Software

How to use CD & DVD image files without burning discs

December 11, 2008, 09:59 PM — 

With the exception of the use of flash-based removable drives, the days of portable storage in the enterprise are numbered. Sure, there are still plenty of CD- and DVD-based products in use out there. Most CIOs jettisoned the floppy drive from corporate computers years ago, but most systems still include CD or DVD drives. That said, it's easier to get along without even a CD/DVD drive these days. A lot of software used in the enterprise space is available in electronic format and is downloadable in the form of ISO images. An ISO image is a disk-based representation of a CD or DVD. In fact, ISO files can be burned to a blank CD or DVD which can then be used just like the original disc. You don't have to burn an ISO file to a disc to make use of the contents of the ISO file, though. There are a number of utilities out there that allow you to create virtual CD/DVD drives on your computer. You can then "insert" an ISO file into one of these virtual drives and make use of the drive just as if you had inserted an actual physical disc. In fact, this virtual drive even shows up in My Computer as a CD/DVD drive and works just like a physical drive. If you eject the disc from this virtual device, the disc actually ejects; that is, the software dismounts the ISO image behind the scenes, which is the same thing as ejecting the disc.
Here is a list of a few different pieces of ISO-mounting/virtual CD-DVD drive software I've used along with some note about each.  Note that this is far from an exhaustive list of options out there.  If you've successfully (or unsuccessfully!) used a different tool, tell us about it in the comment section.

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

I like it!
Comments

If you wanna play DVD files

If you wanna play DVD files on DVD player.
There is a guide: Burn Ripped DVD Folder to DVD.

If you are making home DVD, you can follow this step by step instruction about Burn Video to DVD for playback on home DVD player.
| reply
peer-to-peer

Esther Schindler
If the comments are ugly, the code is ugly

claird
SVG a graphics format for 21st century

pasmith
Take Chrome OS for a test spin

Sandra Henry-Stocker
Solaris Tip: Have Your Files Changed Since Installation?

sjvn
64-bits of protection?

jfruh
Android fragments vs. the iPhone monolith

mikelgan
What Gizmodo missed about the Pro WX Wireless USB disk drive

 

Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325

Join the conversation here

The Daily Tip

The Daily TipQuick, practical advice for IT pros. Made fresh daily.

Hot tips:

Want to cash in on your IT savvy? Send your tip to tips@itworld.com. If we post it, we'll send you a $25 Amazon e-gift card.

Newsletters

Subscribe to ITWORLD TODAY and receive the latest IT news and analysis.

I would like to receive offers via email from ITworld partners.
By clicking submit you agree to the terms and conditions outlined in ITworld's privacy policy.
Featured Sponsor

AISO founders envisioned a Web hosting company that was environmentally friendly. While the company employed energy-efficient innovations like solar panels, its infrastructure produced unacceptable power and cooling requirements. Find out how AISO leveraged AMD technology to overcome their challenge in this case study white paper.

In this whitepaper, Scalar explores the opportunity to change the landscape with respect to mission critical databases built around Oracle. Leveraging technologies such as Linux, high-end commodity processing power and Oracle RAC technology to architect, design, build and maintain database infrastructure that delivers maximum availability, reliability and performance at a fraction of traditional cost.

On a typical day, weather.com, the Web site for The Weather Channel in Atlanta, serves up between 15 million and 20 million page views. But in September 2004, when back-to-back hurricanes ransacked Florida, the peak traffic on one day more than tripled: over 70 million page views by more than 7 million unique visitors. Read the full success story now.

Marketplace