Have you ever needed to burn an ISO, IMG file or DVD but didn't have a spare disk or simply didn't want to go to the hassle of doing so?
If so, did you know that you can mount ISO files virtually using a virtual drive such as Virtual CloneDrive? Effectively, it's like adding an extra DVD drive to your machine but it exists only virtually on your desktop. You can also use it to create image files which can then be “inserted” into the virtual drive from your hard disk or from a network drive and thus be used like a normal DVD.
To use it, you don't even need to access the main interface. You can either mount a file by right clicking on it or via Explorer which should give you the option to mount it from there. When you do so, you're usually prompted if you want Virtual CloneDrive to execute the Autorun.exe file in your ISO or IMG. Alternatively, it will ask you if you want to browse the files contained within it.
The only problem I experienced with it was in Vista which isn't officially supported but it does work with. However, it seems that after you've performed the first mount, if you try to launch another, it may be unresponsive or only allow you to browse files from where you can execute the Autorun.exe file manually anyway.
Virtual CloneDrive is a superb and simple tool for freeing-up your DVD drive and preventing the need to burn DVD IMG and ISO files.
