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There seem to be quite a few free applications out there that can mount an ISO in Windows. What is currently the most recommended one?

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As a side note: Windows 8 will have built-in support for ISO and VHD formats. blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/08/30/… – Gani Simsek Sep 27 '11 at 19:19
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11 Answers

up vote 67 down vote accepted

I suggest Virtual CloneDrive by SlySoft. It works perfectly on Windows 7 x86 and x64, unlike Daemon Tools. It's simple and free.

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+1 For noting that Daemon Tools is not free. If you are using Daemon Tools at work without a license, you are violating the license agreement. – cowgod Jul 15 '09 at 21:32
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@cowgod: I think Chris meant Daemon Tools doesn't work on Windows 7. ;) – Sasha Chedygov Jul 19 '09 at 3:41
The latest version of Daemon Tool, v4.30.0305, should work on Windows 7 as well according to the release notes. I haven't tested it though. – Jonas Pegerfalk Aug 2 '09 at 19:09
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Daemon Tools Lite works for free and on both versions :) – RCIX Dec 10 '09 at 10:39
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Is there any spyware or adware installed with Virtual CloneDrive? – jmsmcfrlnd Jan 16 '10 at 15:31
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up vote 13 down vote

I like to keep things basic. There is a small tool from Microsoft that's never failed me called "Virtual CD Control Panel". It was made for Windows XP but works fine under vista for me as well, and I assume 7.

Here is a link.

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Just don't forget to read the README file - you need to install drivers before mounting - Just launching the .exe won't work. Got me frustrated for some minutes. – Adam Matan Jul 21 '09 at 22:04
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Does't work under 64 bit Windows 7 though (or, I believe, 64 bit Vista or XP). – me_and Dec 19 '09 at 18:55
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up vote 13 down vote

WinCDEmu is an open-source software that allows mounting CD/DVD images by clicking at the image files in Windows Explorer (right click > eject to unmount).

Works with XP/Vista/7 x86 & x64

WinCDEmu is freeware.

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WinCDEmu is awesome! No ridiculous UI; it just works -- double-click the image and it mounts. – adrian Apr 15 '10 at 19:01
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Not just freeware, open source! – benzado Oct 15 '10 at 19:20
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up vote 9 down vote

Daemon Tools is great, but I like MagicISO too.

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There are different versions, some coming with an annoying toolbar and other junk, so make sure you get the stripped down version. – Will Jul 15 '09 at 21:05
I tried to find that stripped down version but I failed... Could you provide a pointer? – R. Martinho Fernandes Jul 15 '09 at 21:18
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+1 MagicISO, -1 Daemon Tools. I found Daemon Tools to be full of spyware (don't know if that's changed more recently), and it didn't work on Win7. – alastairs Jul 15 '09 at 21:49
MagicDisc is the actual mounting software, MagicISO is a commercial ISO editing program. – Breakthrough Aug 9 '11 at 21:31
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up vote 7 down vote

Virtual CloneDrive

or

Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel from Microsoft - download link

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up vote 6 down vote

MagicISO works best for me.

It's free and is currently maintained.

It allows me to have multiple virtual CD drives and mount each from an ISO image.

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up vote 5 down vote

Depends on the version of windows, but for XP you can use this free tool from MS.

Daemon Tools is also a great free image mounting tool and it works for just about any version of windows. You have to dig around a bit, but there is a version that works on Win7 64bit.

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up vote 5 down vote

Virtual Clone Drive, very simple and does the job.

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up vote 5 down vote

By far the best free ISO mounting tool out there is Pismo file mount.

Some highlights:

  • Works great on Windows Vista/7 x64 (not natively x64 but completely compatible)
  • Drives only exist when an ISO is mounted and are removed when there is no ISO mounted
  • Small memory footprint
  • Has simple minimalist right click shell integration
  • Unattended installation
  • No Branding or silly logos to speak of (very clean professional feeling program)
  • Fully featured command line control that is automatically working right after unattended install
  • Plus all the normal features you would expect from an ISO mounting tool
  • Free for corporate use

Some things you will want to pay attention to though is that by default it will not mount the ISO to a drive letter but instead mount it to a UNC path which can cause some software installers to fail when installing from the mounted path. Just make sure you specify that you want Pismo to mount to a drive letter when you are doing the mount and it will work fine.

Here is the unattended install of SQL to demonstrate my real world use of Pismo.

SET MSDNIsoPath=\\itapp\ISO Library\MSDN
SET ScriptPath=%~dp0
SET ScriptPath=%ScriptPath:~0,-1%
SET MountPath=m:
SET pfmMount=pfm mount -m %MountPath%
SET pfmUnMount=pfm unmount

echo -Installing Pismo File Mount
"%ResourcePath%\pfmap-051.exe" /q

echo.
echo Install and configure Microsoft SQL Server 2005 
echo -Installing Standard Edition
%pfmMount% "%MSDNIsoPath%\en_sql_2005_std_x86_dvd.iso"
%MountPath%\Servers\setup.exe /settings "%ScriptPath%\Configuration\Microsoft SQL Server 2005.ini" /qb /norestart
%pfmUnMount%
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up vote 1 down vote

Try OSFMount. It's free and lightweight.

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up vote 0 down vote

Gizmo Drive
When I first went to Windows 7 - Gizmo Drive was the first one I found and I fell in love with it and all the little gadgets you can add on to it.

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