When you insert a disc into a PC’s optical drive, Windows automatically mounts the disc on the drive. When you want to use an ISO image, you must create a virtual drive and mount the ISO image on it. Virtual DVD is also called ‘Disk Image’, which creates an extra virtual Disk drive. Then you computer will think that you have actually plugged in a disk drive and entered a DVD in it.
DISK IMAGING SOFTWARE: WHAT TO LOOK FOR
At a minimum, disk imaging software must create a usable image of your targeted file, disk or hard drive. There are plenty of uses for disk imaging and plenty more tools to help you get the job done. Whether you are planning for the next catastrophic failure, hoping to deploy your own virtual machine clone army, or have your own ideas, you want the right software for you. We’ve gone through top 5 Virtual DVD alternatives with main features.
1. Demon tools
DAEMON Tools is widely used and allows users to make CD/DVD/Blu-ray disc images, create virtual drives and play CDs , DVDs & Blu-rays without the need for the physical disc and supports virtual SCSI adapters. Virtual DVD-ROM drive (Generic DVD-ROM) is also included, enabling you to use your CD/DVD/Blu-ray images as if they were already burned to CD. It is a virtual drive and optical disc authoring program for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS.
2. Alcohol 120%
Alcohol 120% is a powerful tool for backup and creation of DVDs and audio discs. You are able to convert and burn HD DVD and Blu-ray formats straight from your hard drive. Alcohol 120% is known for being compatible with nearly every type of drive and excellent tech support from their team. You can create images, erase drives and burn discs quickly. The ability to backup games and documents is really useful since you will not have to worry about the physical discs that may get damaged. There are 31 virtual drives that you mount your files on and save resources.
3. PowerISO
PowerISO is very easy to use and excels in the creation of disc images. This program will support the major image and disc formats, letting you burn, edit, convert and extract files with a simple interface. PowerISO is capable of burning on multiple disk drives at once, saving you time and displaying the information while it is working. You can basically do whatever you would like with images, including mounting and compressing them. The interface uses a basic drag and drop style that makes actions quick and easy.
4. Ashampoo Burning Studio
Ashampoo Burning Studio is a good application that can handle all your disc burning needs. The Ashampoo engine supports all the popular disc formats like Blu-ray, CD, and DVD and will burn them. Not only will this program backup your largest files, you could also compress and restore them. The editing capabilities of Ashampoo are impressive, allowing you to add text and images to your disc and create slideshows that exhibit your creativity. You could also create covers for your discs, and booklets to accompany the video and music you burn.
5. Magic ISO
MagicISO is a CD/DVD image shareware utility that can extract, edit, create, and burn disc image files. It offers the possibility of converting between ISO and CUE/BIN and their proprietary Universal Image Format disc image format. Not all Blu-ray ISO image files can be recognized by players directly and you are suggested to use other external HD media players to read the blu-ray ISO files on HDD.
Tip:
If you are an owner of an iDevice, the best way to successfully add your created DVD and DVD ISO image files for playing on your Apple devices without plugged in a disk drive is to convert these DVD (ISO image file) to iDevice optimized video types: mov, mp4, m4v with Pavtube Video Converter Ultimate, then your iPhone, iPad and iPod will easily read and play the ripped DVD and DVD ISO videos.
