Create virtual discs

A better option is Imgburn, which is a free program.

Once downloaded and installed, launch the program and click on the ‘Create image file from disc’ button.

Indicate where the file should be saved and then click on the button at the bottom of the screen to start the creation process.

Mounting an ISO file
While ISO files provide a very useful means of distributing and storing data, most people won’t need this on a daily basis.

Arguably the handiest use for ISOs is to serve as virtual discs. Some software titles, notably reference titles, run entirely from CD or DVD and require the relevant disc to be in the drive at time of use.

Unless your computer is fitted with multiple CD and DVD drives, this leads to the hassle of disc swapping and the need to track down the relevant discs whenever they are needed.

But with ISO files, you could store a large number of frequently used discs on a hard disk so they are never more than a few mouse clicks away.

To make use of ISO files without burning them to disc you’ll need an ISO-mounting program. We’re going to use Daemon Tools, which is free and easy to use. Download the latest version here. Install this program, restarting Windows to complete the process.

During the second stage of the installation process, take care to untick the boxes labelled ‘Daemon Tools sponsor ad module’ and ‘Daemon Tools default Search Provider’ to prevent the installation of unwanted components. At the next screen you’ll probably want to decline the option to change your web browser’s home page to Daemon Search.

If the files need to be accessible every time Windows is used, right-click on the Daemon Tools icon in the Notification Area, click on Options and ensure that both Automount and ‘Autostart tray icon’ are ticked. Use the information in this mini Workshop to discover how Daemon Tools can be used to load ISO files into virtual optical drives. With the option of creating up to four virtual drives, this should reduce the need to swap CDs and DVDs.

Swapping virtual discs
Depending on the type and number of disc-dependent programs you use, there may be occasions when even virtual discs need to be swapped. This can be achieved by selecting the option to ‘unmount’ the loaded image, which then frees up the drive ready for another to be loaded.

While ISOs can be unmounted individually, it is also possible to unmount all the loaded images at once using a keyboard shortcut. This needs to be manually configured, so right-click on the Daemon Tools Notification Area icon and select Options followed by ‘Hot keys’. Click within the ‘Unmount all’ box and press a key on the keyboard (such as ‘U’ for ‘unmount’). After clicking on OK, in future pressing Ctrl, Alt and the chosen letter simultaneously will automatically unmount all loaded images in one fell swoop.

As well as the obvious benefit of reducing the amount of disc swapping that needs to be carried out, the program enables disc images to be treated as if they were physical discs ­ and Windows will not see them any differently.

There are numerous uses for this type of disc emulation, besides ensuring that reference or game discs are always available. You might, for example, work with software that is not compatible with Windows Vista. One way to get around this would be to set up a dual-boot system, but this can be tricky, particularly if Vista is already installed.