get deleted anyways by a reformat and a simple old/new OS (re-)installation :-).
Looking at it again, you posted under the first post that dealt with this program. Maybe you should have posted it under the "dude" post, but that's a close call.
As for formatting, leftovers like that are the reason format is needed in the first place, so that's the "what comes first - the egg or the chicken" paradox.
http://www.mediafire.com/?mmzyy0jimmw
It's free and with very little size.
Is it opensource?
No, it's the official unofficial one from microsoft
The developer formerly known as ZGitRDun8705
The article found in http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mount-cd-dvd-disk-images-using-a-portable-app/ discusses the author's experience in making the Win XP Virtual CD Control Panel work on his PortableApps drive. Unsupported indeed, but useful still.
slysoft do a iso emulator,freeware and not portable sadly,it is realy good though
http://static.slysoft.com/SetupVirtualCloneDrive.exe
Question, why would someone NEED a virtual drive on a computer without admin right, when they could just carry the installer for it, since most likely they'd need the iso for an installer which would need admin rights in the first place.
and in lieu of it, why not just have some ISO extractor that automated extracting an iso or something?
"Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock'n'Roll." -Shigeru Miyamoto
If the program requires to be run/installed from a disc, such users don't need admin rights but they do need to fool the "disc protection".
As for audio tracks, you can't simply extract them to data because by defition that's already conversion.
Finally, you can't turn a protected DVD to data without breaking the law. But when turning it to ISO you can can keep the protection. Then again, is it any less legal?
if it needs to be installed - oh yes it does need admin
fooling protection - negated by above comment
CD - why does ANYONE have a music ISO? if you want CD quality, rip it to Waveform, or carry the CD!
DVD - ...if you're going to carry around an ISO of a DVD why not just rip it to some movie filetype, dear god, if someones that worried about the feds, they probably wouldn't have made an ISO in the first place.
"Video games are bad for you? That's what they said about Rock'n'Roll." -Shigeru Miyamoto
As opposed to be installed.
I'd just like to add that I use a laptop but want to upgrade to a smaller laptop WITHOUT a disc drive. So in instances like these you could make ISO's of your software that demands that a disc be in the drive. For example, I bought a copy of Serif's DrawPlus 7 and after installation the disc is required to be placed in the drive. Without a physical drive this is a problem but a portable Mounting software would allow me to use this program.
I have to say I'm a bit confused about all the talk of portability issues and needing admin rights, there's a few programs on this site requiring admin rights and the portability thing is surmountable.
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/b/6/7b6abd84-7841-4978-96f5-bd5...
This app is as portable as you are going to get for this type of program as far as I can tell. What exactly is the problem with using something that installs a driver to use then uninstalls it to end? There may be people wanting to use this that don't have admin rights but that simply aint gonna happen anyway!!!
I only use one machine but I agree with the above comment: I use portable apps simply because it's easier than installing everything after reinstalling windows!
Hopefully someone will make a .paf version of Darmon Tools Lite?! Now that would be great!
Live for an ideal and leave no place in the mind for anything else.
it cannot be done logisitcly or legaly.