Today's lesson is on how to create CD images on your hard-drive, saving you both time and having all things in one place.

Have you ever experienced the horror of the realization that your beloved PC has become infected with an insidious virus or a nasty piece of spyware? Perhaps your mind was temporarily set at ease with the knowledge that you are armed with a virus scanner and spyware removal tools, but, in the end, using these weapons of the cyber revolution proved futile in your attempt to seek out and eradicate that evil piece of code that has embedded itself into your computer.

Well, if you are running a version of Microsoft's omnipresent Windows OS, your only salvation may be to do a clean install: in short, admitting defeat and reinstalling Windows. It's akin to using a bulldozer to raze a sand castle; it'll definitely get the job done, but it's a major overkill. Alas, you've concluded that a clean install is the only tack, as the reformatting of your hard drive will surely destroy that binary infection.

The only problem with a clean install--besides the time investment--is your having to reinstall all your applications again. This is not a problem per se; you know where you kept all your installation CDs and DVDs, right? Well, if you're like me, you've relegated all your install discs to some remote nook somewhere that's impossible to locate. There's a quick and easy to solution to all of this.

There's a handy little application called Daemon Tools that can load an image file from a CD or DVD disc. What does this mean for you? Well, by extracting an image file from a disc, you can store the image file on your hard drive. With this image file, Daemon Tools can load it up, and Windows will treat it just as if you popped in a disc into your PC. Simply put, you'll no longer need to fumble around with tangible, external discs.

Hard disk space is cheap currently. An average image file for a CD is 700 Megs, 4.7 gigs for a DVD. By extracting images from all your cherished install discs to your hard drive--one separated from your main Windows install hard drive--you'll won't need to worry about not being able to find that install CD again.

Other Uses

Daemon Tools also comes in handy when using one of those annoying applications that require a companion CD to be inside your PC's tray while the application is running. You know the ones I mean. For instance, I enjoy using a dictionary program called Oxford's Talking Dictionary, which allows me to hear the definitions of words via my PC's speakers. It's incredibly useful when you want to hear the precise pronunciation of a word.

The only rub is that the install CD needs to be inside my DVD drive in order for the dictionary program to access the pronunciation sound files; there's no option during the installation to install everything to the hard drive!

Well, Daemon Tools solved this annoying problem by allowing me to store an exact copy of the disc on my hard drive and telling Daemon Tools to load it up automatically when I boot up XP.

How Daemon Tools Works

The first thing you'll need before using Daemon Tools is a way to extract an image file from a CD or DVD. If you search the web, you may find a few freeware programs that can accomplish this, but I like to use Nero for my image extraction purposes. When Nero's done extracting the image file--the file will usually have an .ISO suffix--Daemon Tools can now work with the ISO image file.

Now comes the fun part. Once you've an ISO image on your hard drive--which is essentially an exact copy made from your CD--you can store it anywhere, treating as if it were any other file.

With Daemon Tools installed and running, you'll notice it sitting by quietly in your system tray. Right select on it and select Virtual CD/DVD ROM and a slide out menu will appear; now select Device 0 and Mount image; you'll be greeted with a file dialog box that will allow you to navigate and select your ISO image.

Once you've loaded your ISO image file, Damon Tools will create a virtual disc drive, which is just a fancy way of saying that Windows will think that you've popped in a disc into your CD drive.

By using the ultra handy Daemon Tools program to load up your ISO image files, you'll be able to store all your CDs and DVDs conveniently on your hard drive.

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