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Forget Alcohol 120% and DaemonTools, Microsoft has their own virtual drive utility, and it’s free.
It’s called the Virtual CDRom Control Panel (Peraonslly, I like Microsoft Virtual Image Mount Utility,or MVIMU, more.), and while it doesn’t come with Windows by default anddoesn’t look as shiny and pretty as some of their other utilities or Microsoft’s new operating system, it does get the job done (and it’s really small!). Download link and usage instructions after the jump.
Download the utility here: VCdControlUtility.zip, 14.7KB, 2 Files
How to install the Microsoft Virtual Mount Utility: (if you’re confident, read the really short instructions below)
to C:\Widnows\System32\ (or your default Windows installation folder, if not C:\Windows).
Move the file
Code:
VCdControlTool.exe to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Virtual Mount Utility\
.
Create a shortcut to VCdControlTool.exe and move it to the Start Menu for easy access.
Run
Code:
VCdControlTool.exe
.
Click “Driver Control…”.
Click “Install Driver…”.
Select
Code:
C:\Windows\System32\VCdRom.sys
.
Click “Start”. You should see the driver details in the top window.
Click “OK” and then “Add Drive.”
Navigate to an ISO image on your computer.
Click “Mount”.
Now go browse the virtual drive letter in My Computer. Your ISO image should be mounted!
Note: If the mount failed, try creating a new virtual drive. Thefirst time I created mine, it didn’t show up in “My Computer” andwasn’t valid (nothing would mount). The second time around, though,everything went smoothly.
Advanced Instructions (for you really smart people): Download andunzip. Move the driver file to your System32 directory. Run theprogram, click “Driver Control…”, find the driver file you just movedto System32, click Start. Go back and create a new virtual drive andmount an ISO.
Pros:
It’s really small!
No need to confuse yourself over the advanced virtual driveprograms like DaemonTools and Alcohol 120%, the interface is very simple
Support some obscure virtual image filetypes like *.udf, *.cdfs, *.jo, and *.rock
Supports the most popular virtual image filetype: ISO (with/without Joliet)
Cons:
Doesn’t have as many options
Doesn’t support other popular image formats, like *.nrg, *.cue/*.bin
May or may not work for you (it isn’t supported by Microsoft)
The interface is simplified and definately not visually appealing
So if you want a free, small alternative to the big-name virtual mount applications out there, try Microsoft’s.