10 Free ISO Software to Mount Virtual Drives [2023 List]
The original idea to create an exact copy of a CD-ROM disc and place the data into a file which can be stored on a hard drive or USB flash drive was a great invention. This made it possible to store collections or backups of your important optical media in one location. These files, which can also store a copy of DVD or Blu-ray media, are more commonly known as ISO images. Even Microsoft utilizes ISO image files and the Windows install DVD is these days distributed as an ISO.
ISO image files can easily be created using software such as WinX DVD Ripper, all you need is a ROM drive and an optical disc. Or they can be downloaded from the internet. Once you have the file, there are several things you can do with it. The ISO can be burned to a CD or DVD to create a copy of the original disc. It can also be written to a USB flash drive to install something like Windows or Linux faster. Another option is using a program to make the ISO image behave like a real disc. This allows you to install software, read or play the disc contents like it was physically inserted into your computer.
This is known as virtual drive software because the drive isn’t real and it just emulates a real optical drive. The ISO image is then mounted to the virtual drive to create a virtual disc. Windows 10 has basic ISO mounting built in but here we list 10 free virtual drive emulators that you can use to mount ISO images and other types of disc images so they behave like real discs. All tools were tested in Windows 10 and 7 64-bit.
1. DVDFab Virtual Drive
The DVDFab Virtual Drive is one of the most popular mount software on the market. Users who rip and convert a lot of media are familiar with the tool and its shareware software. One great feature of this free application is that it supports up to 18 virtual drivers at once from 8 different types of disc images.
For example, with the Miniso DVD/Blu-Ray format feature, you can mount a DVD or Blu-ray ISO image/folder and play it in a media player like PowerDVD. You can also use the application to create a bootable USB drive when necessary.
To access other functions, simply click the tray icon menu. Additionally, if you want to perform tasks like changing the drive icons, Windows integration, and hotkeys, you can access these options via the Settings window.
2. Virtual CloneDrive
Virtual CloneDrive has been around since 2005 and the company behind it, Elaborate Bytes, are the same people behind the famous CloneDVD and CloneBD ripping software. It hasn’t been updated in the last few years and the latest version is from 2016. Virtual CloneDrive is still fully compatible with Windows 10 though.
Several different image file formats to mount a virtual disc are supported and up to 15 virtual drives are allowed at the same time. An image file can be mounted by double clicking on it or right clicking on the tray icon and selecting Mount. The tray icon menu has an option to unmount each active drive as well as a recent history list of files that can be mounted at the click of a button.
3. WinCDEmu
WinCDEmu is an open source tool that’s been around for over a decade. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be actively developed anymore but all recent operating systems are fully compatible. A portable WinCDEmu is also available but it’s still on version 4.0 whereas the installer version is 4.1.
After install, all you need to do is to double click on an ISO file to automatically mount it to a drive letter. To not be asked which drive letter to use, check the “Manage drive letters automatically” box. If you want to unmount, just right click on the drive in Explorer and select Eject. WinCDEmu has a simple option to create an ISO from a CD/DVD or Blu-Ray disc, just right click on the drive in Explorer and select “Create an ISO Image”. A useful option for administrators is the requirement of admin rights to mount an ISO image.
4. Alcohol Portable
Alcohol Soft released a free for personal use version of their software in 2015 called Alcohol Portable. Apart from installing a system service and driver while running, Alcohol Portable is a standalone executable that can be launched from anywhere.
The maximum number of mounted virtual drives is four and it accepts around a dozen different disc image formats. Just drop an ISO onto the upper part of the window and it will mount automatically. Right click on a virtual drive to unmount, mount another ISO or change the drive letter. A list of image files can be added in the lower half of the window for quick access. If you have finished with Alcohol Portable, click File > “Exit + Remove Device Driver and Service” to remove it from the system completely.
While the free version of Alcohol 52% is still available to install, we’d recommend against using it. Crapware called Smart File Advisor gets installed alongside Alcohol, you cannot deselect it during install and it cannot be uninstalled without removing Alcohol as well.
5. Daemon Tools Lite
Long time PC users might remember Daemon Tools used to be the go to software for mounting protected disc images. Since then, it has changed a lot. The free Lite version has many disabled features along with adware and upgrade nags during install. We’re not sure if the Mountspace statistics function is still used but it’s worth disabling usage statistics during install just in case. Make sure to select “Free License” during install or you’ll get a trial of the paid version.
Daemon Tools is still a capable virtual disc program. The number of supported image formats to mount ISOs is around 20 and you can also create an image from a physical CD, DVD or Blu-Ray disc. Up to three normal virtual drives are supported but the SCSI option which can emulate disc protections is now disabled. A feature which some might find useful is Catch! which allows sharing of images over your local network.
Im a very new user to try self teach hoping make appontments easer , iav a disabilty and found alot more things to make things easer for me cud be done on line hence why i thought a 2nd laptop would be not waisted . Im not very technical tho
Can any of these help me if iv locked myself out my admin password & a 2nd account i just wana restart using a laptop i got 2nd hand RESTART DISK i didt no about im learning so im kinda stuck ANY ONE ANY TIPS HELP NEEDED
You can either reinstall whatever Windows OS you’re using or use a program to crack your password.
To reinstall Windows you will need the .iso file. You can torrent those off tpb or wherever. Then you need a usb drive and a program to install the OS onto the usb like Rufus. After you do that, plug it in, and boot from usb. Usually just keep pressing f9 right when you start computer. Yours might be different though, there’s instructions on the screen at the bottom for a second or two. You will lose all your data unless you made backups. If you have Windows 10 this is probably your best option.
The other option is to download Ophcrack and their Rainbow Tables and follow the instructions. Install the Ophcrack.iso onto usb using Rufus. If your password is simple you don’t need the huge rainbow table files, just try the smaller ones. Make sure to get the tables that match your OS. This method doesn’t work with Windows 10 yet.
Or see if your restart disc will work, I don’t know. Good Luck. And don’t give up.
I didt get a reset disk i got it 2nd hand to self learn im a new internet user so i wanted try get better i contacted dell to change owner i did ask for help but they want to much money for any help im unsure i feel confidant in myself to do something i dont understand, if a repair shop can help how much wud be good price i dont want to over pay
How do i find out wot os its on its stuck on login page ?
yeah.in all os,you double-click,you mount it.but we”re talking about virtually mounting it.
Just open with winrar (eg) :)
I’m using WinCDEmu it’s very good and simple to mount a ISO.
Can i get that on my mobile & do it virtual way
Thank you very much, Raymond. Your article helped me out after bashing my head against the wall trying to mount an DISK image using a different program and having it fail time after time. Your #2 listing got the job done. Thank you again!
Hi All,
Thanks RAY for another wonderful article. I think ‘WinCDEmu portable’ is the easiest to work with ( at least for the job ! ). thanks & regards.
Great info, thanks!
Microsoft Virtual CDRom Control Panel
the driver is NOT signed for win 7 64 bit – can only use it with 32 bit
figure I’d try and save people the trouble of trying to use it and wasting time trying to figure it out. also have to right click the exe and run as administrator.
Thanks.
I have owned and used Alcohol 120% for over ten years now. It is NOT free but worth every penny. All updates have been free. It also handles several different file formats. It comes with a program called ACID which you run when a program is requiring an actual CD/DVD be in the drive. It makes it look as if the virtual drive is a real drive. The default file format is Alcohol’s MDF file format but you can reset that to be ISO. Alcohol 120% is also smart enough to know that if you want to make a copy of a double layered DVD that it needs to switch over to using a BIN type image rather than an ISO image. Again, I felt it was worth the money to buy the full blown version and over the six hard drive crashes caused by viruses or hackers or just a bad disk – Alcohol 120% has been there every step of the way.
Linux !!!! The Best ever tool to mount iso’s
In Windows 8 and Windows 10, there is no need for third party software. Double-clicking will mount it automatically.
Don’t post fake info, idiot. Windows 8 & 10 will ask “How would you like to open this file”. Then they show a list of programs, none of which mount .iso files. Third party is required for every version of Windows. You’ll need to set a virtual drive in the first place, otherwise Windows wouldn’t know where to mount the image!
JK, double-clicking an .iso mounts it automatically in Windows 10 (don’t know about 8 but for what I read it was already implemented then.
“otherwise Windows wouldn’t know where to […]” you obviously don’t know what “coding” means.
This is amazing for me! I just discover windows 10 can mount ISO files with just a right click!! New era…
Wikipedia comparison table:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_disc_image_software
gBurner did not work for me on Win7 64-bit. As a matter of fact… when I uninstalled it and restarted my Avast AV software didn’t start! These ‘free’ versions always scare the crap out of me. Tried WinCDEmu instead. I only really need this to mount and install software from an iso. Like it thus far… and like the Windows Explorer shell integration.
gBurner Virtual Drive is the best :)
I can assure it is free DT lite people must just click the blue bit at options … idiots most of you
Just installed on the 9/Nov/2015 Demon Tools offers 3 license options when installing, one is a free license, one is a personal license and the last is a commercial license.
Daemon tool is no longer free
There is still a free version available of DT Lite, it asks you to select the paid or free version on install.
Mounting/Virtual Drives are not free with DT Lite.
Before writing this comment I was able to install DT Lite Free and mount 2 virtual SCSI devices without an issue. It certainly is still possible to mount drives in DT Lite Free.
It is no longer free, you are only able to get free trial now.
When I install DT-Lite it offers the free version on install and in the program it says “Free license” with limited support. I’ve seen no mention of a trial version anywhere, where are you getting information it’s a trial only?
bro just try to download it again, its no longer free
I have just this moment downloaded it again and installed, it offers the personal license, commercial license or free license (with adware offers) on install. Running DT-Lite it tells me I have a free license with limited support. Are you saying the “free license” is really a trial or it’s telling you that you have a trial version??
I have just downloaded it and i can confirm that you get the option for free license upon installing the software.
yep
confirmed
Just downloaded November 9 2015 still free!! I think you have a serious vision problem!
OSF MOUNT is free and the best!!!
Nice one pupper just tried it and it’s fantastic. My new fave iso tool.
For all intents and purposes OSF Mount is essentially just a clone of IMDisk (I have both so I’m able to state this truthfully).
WinCDEmu – !!! (Ya – russkiy)
when im not using windows 8, i use wincdemu. it is only a small ap and can do the exact same thing. just one pop up box for the first time, you can easily remove it though by clicking automatic and ok.
PowerISO is flawless & easy
PowerISO costs 30 bucks lol, not worth it if for what most people actually do with the software
poweriso.com/download.php PowerISO is free the hell are you talking about
PowerISO is a shareware product costing $29.95, the ISO mounting can be used while in trial mode so it’s sort of half and half…
also comes with free spyware and malware so awesome don’t wait!
thanks..
ImDisk is hands down the best solution for mounting ISOs and other images.
Its lighter than any other one on the list, as its not a bloated adware ridden pile of bad codjng. It’s just a filesystem driver.
It has more features than the others, and games don’t use disc protection anymore.
Youcan also make images of any of your disks, flash drives, and cds/dvds/blurays for backups or just to access the data from a file.
Dont use that ofher garbage.
Absolutely the best solution.
Thanks Raymond,
i dont know much about IT but its nice that people actually take the trouble to write this so i know which is best to download. finally taking the emu. kind regards.
I’ve been using MagicDisс for CD emulation for almost ten years. It’s the easiest. And I tried ImageBurn also. Try it yourself. You will see how simple and good it is.
I have Windows 7 and NONE of the “Clone Drive” programs work, including Disc Magic.
The only one working so far is ‘Virtual CDrom Control Panel’ on Win XP but not on 7!!
Can anyone Help ???
Never mind, I finally remembered to RIGHT CLICK ! SORRY
ultra iso will work
PowerISO is best option for windows 7, works great.
Daemon Tool Lite is very good too
It seems to be copping a lot of bad reviews recently, for installing browser redirects and malware. I’ve just ditched Power Iso for doing the same thing, trying to find a replacement now :(
ISODisk it]s so cool and simple.
Thank you for sharing with us.
As an IT company we have been using MagicDisc for almost a decade and we use it weekly. Within the past few months it has failed more often than worked on Windows 7 computers. There seems to be a huge compatibility issue with the MagicDisc driver that it installs. Unfortunately, it is costing us time and money, so we will be using ImageBurn.
Mikey
MagicDisc is crap with larger DVD images. To test, simply copy a file that is physically near the “end” of the image. Boom “MS-DOS error” – it’s junk. Even worse is that it is the most impossible program to completely uninstall. A Big time waster.
Tested on multiple win7-x64 systems. Maybe it is better on other versions.
Guess what? IMGBurn has the same problem, only you can actually uninstall it.
Imageburn is by far the best.
I have tried most of the others. Imageburn has the smallest footprint of most of these. It performs all the necessary functions that a basic user needs. It mounts ISO to DVD flawlessly. If you have a DVD with content on it, Imageburn automatically detects it and asks you if you want to clean the disc. It will do that and then begin the analysis before the burn.
I tried Alcohol 120%. Everyone says it is the best. Imageburn does everything Alcohol does for the basic user and Imageburn is free.
I felt compelled to submit this because of the headaches and pains I went through with all the other listed crapware before I stumbled upon Imageburn.
Simple and intuitive UI, no bloat, fast download, install and performance, extremely accurate after 30 or so burns (DVDs perform flawlessly… and best of all, it’s FREE!
IMGBURN doesnt create a virtual drive to mount an .iso file does it?
You are correct, I believe Syndey has got confused between mounting ISOs and creating/burning ISOs!
ImgBurn has no facility I know of to mount ISO images as virtual drives…
Thanks for the info. Failed to install Microsoft Virtual CDRom Control Panel on my Win7 x64. Installed the 2nd one and works fine.
Thanks for posting this Raymond. Yes, never heard before about Microsoft Virtual CDRom Control Panel. Will give a try. I’m currently using Virtual clone drive. Its easy and doesn’t require a restart during installation unlike daemon tools.
I love gizmo
Thanks a lot
I’ve had a lot of success mounting using WinCDEmu on windows 7. It’s a piece of cake. Just install, find the image, then right-click over it and choose “mount”. You can mount it with any letter too. Piece of cake!
That’s really amazing. Thanks very much.
Everyone has their preference for a basic ISO handler. Mind is PowerISO, which is commercial, but which can be easily found for free on the torrent sites. It’s best-of-breed (yes, even better than MagicISO); and it will now handle MagicISO native files…
…that is, unless they’re compressed. Occasionally, one will encounter an ISO file that was created and then, further, compressed using MagicISO. PowerISO can’t handle that, so that’s where the little free MagicDisc utility (mentioned above) comes in.
MagicDisck can uncompress any file compressed by its parent MagicISO product. Once its uncompressed, then PowerISO (or, really, most any freeware or commercial ISO handler) can take it from there.
So, then, my point is, one should use whatever primary ISO handler that one wants to use. Most of them (including PowerISO) will mount any ISO as a virtual drive. However, because of the MagicISO compression thing, the smartest thing one can do is download and use that free little MagicDisc and let it sit in the system tray. Because it will mound multiple virtual drives, you can just let it be what you use for that purpose. But its REAL value will kick in whenever (if ever) you encounter a MagicISO-compressed ISO that you wish to use with something like PowerISO or ImgBurner or some other much more sophisticated and feature-rich ISO handler.
All of the choices in the primary article are nice and interesting, but with that free little MagicDisc utility running in one’s system tray, one need only add whatever is one’s choice of primary, feature-rich, freeware or commercial ISO handler software, and one will have all one needs… ever.
NOTE: Remember that when I say “all one needs” and “ever,” I’m referring strictly to ISO handling, not DVD or CD ripping or decoding or anything else. There are fine utilities for those things. This article just covers CD/DVD virtual drive mounting and the free utilities that will get it done. My point with this posting is to suggest that there’s only one choice from the above because of the vexing problem of how to handle ISO files (of whatever format) which are further compressed by MagicISO. Only the MagicDisc utility, above, will do that, so since one is likely to encounter MagicISO-compressed files in one’s downloading experience, one might as well just get the one tool from the above list that will not only mount virtual drives, but will also handle the vexing MagicISO-related decompression problem. From there, use whatever ISO handler you like.
Or so it is my advice, for whatever that’s worth.
I personally use Virtual Clone Drive, it’s really light weight, size and resources wise, plus it has a sheep on it! but for making my ISO’s and such I use IMGburn.
Alcohol 120 is the best in terms of overall features. Daemon Tools is the best in mounting images and virtual drives. It just lacks writing capability which Alcohol 120 has. My problem is both good programs can’t be installed in my Windows 7 system as of the moment. I think they both installs SPTD layer or something which Windows 7 Beta won’t allow for now. UltraISO works on Windows 7 and I’m using it. You should try it. You can open image files with it without mounting it to virtual drives. You also can edit the image file’s contents and save it. I’m just scouting for other programs of the like for now. Just passing by.. hehe..
i’m using Alchohol 120% and MagicISO. It works great! I use 2 softwares becuase MagicISO can’t mount some files (like MDS) so I use Alchohol 120% (And the other way around)
Thanks Raymond for the info…
gizmo drive been excellent thanks raymond cc
I tried Gizmo drive and it rocks!Thanks for the link
Thanks raymond for the best is magicdisc..
Virtual CloneDrive for me!
Great programs Raymond ,I use always Power ISO its very good too .
Thanks man :-)
I always use Daemon Tools for mounting disk images, I think its the best small utility. :)
Power Achiever 2009 (professional) can also mount an ISO file and it makes the mounted drive physical.
Microsoft Virtual CDRom Control Panel is small and works nicely but it can not make a physical drive like Nero Image or StarBurn. I use StarBurn GAOTD and it works perfectly
ImDisk Virtual Disk Driver is the best ;) thanks john_lennon
Is there any free portable application to mount!
i needed this but in case some doesn’t work you guys should also try daemon tools
I’ve not been able to run MagicISO in Windows7! For me only POWERISO worked! :(
another one, very good and with source code is ImDisk Virtual Disk Driver. The community is active. It’s not really a program but a driver. Works on XP/Vista.