DAEMON Tools Lite

Create, manage, virtualize – these are the key operations Daemon Tools Lite performs with CD and DVD images. And this simple free application easily floors even more complicated tools doing the same.

Daemon Tools Lite creates up to four virtual CD/DVD drives undistinguishable from hardware ones in the system and allows mounting any disk image to them with a click. Aside from everyday convenience – after all, you don’t have to jerk the tray back and forth anymore – virtual disks are indifferent to scratches and work faster. The tool supports all popular disk image formats including ISO, MDS/MDF, NRG as well as MDX images of CD, DVD and Blu-ray disks.

The program offers two types of virtual drives: drives with simple emulation and SCSI virtual drives. While the former offers only basic emulation capabilities (which however will be enough for most users), the SCSI virtual devices provide emulation of copy-protected disks and disks with special security locks.

In addition to its main function, Daemon Tools Lite can create disk image from physical disks, so you can easily convert your entire CD/DVD/Blu-Ray collection to images and test if they are working properly right away.

Working with Daemon Tools Lite is really a no brainer. Just click Add, select an image and add it to the Image Catalog. After that a select a virtual drive in the drive list and click Mount. That’s it. Conveniently, the program can also mount certain disks automatically upon Windows startup. Overall, the tool is a nice replacement for a hardware optical drive, and since it is free for non-commercial use it is certainly can be recommended.