Software: Mounting ISO Images Using a Virtual CD-ROM Drive

Have you ever had the need to burn an ISO image to a CD disk? If you don't know what an ISO image is, its an exact copy of a CD-ROM that is stored in a file so that it can be put on a hard drive, or transmitted across a network to another computer.

To turn an ISO image back into a CD, you need a blank CD-ROM disk, a CD-Writer drive, and a program that can read the ISO image and burn it to the drive. This process is not complex, but I will save it for another article.

Well if you're like me I generally won't burn a CD-ROM unless I have to, and if I do I use CD-RW so I don't have a million half used CDs sitting around the house. Although, if you have an ISO file that you need to get a file off, or a program to install check out Microsoft's Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel.

This control panel allow you to mount the ISO image by creating a virtual CD-ROM Drive. As far as the operating system is concerned this will look like a real CD-ROM drive. Although in reality its just the ISO image that is being treated like a real disk.

Notes:

• This program only runs under Windows XP
  
• This software is unsupported by Microsoft, and contains no setup file.
  
• The interface is very basic, so don't expect a polished tool.
  
• Make sure to read the README.TXT