The Windows 7 beta includes the ability to burn CDs/DVDs from ISO images but it doesn’t seem to be able to mount them as volumes. As this beta is supposed to be feature complete, I don’t think it’s very likely that we’ll see this functionality added in future builds (even though rival operating systems can already do it…) but there are some third party alternatives available.
Last week, I (finally) got around to upgrading my netbook from Windows 7 milestone 3 (build 6801) to the beta (build 7000) and, as I didn’t have access to a DVD drive, I used Slysoft Virtual CloneDrive to mount the ISO as a drive, after which I could select the Windows 7 setup.exe from the autorun menu. It did exactly what I needed it to and that, rather lengthy, upgrade process didn’t seem to hiccup at all. From a quick trawl of the ‘net, there is at least one alternative out there (which I haven’t tried) – PowerISO – although this is a chargeable product and Virtual CloneDrive is freeware.
I tested both Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools with Windows 7. Neither will work. The issue stems from the fact that they both use an SPTD driver from DuplexSecure. This driver is not compatible with Windows 7 and DuplexSecure has stated that they will not develop software for a beta OS.
One tool which did work with Windows 7 is Pismo file Mount. It is free software and you can download it from their web site at: http://www.pismotechnic.com/pfm/
@Jason – when I searched for other posts on this subject then one of the first things I found was people who can’t get Daemon Tools to work on 7 – I had heard of Pismo File Mount but neglected to mention it in the post above – thanks for pointing this out.
I’ve not tried it in Windows 7 yet, but I’ve had good luck with MagicDisc (freeware), which has both 32 & 64 bit versions available.
I went with Slysoft as soon as Win 7 popped up and said that there were issues installing Daemon Tools. Actually, I managed to install Clone Drive first and couldn’t figure out what the problem was, which was downloading and installing the correct software package!
I had both (Slysoft and Daemon Tools) running under Vista (don’t ask me why…)
Burning ISO’s from Explorer is a plus, although I’ve had the Microsoft CD and DVD burn command line utilities for quite some time (from the Resource Kit). Now I won’t have to think about it.
Virtual Clone drive is fantastic and simple…oh and free :)
Here’s a minor problem. Virtual Clone Drive is not compatible with Windows 7 Build 7022 (not a major release). It causes explorer.exe to crash when you try to right click a drive in Windows Explorer. I’m sure this will be fixed soon but as of now, just a word of caution.
I’ve had some issues with file save dialogs on build 7000 too that I think may be related to Virtual Clone Drive (not 100% certain though). I’ve also seen issues mounting drives after the machine has gone to sleep and been woken.
Maybe not the perfect solution, but enough to mount the odd ISO for software installations (particularly useful on a netbook!)
Windows 7 64bit. Clone Drive and Magic ISO caused problems severe enough to require restore to a save point before installation. Daemon tools would not install. Alcohol 52% would not install. Pismo works great. Does seem to have some limits but for simply mounting .ios files, it works!!
It seems everything i’ve tried hasn’t worked. I got VCD to work but it doesnt read isos I mount, which makes me sad because ive trusted it for a long time on vista. Haven’t tried pismo yet, thats next