Virtual CloneDrive is freeware to run CD/DVD applications from hard disk and no longer need to use physical CD/DVD as well as actual media. For those of you who are familiar with ISO files, you must be familiar with the Daemon Tools application, yes, Daemon Tools is an application that is well known in terms of virtual drives. But behind that, Daemon Tools often causes problems on computers, from failed installations, to the appearance of a BSOD (Blue Screen of Death).
To create an ISO image file from a CD or DVD we can use CD burning software such as Ashampoo Burning Studio, BurnAware, True Burner or CD Burner XP. Once we have the ISO file, you can save it on your computer or burn it back to a CD or DVD if you want to make a duplicate of it. Another option is that we can mount the ISO file on a laptop or computer using virtual drive software.
ISO image is a 1:1 copy/clone/copy file from a physical CD/DVD. This copy file contains a complete structure of each existing sector of a CD/DVD disc. The size of this image file is exactly the same as the amount of data (bytes) used on a CD/DVD. However, we can't directly access the contents of this ISO file like when we use Windows explorer to read the contents of a CD/DVD.
Virtual CloneDrive works and acts like a physical CD or DVD drive, but still works virtually. Virtual CloneDrive can be used to run ISO files like you would insert a CD or DVD into a CD/DVD drive.
A few things you should note is that by default it won't mount the ISO to a drive letter but instead mounts it to a UNC path which can cause some software installations to fail when installing from a mounted path. Make sure you specify that you want to mount to a drive letter when you mount and it should work fine.
Virtual CloneDrive Features:
- Support ISO, CCD, IMG, BIN, etc.
- Support 8 virtual drives at once.
- Easy to use, just double click on the file you want to run.
- Freeware, free to use.
- No need to restart after installation.
Download the Latest Virtual CloneDrive
- License: Freeware
- Developer: SlySoft
- Operating System: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10/11