Techerator
Guides, Tools/Utilities

How To: Mount Images (ISO Files) in Windows XP with a Small, Free Microsoft App

June 23, 2009 by Evan Wondrasek · 1 Comment 

Windows XP:  If you have ever downloaded a disk image (ISO file), you likely burned it to a CD or DVD and put it in your optical drive.  Well, image files don’t necessarily need to be burned to physical media – they can be mounted “virtually” in your operating system and be used just the same.  Software such as Daemon Tools (free) and Alcohol 120% (not free) can mount disk images, but why use those when Microsoft has a free image mounting program?

Virtual CD Control Panel is a free (albeit unsupported) program from Microsoft that lets you quickly mount images in Windows XP.  Although the program doesn’t list support for DVD images, I mounted the Windows 7 installation DVD without any problems.

Getting Started

  1. Download Windows XP Virtual CD Control Panel and extract the files.
  2. Copy VCdRom.sys (included in the zip file) to C:/WINDOWS/system32/drivers (or see detailed instructions below).
    1. Click Start –> Run.
      winxpmountcd_run
    2. Type %SystemRoot%/system32/drivers and press enter.
      winxpmountcd_system32drivers
    3. Copy VCdRom.sys into this folder.
  3. Run the program by opening VCdControlTool.exe
  4. Click Driver Control, then click Install Driver.
    winxpmountcd_drivercontrolwinxpmountcd_installdriver
  5. Navigate to the folder where you copied VCdRom.sys (C:/WINDOWS/system32/drivers), select it, and click Open.
  6. Click Start, then OK.
    winxpmountcd_start

Mounting an Image File

  1. In the Virtual CD Control Panel application, click Add Drive which will create the virtual drive.
    winxpmountcd_adddrive
  2. Click ‘Mount’ and select the ISO file you would like to use.  Click OK in Special Mount Options.
    winxpmountcd_mountwinxpmountcd_specialmount
  3. Your disc will now be fully accessible in My Computer, just the same as if you had the disc in your optical drive.
    winxpmountcd_mountedcd

Unmounting an Image File

  1. In Virtual CD Control Panel, select your virtual drive and click Eject.
  2. Click Remove Drive.

Virtual CD Control Panel is a free application for Windows XP.  [Download]



Related posts:

  1. Looking for Free Virus, Spyware, and Malware Protection? Try Microsoft Security Essentials
  2. How To: Easily Resize Images in Windows
  3. How To: Verify Your Windows 7 ISO is Legitimate
  4. Fix: Connecting USB Devices To VirtualBox On Fedora 11
  5. Follow Up: My Experience with Microsoft Security Essentials Anti-Malware Software

About the Author

Evan Wondrasek is the founding editor of Techerator and is currently studying Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of North Dakota. He enjoys web design, vanilla lattes, and all things tech.

Read More: , , , , ,

  • Subscribe to Techerator via email!

    Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe to Techerator via email to get updates with more great tips, guides, and reviews.

    Enter your email address:

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

Comments

One Response to “How To: Mount Images (ISO Files) in Windows XP with a Small, Free Microsoft App”

Trackbacks

Check out what others are saying about this post...
  1. uberVU - social comments says:
    January 18, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    Social comments and analytics for this post…

    This post was mentioned on Twitter by techerator: New article: How To: Mount Images (ISO Files) in Windows XP with a Small, Free Microsoft App http://bit.ly/Fk12q...

    Reply


Speak Your Mind

Tell us what you're thinking...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!

Techerator