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portable WinCDEmu

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March 28, 2010 - 2:18pm
#1
mark1981
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portable WinCDEmu

Hi I love this site and use many of the programs listed here.

Anyway I realise there is already a program of this type i.e. "Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel" however I believe WinCDEmu would be better.

I found this on their website indicating that

"WinCDEmu includes a kernel driver for virtual CD bus. Without having the driver installed, no machine will be able to mount the images. Installing the driver every time for the image and uninstalling afterwards would cause ~30sec. delays for every image, that is not feasible."

I believe that waiting 30 seconds is hardly that long a time to wait, if there is no difference in speed when the image once loaded. I wonder if there anyone with the skills who agrees and wouldn't mind checking it out.

Cheers regardless.

--- As per request details

Program: WinCDEmu

License: GNU Lesser General Public License

Description: open-source CD/DVD image mounter.

click image files in Windows Explorer to mount/unmount (or eject the corresponding drive using the context menu). Supports ISO, CUE, NRG, MDS/MDF, CCD, IMG formats and runs on WinXP to Win7. No creating images is supported.

Website: http://wincdemu.sysprogs.org/

--- Is this okay?

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March 28, 2010 - 5:10pm
crux
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Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel

Can Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel be made to work portably? Here are some instructions on how to use it:

Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel 2.0.1.1
http://majorgeeks.com/Virtual_CD-ROM_Control_Panel_d4402.html
1. Copy VCdRom.sys to your %systemroot%system32drivers folder.
2. Execute VCdControlTool.exe
3. Click "Driver control"
4. If the "Install Driver" button is available, click it. Navigate to the %systemroot%system32drivers folder, select VCdRom.sys, and click Open.
5. Click "Start"
6. Click OK
7. Click "Add Drive" to add a drive to the drive list. Ensure that the drive added is not a local drive. If it is, continue to click "Add Drive" until an unused drive letter is available.
8. Select an unused drive letter from the drive list and click "Mount".
9. Navigate to the image file, select it, and click "OK". UNC naming conventions should not be used, however mapped network drives should be OK.

You may now use the drive letter as if it were a local CD-ROM device. When you are finished you may unmount, stop, and remove the driver from memory using the driver control.

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March 29, 2010 - 4:30am
(Reply to #2)
mark1981
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Hi crux, thanks for your

Hi crux, thanks for your informative reply however I was already aware of that program.

However the slight problem is I have images that are in other formats (NRG, "MDF?") which are not supported. I was checking for a open source program which had a wider range of supported file types which is why I mentioned WinCDEmu.

One thing which may benefit others if WinCDEmu could be made portable is that Virtual CD-Rom Control panel does not support, as far as I have read, anything greater than Vista so not very future proof.

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March 29, 2010 - 7:37am
(Reply to #3)
solanus
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Looks like it's worth a look.

Mark, can you edit your original post to match the format suggested in this post?
https://portableapps.com/node/4507
It looks like it would be very useful. It's not very backwards-compatible, as it is only built to WinXP and up, although it could be built for Win2K.
Also, it currently only works in testmode in Vista and Win7, but they are working on a signed version, so that may be resolved.
I don't know if it can be made portable, since the screenshot looks like it installs a Virtual CD Bus in Device Manager.

I made this half-pony, half-monkey monster to please you.

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March 29, 2010 - 12:28pm
(Reply to #4)
mark1981
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Hi Solanus, they indicated

Hi Solanus, they indicated that it may be possible but were not interested in making it so, since I use alot of apps from this site, I thought I might try my luck. Admittedly they may not have the knowledge either.

Anyway thanks for looking.

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March 30, 2010 - 3:28pm
(Reply to #5)
crux
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You are too kind.

I was looking for information, actually. I know you knew what it was because you brought it up.

I was wondering if VCdRom.sys could be placed somewhere other than the %systemroot%system32drivers folder. Another question is if the driver can be removed completely rather than simply removed from memory using the driver control.

I may actually play with this to test the limits of what I can do with the program. I am assuming that administrator rights are needed at several steps.

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March 31, 2010 - 12:53pm
(Reply to #6)
mark1981
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Thank you Crux

Thank you Crux for having a look, I'm sorry but I lack even the basic programming skills, I just tend to use the programs that good folks like yourself create.

Out of the questions you have asked the only thing I'm reasonably sure of is that Administrative rights are required, however it could still be useful for those of us that have that right.

Anyway once again thank you.

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March 31, 2010 - 1:42pm
(Reply to #7)
crux
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I never made a portable application.

I'm trying to learn.

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April 16, 2010 - 8:44pm
(Reply to #8)
mark1981
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Sorry Crux

I found an app that satisfies my requirements i.e. UltraISOportable -shareware so not free but it works.

It may be useful for others though.

Added...
I think Magic Disc is a similar program and it may be possible to create a portable version via the same method used for UltraISOportable.

Also I'm not sure if this helps those who can code but the drive is created through the placement of mcdbus.sys in the C:\Windows\System32\drivers directory.

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April 21, 2010 - 4:22pm
(Reply to #9)
Mir
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so its...

technicly not portable seen as it has to leave something behind in the system folder and if the system folder is locked and cannot be modified then you are basicly screwed. oh well

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July 18, 2010 - 6:38am
lwc
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WinCDEmu now has an official portable version

It's still in beta though. Note these points:

  • It loads the driver as soon as you enter the program. That is, you can't take a quick look without already loading the driver.
  • Don't unload the driver before unmounting existing mounted drives. It causes errors if you do.
  • It's not 100% portable. There are registry leftovers. You'll have a hard time creating a PortableApps version because at least one leftover is a variable (that is, a registry key that's based on the existing number of real drives).
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