# Storing CDs as images on a PC **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 20, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785 "2009-04-20T22:11:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fantome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Fantome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fantome)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/1 "2009-04-20T22:11:53Z")
I was looking at various CD and DVD burning software and I stumbled upon a program called Alcohol 120%. I did some Googling and it seems it’s highly recommended by a lot of reviewers. I’m trying to understand what’s so special about this software that it’s worth paying $45 for when there’s a lot of free software out there that will burn CDs and DVDs. > **[Alcohol 120% - CD/DVD Burner](https://cleansofts.org/alcohol.html)** > > Alcohol 120, is a powerful Windows CD and DVD burning software that makes it easy to create backups of DVDs and CDs. In addition, the program lets you store your most used CDs as images on your computer, so you can call them up at the click of a... > [@](#): > > Imagine being able to store your most used CDs as images on your computer and just call them up at the click of a button! What’s so special about a CD being an “image” on your PC rather than just ripped using free software? Does an image use up less disc space or have some other benefits? > [@](#): > > And then run them at 200x the speed of some CD drives and without requiring the CD itself! Run them at 200x the speed? > [@](#): > > How about being able to make a backup of that CD onto another CD either using the CD itself or just using the image you have created? How is that different than just burning a CD of a CD you ripped to your PC? ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/2 "2009-04-20T22:21:46Z")
Because it allows you to mount CD images as virtual drives. Indeed, many copy-protection schemes check for this sort of behaviour to prevent piracy. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/3 "2009-04-20T22:22:12Z")
Seems like this program is aimed at software CDs and DVDs (like games), not music or video discs. it allows you to use your “CD” without actually inserting the CD into the drive. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/4 "2009-04-20T22:59:42Z")
As **Quartz** says, software like this allows you to copy your CD to your drive as a disc image. This will appear on your computer as a single ISO file. You then “mount” the image on a virtual disc drive, and it appears in My Computer just like any other disc drive. When i want to mount disc images, i use Daemon Tools, a free piece of software that does the trick. Thing is, for music CDs it’s sort of pointless to store disc images on your computer. You’re better off just ripping the discs and storing the music files, either in lossless format (CDA or FLAC), or a lossy format like MP3 or OGG. There’s really no advantage to storing music as disc images, unless you have some music CDs that are also CD ROMS, with extra features that you’d like to be able to use on your computer. Which leads us to **beowulff** ’s point: for the most part, people use disc images for software and games, because it allows you to run the software without inserting the physical disc. And because your computer is reading the mounted image straight off the hard drive, and not off the optical drive, it can read it much more quickly than it can a physical CD/DVD. That’s what they means by the 200x thing. To tell the truth, i can’t remember the last time i mounted a disc image. I think it might have been when i downloaded an image of Ubuntu to install on my computer. I’m not a gamer, so i have no need to make images for that reason. To tell the truth, most of the disc images i’ve seen were pirated software and DVDs. There’s plenty of legitimate uses for disc images, but it seems to be another technology where a large proportion of the actual usage is done by file-sharers. ---
**Author:** ![Fantome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Fantome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fantome)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/5 "2009-04-20T23:09:29Z")
Thanks, guys. So, to hi-jack my own thread, what do you think the best software is out there for burning CDs and DVDs? I don’t mind if it’s free or not. My awesome Googling skills lead me to believe CDBurnerXP is a top contender. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/6 "2009-04-20T23:23:54Z")
> [@Fantome](#): > > Thanks, guys. So, to hi-jack my own thread, what do you think the best software is out there for burning CDs and DVDs? I don’t mind if it’s free or not. My awesome Googling skills lead me to believe CDBurnerXP is a top contender. I have a relatively old version of Nero (v. 6.6) on my computer, and it does the job just fine. I believe Nero is up to version 9 now, but i see no need to upgrade. I think my version came with my DVD burner. Did you not receive Nero or Sonic or some similar burning software with your computer or burner? If you want a free solution, i’ve heard good reports of the one you mention, CDBurnerXP, and also of [BurnAtOnce](http://www.burnatonce.net/), although i’ve never used either myself. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/7 "2009-04-20T23:24:08Z")
I’ve only used [InfraRecorder](http://portableapps.com/apps/utilities/infrarecorder_portable)’s PortableApps version, but it works great. Edit: I also use Nero, and second **mhendo** ’s opinion. I also also have used K3B and … something else … on Linux with no complaints. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/8 "2009-04-20T23:29:16Z")
[IMGBurn](http://www.imgburn.com/) might also be worth a try. ---
**Author:** ![Fantome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Fantome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fantome)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/9 "2009-04-20T23:32:03Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I have a relatively old version of Nero (v. 6.6) on my computer, and it does the job just fine. I believe Nero is up to version 9 now, but i see no need to upgrade. I think my version came with my DVD burner. Did you not receive Nero or Sonic or some similar burning software with your computer or burner? I have a disc that came with my burner that has Nero 8 Express on it. I read that Nero is ‘bloatware’ and other negative things. I want what the PC geek would use. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/10 "2009-04-20T23:34:13Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > [IMGBurn](http://www.imgburn.com/) might also be worth a try. I second the ImgBurn recommendation, it’s what I use. Very clean. I used to use Nero but it is bloatware. I used to really like Nero’s AAC encoder but it’s just a bit too much work getting clean AAC files set up and tagged in iTunes (it can be done w/o too much difficulty, but it’s a lot more work than simply ripping with iTunes) ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/11 "2009-04-20T23:42:38Z")
> [@Fantome](#): > > I have a disc that came with my burner that has Nero 8 Express on it. I read that Nero is ‘bloatware’ and other negative things. I want what the PC geek would use. 😃 Fair enough, but i have lots of geeky stuff on my computer (and i also dual-boot with Linux), and i’ve found Nero to be fine. The installation takes up 70Mb of hard-drive space, which is absolutely nothing on today’s hard drives. It doesn’t run in the background when i don’t want it, and when it is running it doesn’t use up much in the way of CPU or memory. I’ve really had no trouble at all. There’s one thing you should do if you’re going to install Nero (or just about any software, IMO): choose Custom Install instead of Typical Install. With Custom, you can deselect the unnecessary shit that often comes with these sorts of programs. I can’t remember what comes with Nero, but there’s probably some stuff you don’t need. Just leave it out when you install the program. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/12 "2009-04-20T23:44:41Z")
> [@Fantome](#): > > I want what the PC geek would use. 😃 cdrecord or growisofs from the Linux command line 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2009, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/13 "2009-04-20T23:46:17Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > There’s one thing you should do if you’re going to install Nero (or just about any software, IMO): choose Custom Install instead of Typical Install. With Custom, you can deselect the unnecessary shit that often comes with these sorts of programs. I can’t remember what comes with Nero, but there’s probably some stuff you don’t need. Just leave it out when you install the program. A. Men. ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/14 "2009-04-21T04:52:28Z")
You really shouldnt have to spend money on nero for something as simple as burning cds or taking images. I use CDBurnerXP. Its free, works fine, and has a simple to use GUI. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/15 "2009-04-21T11:44:25Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > To tell the truth, i can’t remember the last time i mounted a disc image. I think it might have been when i downloaded an image of Ubuntu to install on my computer. I’m not a gamer, so i have no need to make images for that reason. To tell the truth, most of the disc images i’ve seen were pirated software and DVDs. There’s plenty of legitimate uses for disc images, but it seems to be another technology where a large proportion of the actual usage is done by file-sharers. Agreed—it’s pretty darned rare that one needs to twiddle with disc images on a PC. …on Mac OS X, however, they are quite popular as the standard software delivery mechanism. When you download any software, free or purchased, it usually comes in the form of a variable-size disk image, which is mounted seamlessly by OS X. I like it, and wouldn’t mind if Windows had this same built-in functionality. Not a huge thing, but it’s nice. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/16 "2009-04-21T13:02:36Z")
[Try StarBurn Free edition.](http://www.rocketdivision.com/download_starburn.html) The download link will actually download the new release version 12. Uncheck install SkyWeb unless you want that search tool on your browser. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/17 "2009-04-21T13:06:58Z")
> [@HorseloverFat](#): > > You really shouldnt have to spend money on nero for something as simple as burning cds or taking images. I use CDBurnerXP. Its free, works fine, and has a simple to use GUI. I believe my copy of Nero came free with the burner. Or something. I certainly did not pay for it. I am still using Nero V.6.00.11 because after I upgraded to a newer version I had some trouble (I think it would not overburn) so I just went back to 6. It works fine and does all I want. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/18 "2009-04-21T14:30:48Z")
I use CDBurnerXP for burning; small, free, easy, and it works. For mounting images I use the free version of MagicDisc; some software won’t work if Alcohol 120% or Daemon Tools is running on the computer. ---
**Author:** ![Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fake\_Tales\_of\_San\_Francisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fake_Tales_of_San_Francisco)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/19 "2009-04-21T14:36:49Z")
[Virtual CloneDrive](http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html) is good as a free alternative for mounting images. (especially useful for playing PSX games on an emulator, and often sorts out audio/graphical issues that the DVD drive causes). Nero is my personal favourite for burning, but like others it came free with my motherboard or DVD drive I think. CDBurnerXp would be my free burner of choice though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2009, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785/20 "2009-04-21T14:39:36Z")
Windows Media Player works just fine for me. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/storing-cds-as-images-on-a-pc/493785.md?page=2)