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virtual drive. virtual disk. What are the best disk drive emulators (CD-Rom's)

Hello.

In this article, I would like to touch on two things at once: a virtual disk and a disk drive. In fact, they are interconnected, a little lower we will immediately make a short footnote to make it clearer what will be discussed in the article ...

Virtual Disk (the name “disc image” is popular on the net) - a file whose size is usually equal to or slightly larger than the real CD / DVD disc from which this image was obtained. Often images are made not only from CDs, but also from hard drives or flash drives.

Virtual drive(CD-Rom, disk drive emulator) - roughly speaking, this is a program that can open an image and present you with information on it, as if it were a real disk. There are many such programs.

The best programs for working with virtual disks and drives

1.DaemonTools

Link to the lite version: http://www.daemon-tools.cc/rus/products/dtLite#features

One of the best programs for creating and emulating images. Supported emulation formats: *.mdx, *.mds/*.mdf, *.iso, *.b5t, *.b6t, *.bwt, *.ccd, *.cdi, *.bin/*.cue, * .ape/*.cue, *.flac/*.cue, *.nrg, *.isz.

You can create only three image formats: *.mdx, *.iso, *.mds. You can use the light version of the program for free at home (for non-commercial purposes). The link is above.

After installing the program, another CD-Rom (virtual) appears in your system, which can open any images(see above) which you can only find on the Internet.

To mount the image: run the program, then right-click on the CD-Rom, and select the "mount" command from the menu.

To create an image just run the program and select the "create a disk image" function.

After that, a window will pop up in which you need to select three things:

The disk whose image will be obtained;

Image format (iso, mdf or mds);

The location where the virtual disk (i.e. image) will be saved.

Conclusions:

One of the best programs for working with virtual disks and drives. Its capabilities will be enough, probably, for the absolute majority of users. The program works very quickly, does not load the system, supports all the most popular Windows versions: XP, 7, 8.

2. Alcohol 120%/52%

Link: http://trial.alcohol-soft.com/en/downloadtrial.php

(to download Alcohol 52%, when you follow the link above, look for the download link at the very bottom of the page)

A direct competitor to Daemon tools, and many rate Alcohol even higher. In general, Alcohol is not inferior to Daemon Tools in terms of functionality: the program can also create virtual disks, emulate them, and burn them.

Why 52% and 120%? It's about the number of options. If in 120% it is possible to create 31 virtual drives, then in 52% - only 6 (although 1-2 is more than enough for me), plus 52% cannot burn images to CD / DVD discs. Well, of course, 52% is free, and 120% is the paid version of the program. But, by the way, at the time of writing, the 120% version is given for 15 days for trial use.

Personally, I have the 52% version installed on my computer. A screenshot of the window is shown below. The main functions are all there, you can quickly make any image and use it. There is also an audio converter, but I have never used it ...

3. Ashampoo Burning Studio Free

Link: https://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/pin/7110/burning-software/Ashampoo-Burning-Studio-FREE

This is one of the best programs for home use (and free). What can she do?

Work with audio discs, video, create and burn images, create images from files, burn to any (CD / DVD-R and RW) discs, etc.

For example, when working with an audio format, you can:

Create Audio CD;

Create an MP3 disc (https://website/kak-zapisat-mp3-disk/);

Copy music files to disk;

Transfer files from audio disc to HDD in a compressed format.

With video discs, too, more than worthy: Video DVD, Video CD, Super Video CD.

Conclusions:

An excellent harvester, which may well replace a whole range of utilities of this kind. What is called - once installed - and always use. Of the main drawbacks, there is only one: you cannot open images in a virtual drive (it simply does not exist).

4. Nero

Website: http://www.nero.com/rus/products/nero-burning-rom/free-trial-download.php

I could not ignore such a legendary package for burning discs, working with images, and in general, everything related to audio-video files.

With this package, you can do everything: create, burn, erase, edit, convert video-audio (almost any format), even print covers for recordable discs.

Minuses:

A huge package, in which everything you need and do not need, many even 10 parts do not use the program's capabilities;

Paid program (free test is possible for the first two weeks of use);

Heavy load on the computer.

Conclusions:

Personally, I have not used this package for a long time (which has already turned into a big “harvester”). But in general - the program is very worthy, suitable for both beginners and experienced users.

5. ImgBurn

Website: http://imgburn.com/index.php?act=download

The program pleases from the very beginning of acquaintance: the site contains 5-6 links so that any user can easily download it (from whatever country he is). Plus, add to this a dozen or three different languages supported by the program, among which there is Russian.

In principle, even without knowing English, it will not be difficult for even novice users to understand this program. After starting, you will see a window with all the features and functions that the program has. See screenshot below.

Allows you to create images of three types: iso, bin, img.

Conclusions:

Good free software. If you use it in a compartment, for example, with Daemon Tools, then there will be enough opportunities “for the eyes” ...

6. Clone CD/Virtual Clone Drive

Website: http://www.slysoft.com/en/download.html

About how to create and work with disk images, as well as with what programs, read our today's article.

Disk image. Applications

A disk image is a file that contains a complete copy of the content and data structure of a drive.

A disk in this case means any hard disk (HDD), floppy disk (FDD) or optical disk (CD/DVD) or Flash drive.

Advice! The main advantage of a virtual image is the fact that the disk image contains absolutely all the information to duplicate the structure, content and data location of the storage medium, repeating its set of sectors and ignoring the file system.

Virtual disks are used to:

Reserve copy.
Unlike conventional programs Reserve copy, which copy only those files to which there is access, in the case of creating an image, in addition to the data itself, the bootloader and files that could be blocked by the OS will also be copied.
Distribution software. For distribution (including via the Internet) of operating systems (OS) and software (SW) that are large in size (for example, distributions of OS BSD, Linux).
Create virtual hard disks in virtual machines. Before you start working with a virtual machine, you need to create a virtual hard disk, on which the operating system will be installed later.
Replication of the same type systems.
If it is necessary to install the operating system and software on computers that have the same hardware configuration.
A more rational step would be to install and configure the OS and software on one computer, after which an image is created along with all system settings and installed on other computers.

The .ISO format is the most popular disk image format, but has the disadvantage of not supporting multi-session data.

Other popular formats are the .DMG and .IMG formats, as well as the proprietary .MDS/.MDF (Alcohol, Daemon Tools), NRG (Nero Burning ROM), .VCD (VirtualCD), and others.

Overview of programs for creating a disk image

Alcohol 52%

Program settings allow:

check the accuracy of reading data from physical devices;

improve the quality of scanning bad sectors;

simultaneous work with 6 virtual drives;

work with formats: BIN, BWA, BWI, BWS, BWT, CCD, CDI, CUE, ISO, ISZ, NRG, MDS;

DAEMON Tools

As can be seen from the table, for the tasks of an average user, the functionality of the free version is enough, which allows you to create and mount all existing types of images and emulate up to 4 drives.

The program has a clear Russified menu.

Ultra ISO

Useful features of the program include:

optimization of the structure of the disk image, allowing more rational use of hard disk space;

creation of boot disks containing boot sectors of the most popular operating systems (DOS, Windows, Linux);

extraction of boot sectors from hard disks (HDD) and floppy disks (FDD);

adding, deleting, editing files and folders directly inside the disk image.

The program interface is available in more than 40 languages, including support for English, Ukrainian and Russian.

The cost of the program license is $30, there is also a trial version.

How to create a game image using DAEMON Tools

3 best programs to create a disk image

Sometimes PC users are faced with the acute question of how to create a virtual hard disk or CD-ROM. Let's learn how to perform these tasks in Windows 7.

The methods for creating a virtual disk, first of all, depend on which option you want to end up with: a hard drive image or a CD / DVD. Usually, hard files drives have a VHD extension, and ISO images are used to mount a CD or DVD. In order to carry out these operations, you can use the built-in tools of Windows or turn to the help of third-party programs.

Method 1: DAEMON Tools Ultra

First of all, consider the option of creating a virtual hard drive with help third party program to work with drives - .

Run the application with administrator rights. Go to tab "Tools".

A window opens with a list of available program tools. Choose an item "Add VHD".

The window for adding a VHD opens, that is, creating a conditional hard drive. First of all, you need to specify the directory where this object will be placed. To do this, click on the button to the right of the field "Save as".

The save window opens. Enter it in the directory where you want to place virtual storage. In field "File name" you can change the name of the object. The default is "New VHD". Next click "Save".

As you can see, the selected path is now displayed in the field "Save as" in the program shell DAEMON Tools Ultra. Now you need to specify the size of the object. To do this, by toggling the radio button, set one of the two types:
- fixed size;
- Dynamic expansion.
In the first case, the volume of the disk will be exactly specified by you, and if you select the second item, the object will expand as it fills up. Its actual limit will be the size of the empty space in the HDD partition where the VHD file will be placed. But even when choosing this option, it is still in the field "The size" you need to set the initial volume. Just a number is entered, and the unit of measurement is selected to the right of the field in the drop-down list. The following units are available:
- megabytes(default);
- gigabytes;
- terabytes.
Be careful when choosing the right item, because in case of an error, the difference in size compared to the desired volume will be an order of magnitude larger or smaller. Then, if necessary, you can change the name of the disk in the field "Mark". But this is not a prerequisite. After performing the described actions, to start the formation of the VHD file, click "Start".

The process of generating the VHD file is in progress. Its dynamics is displayed using an indicator.

After the procedure is completed, the following inscription will be displayed in the DAEMON Tools Ultra shell: "VHD creation process completed successfully!". Click "Ready".

Thus, a virtual hard drive has been created using the DAEMON Tools Ultra program.

Method 2: Disk2vhd

If DAEMON Tools Ultra is a universal tool for working with media, then Disk2vhd is a highly specialized utility designed only for creating VHD and VHDX files, that is, virtual hard disks. Unlike the previous method, using this option, you cannot make an empty virtual media, but only create a snapshot of an existing disk.

Method 3: Windows Tools

A conditional hard drive can also be created using standard system tools.

Click "Start". Right click ( PKM) click on the name "A computer". A list opens where you can choose "Control".

The system management window appears. In its left menu in the block "Memory Devices" go by position "Disk Management".

The drive management tool shell starts. Click on a position "Action" and select an option "Create Virtual Hard Disk".

The creation window opens, where you should specify in which directory the disk will be placed. Click "Review".

The object browser window opens. Move to the directory where you plan to place the drive file in VHD format. It is desirable that this directory is not located on the HDD partition on which the system is installed. A prerequisite is that the partition is not compressed, otherwise the operation will fail. In field "File name" be sure to indicate the name by which you will identify this element. Then press "Save".

You are returned to the virtual disk creation window. In field "Location" we see the path to the directory selected in the previous step. Next, you need to assign the size of the object. This is done in almost the same way as in the DAEMON Tools Ultra program. First of all, choose one of the formats:
- fixed size(set by default);
- Dynamic expansion.
The values of these formats correspond to the values of the types of disks that we previously considered in DAEMON Tools.
- megabytes(default);
- gigabytes;
- terabytes.
After performing the above manipulations, press OK.

Returning to the main partition management window, in its lower area you can see that an unallocated drive has now appeared. Click PKM by its name. Typical template for this item "Disk #". From the menu that appears, select an option "Initialize Disk".

The disk initialization window opens. Here you just need to click OK.

After that, the status of our element will be displayed in the list "Online". click PKM by empty space in the block "Unallocated". Choose "Create a simple volume...".

Welcome window launches "Volume Wizard". Click "Further".

The next box shows the size of the volume. It is automatically calculated from the data that we put in when creating the virtual disk. So you don't need to change anything here, just click "Further".

But in the next window, you need to select the letter of the volume name from the drop-down list. It is important that there is no volume with the same designation on the computer. Once the letter is selected, press "Further".

You don't have to make any changes in the next window. But in the field "Volume Label" you can replace the default name "New Volume" to any other, for example "Virtual Disk". After that in "Explorer" this element will be called "Virtual Disk K" or with another letter that you chose in the previous step. Click "Further".

Then a window will open with the total data that you entered in the fields "Masters". If you want to change something, then click "Back" and make changes. If everything suits you, then click "Ready".

After that, the created virtual drive will be displayed in the computer management window.

You can access it using "Explorer" In chapter "A computer", which lists all drives connected to the PC.

But on some computer devices, after rebooting, this virtual disk may not be displayed in the specified partition. Then run the tool "Computer Management" and go back to the department "Disk Management". Click on the menu "Action" and choose a position .

The drive attachment window will open. click "Review…".

The file browser tool appears. Change to the directory where you previously saved the VHD object. Select it and click "Open".

The path to the selected object will be displayed in the field "Location" window "attach virtual hard disk". click OK.

The selected drive will be available again. Unfortunately, on some computers, you have to do this operation after each restart.

Method 4: UltraISO

Sometimes you need to create not a virtual hard disk, but a virtual CD drive and run the ISO image file in it. Unlike the previous one, this task cannot be performed solely with the help of operating system tools. To solve it, you need to use third-party software, for example, .

We figured out that virtual disks can be of two types: hard disks (VHD) and CD / DVD images (ISO). If the first category of objects can be created both with the help of third-party software and using the internal tools of Windows, then the task of mounting an ISO can only be handled by using third-party software products.

Depending on the emulator program, you can install five or six or even 10-20 virtual drives on a computer, and all this will not cost the user a dime, while the number of physical drives is usually limited to one or two.

Most users use CD/DVD drive emulation software for the following purposes:

Run CD/DVD images from a hard drive without having to burn it to a physical optical drive.
- Increasing the speed of data access (the speed of the hard drive is much higher than the optical one).
- Backup multiple disc image files to a new hard drive, much easier than burning multiple new CD/DVDs.
- Prevent CD/DVD discs from being scratched or worn out by frequent use.
- Saving a copy optical disc to your computer's hard drive in case of damage, loss, or theft.
- Free up workspace by getting rid of a large number of physical disks.
- Run disk images from a laptop or netbook that does not have built-in CD / DVD drives or with the drive turned off (to save battery power).
- Grant disk access to users on the network.
- Drive encryption for security.

Considering most of the above goals, all of the following CD/DVD emulators are reviewed and rated according to the following parameters:

The number of virtual drives available.
- Support for ISO and other image formats.
- Ability to create a disk image from CD / DVD.
- Interface and additional functions.

Review

- this wonderful product allows you to mount an ISO file (or a disk image in another format) on a virtual drive created with this program. Once the image is mounted, it will show up in Windows Explorer as a "real" CD/DVD or hard drive.

Gizmo Drive supports up to 26 virtual drives. Besides ISO, it also works with other images including VHD, IMG, BIN, CUE, NRG, CCD, MDS, MDF and GDRIVE.

In addition to running disk images on virtual drives, Gizmo Drive is useful when creating ISO images (both disks and individual folders), or for burning the contents of an ISO file or folder to an optical disc. To perform various tasks, the program provides a special manager and image wizard.

The user interface of Gizmo Drive is informative and helpful. Additional program features include creating GDRIVE images to simulate a hard disk with compression and encryption, creating a virtual hard disk with support for system memory to improve performance in accessing time-dependent data, etc.

Another emulator designed to create and manage virtual CD/DVD drives. From allows you to run many types of disc images without burning them to a CD or DVD. Also, this program will help you create disc images and save them in various formats (including ISO, BIN/CUE, NRG and UIF).

MagicDisc Virtual DVD/CD-ROM has a simple interface and supports up to 15 virtual drives at the same time. Other features supported by this program include compression of various formats (ISO, NRG, CUE, MDS, CCD) to UIF, and recovery of UIF to ISO. The function of burning images to CD / DVD discs is not supported by this program.

Another easy-to-use emulator is called . With it, a disk image can be mounted on a virtual drive in just two clicks. Just like with the above mentioned programs, this is achieved using helper commands that appear in the context menu of Windows Explorer and are used to mount and unmount images.

AT latest versions Virtual CloneDrive can be installed (as in MagicDisc Virtual DVD/CD-ROM) up to 15 virtual drives. The original useful features of the utility also include automatic mounting of the last image and special icons that denote virtual drives (to distinguish them from physical ones).

Virtual CloneDrive supported formats include ISO, CCD, IMG, UDF, BIN, etc., but NRG, MDF/MDS and some others are not supported. This, as well as the lack of the ability to create and burn disc images, is a minus of this program.

Other programs

In addition to the above products, there are a number of other free programs performing similar functions. Below you can view a list of some of them:

Alcohol 52% Free Edition - stripped down version commercial product Alcohol 120%. Free version limited to 6 virtual drives, and installs a search bar in your browser (can be disabled). Additional features- CD / DVD manager and wizard for creating images in ISO, MDS, CCD and CUE formats.

DAEMON Tools Lite only supports 4 virtual drives. Supported formats include ISO, ISZ, CCD, CDI, CUE, MDS, NRG, BWT, PDI, etc. DAEMON Tools Lite also allows you to create images in ISO and MDS formats. This program, like the previous one, installs an additional search bar in your browser and changes the main search provider.

Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel is a free utility from Microsoft that runs in the operating system. Windows system XP, and allows you to add virtual drives from A to Z, or remove them. Supported formats: ISO, UDF, CDFS, ROCK or JO. Cons - not very friendly interface and the lack of the ability to create images.

WinCDEmu is an open source program that allows you to mount CD / DVD images with a simple click on desired file. To unmount an image, you just need to double-click on it again, or extract the corresponding drive using the context menu. The utility supports ISO, CUE, NRG, MDS/MDF, CCD, IMG formats and works in operating systems from WinXP to Win7. Cons - the lack of an uninstaller, and the inability to create images.

Instruction

Download the program for working with disks. It can be a paid or free utility. Among the free ones, the recognized leader is Daemon Tools Lite. Of the paid counterparts, we can recommend Alcohol 120%, in addition to reading, it can create them, as well as burn them to discs. To download, use trusted sources, or the official website of the developer.

Launch by double click setup file, answer the questions of the installation wizard by clicking the "Next" and "Finish" buttons. During the installation process, you will need to reboot, so save and close all important data and documents. Open the main module of the downloaded program, to do this, double-click the icon on the desktop. Or you can click the Start button -> All Programs -> Daemon Tools. The result will be the same.

A window titled Mount`n`Drive Manager will appear. In its lower part, right-click on free space, and select the line "Add virtual SCSI drive". Another way is to right-click on the program icon in the system tray near the clock. The actions are the same, just select the line with the command written above.

A message about creating a virtual drive will appear. Wait until it disappears.
Open "My Computer" and check the list of disks. There should be a new item in this list. For example, if before you had the letters "C:, D:, E:", then after it should be, for example, like this: "C:, D:, E:, F:".

What are the benefits of creating virtual disks and drives? And the fact that the virtual drive never breaks and the disk inside it will never “explode” from high speeds. In addition, you can create several virtual drives on which to place the most important disk images. On - a disk with Windows - so, just in case. On the other, you can place the necessary software, on the third - your favorite game, etc.

Related videos

A huge amount of information on the network is distributed in the form of CD images. These include exact copies of physical CDs. Their only difference is that drive unit, which is used to read them, is not physical, but virtual, and it is not located in the computer case, but is installed by a separate utility on the user's computer.

You will need

utility "Alcohol 120%"

Instruction

One of the most common utilities that provide the creation of a virtual drive in the system are "Alcohol 120%" and "Daemon Tools". You can work with both programs by analogy.
Install and run the "Alcohol 120%" utility. You can do this either by double-clicking on the program's icon on the desktop, or by finding it in the program list using the Start menu.

Search for the desired image file. To do this, in the horizontal menu bar, first click on the "Service" item, and then, in the drop-down list, select the "Search for image files" item. In the search box, you must specify the path to the location of the image. Then click on the "Search" button. All found images will be displayed in the window. Find the one you need in this list and click on it with the left mouse button. After that, select "Add selected files to Alcohol 120%".
The same search can be performed using the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl + F".

Close the image search window.

Mount the image to a virtual drive.
After completing the second step, the main window of the utility changed a little - the required image file appeared in the list on the right side of the program. Click on the name of this image with the left mouse button and select "Mount to device" in the context menu.
The image is now mounted to the virtual drive. You can work with it as with an ordinary CD.

Useful advice

There is a more compact and simple program for creating a virtual drive. It's called "UltraISO". After starting the program, you will see a window with a directory in which you have to select a folder with an existing image file. After you click on it with the mouse, the entire contents of this image file will appear in another window. Then you need to click on the "Tools" item in the menu bar and select the "Mount to virtual drive" section. The same can be done by pressing the "F6" button. In the window that opens, click on the inscription "Mount". After that, the image file will be mounted.

Sources:

Alcohol 120% 2.0.1.2033

Progress does not stand still. If earlier to launch a game or watch a movie it was necessary to purchase a disc, insert it into a disc reader (CD-ROM, DVD-ROM), now you can start the game from a virtual disc. In fact, the virtual disk is not inserted anywhere, but is created using special program.

You will need

Daemon Tools Pro

Instruction

Launch Daemon Tools from the taskbar, via the Start menu, or by clicking on the DTPro.exe file icon in the directory with installed program. In the program window, in the top menu bar, select the Tools section by clicking on it with the left mouse button. In the menu that opens, call the Add IDE Virtual Drive command (add an IDE virtual drive) or click the corresponding icon on the control panel. If the icon bar is not displayed, right-click on it and mark the Basic item with a marker. Wait while the application creates a new virtual disk - at the bottom of the window you will see a thumbnail of the newly created virtual disk.

Right-click on the virtual disk icon or double-click on it with the left mouse button. As long as the drive is empty, it will be displayed as Empty. In the drop-down menu, select the Mount Image command (mount the image). Specify the path to the file that contains the disk image (.mds, .iso, and so on). Select the file so that its name appears in the File name line and click the Open button. Wait while the application mounts the disk image to your virtual drive. When the operation is completed, the virtual disk you created will change its appearance and name.

Close the program window by clicking the X icon in the upper right corner of the window, or select the Exit command from the File item in the top menu bar. Confirm the action by clicking the Yes button in the window with the question "Are you sure you wish to exit?" (Are you sure you want to exit). Open the My Computer folder. Along with the local and removable drives on the computer, you will see the newly created virtual drive with the image mounted on it. Then work with it as with a regular disk: if autorun is provided, left-click on the icon, if you want to open the disk for viewing, right-click on its icon and select the "Open" command.

Modern users prefer to save data from DVD media as ISO images. This helps not to lose important files and quickly restore the desired DVD if necessary.

You will need

- Alcohol Soft.

Instruction

There are several methods for creating a disk image. Much depends on how you plan to use the image. Download and install the program Alcohol Soft. First make sure that the selected version of the utility is suitable for working in the environment of your operating system. Restart your computer for the utility to finish installing the components.

Open the drive tray and insert the DVD media into it. Close the DVD drive and wait for the new disc to be detected. Launch the Alcohol Soft program. Open the Image Creation menu, the icon of which is located in the left column of the working window. Select the type of file to create and click Next. It is better to use ISO or MDF formats. Specify the DVD drive you have inserted desired disk. Press "Next".

Select the folder where you want to save the resulting disk image. Enter its name if required. Click the "Create" button and wait for the procedure to complete. The time spent on this process directly depends on the capabilities of your DVD drive and the speed of reading data from the disc you are using.

After the image creation is complete, click Finish. The name of the created file will appear in the main menu of the program. Open the "Virtual Drives" item. Enter the number of virtual drives to create. Click OK and wait for the new drives to be prepared.

If you need to write the image to a physical disk, you can do it like this. Insert a blank disc into your computer's drive. In the program menu, select "Burn CD / DVD from an image." Next, specify the path to the virtual disk that you want to burn. Click next. In the next window, check the box next to the "Record" line and click "Start". The disc burning process will begin. When the procedure is complete, simply remove the disc from the drive tray.

Surely you have had a situation where you want to copy a game or movie, but this becomes impossible due to the fact that protection is installed on the disk. There is a way out of this situation, you can create a disk image, its exact copy, which will be played on a virtual disk drive.

There is a phrase "virtual disk", it is not entirely correct. Making a disk copy requires two elements.

The first element is the disk image file. It contains a copy file system, structures and content of data that are on the original media (CD, DVD, HD-DVD, Blu-ray). This file duplicates the set of sectors of the original media. There are several types of disk image files, depending on the program in which they are made and for which they are created: *.ISO is the most common image file extension; *.IMG, *.DMG; *.VCD (VirtualCD); *.NRG (Nero Burning ROM); *.MDS/*.MDF (DAEMON Tools, Alcohol 120%); *.PQI (DriveImage); *.DAA (PowerISO); *.VDF (FreeVDF, VDFCrypt); *.CCD/*.IMG/*.SUB (CloneCD).

The second element is a virtual drive. In this case, “virtual” means that there is no physical drive, but there is a program that emulates its operation in the operating system environment.

To be correct, the concept of "virtual disk" is applicable to working with virtual machines, that is, with programs that emulate technical specifications computer and allow you to install programs and Operating Systems. The virtual disk in this case is the file that virtual machine defined as a physical disk used to store information. This can be either a hard disk image or an optical disk or floppy disk image.

Disk images are used to distribute large software packages such as GNU/Linux and to install software on computers that have a similar configuration. These files are indispensable for storing, transferring and using data without optical media. Images are used to archive data on hard drives and, as a result, can be opened and run using archiving programs.