Create a Virtual CD ROM drive to Mount ISO Images

You download an ISO image for some awesome free software you found and want to install it. You find you either don’t have any CDs to which you can burn the image or you don’t have access to a CD writer. Virtual CDRom can solve your problem.

Virtual CDRom is a virtual CD ROM driver utility created by Microsoft. The utility enables you to mount an ISO image and use an emulated CD ROM drive to run it as if you had put a CD in a CD ROM drive.

Download Virtual CDROM from http://www.pendriveapps.com/virtual-cd-rom/.

Installing Virtual CDRom

Virtual CDRom is not installed like a regular software program. To “install” it, unzip the zip file you downloaded and copy the VCdRom.sys file to the C:\%systemroot%\system32\drivers folder, where %systemroot% is the main installation directory for your version of Windows.

Installing the Driver

The first step when running Virtual CDRom for the first time is to install the driver. You placed the driver file in the drivers folder, but you have to install the driver inside the Virtual CDROM program.

Run the VCdControlTool.exe file. The Virtual CDRom Control Panel dialog box displays. Click Driver Control.

The Virtual CD-ROM Driver Control dialog box displays. Click Install Driver.

The Open dialog box displays. Navigate to the drivers directory in the Windows installation directory mentioned earlier and select the VCdRom.sys file. Click Open.

Click Start and then click OK.

Now we need to add a drive to the list. Back on the Virtual CDRom main window, click Add Drive.

A new drive is added to the list ready for an ISO image to be mounted into it.

NOTE: Make sure the drive added to the list does not have a drive letter used by a local hard drive, such as C:. If it does, continue to click Add Drive until a letter displays in the Drive column that is not used by a local drive.

Select the each drive you added that you will not use and click Remove Drive to remove them from the list. You can only select and remove one drive at a time.

Mounting the ISO Image File

Select the drive you are going to use in the list and click Mount.

The Open dialog box displays. Navigate to the location of the desired ISO file, select it and click Open.

The Special Mount Options dialog displays. Do not select any of the options. Just click OK.

Click OK on the Virtual CDRom main window to close it. Your ISO file should display as a drive in Windows Explorer.

Unmounting an ISO Image File

When you are finished using the ISO file, run the VCdControlTool.exe file again. Select the drive in the list and click Eject.

In the Mapped Image column, Virtual CDRom tells you that no image is mounted.

Stopping the Driver

To stop the driver, click the Driver Control button on the main window. Click Stop on the Virtual CD-ROM Driver Control dialog box.

If you want to remove the driver from memory, click Remove Driver. You don’t have to do this if you think you might need to use Virtual CDRom again before you shut down your computer.

NOTE: You may have to reboot your computer to be able to install the driver again to mount an image.

by Lori Kaufman