Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware
Free GizmoDrive is an excellent virtual CD, DVD, and HDD app
by Lee Mathews Jan 19th 2009 at 1:00PM
Apart from being able to mount .vhd files, GizmoDrive also supports .iso, .cue, .bin, .mds, .mdf, and .nrg formats. Using the create image feature you can create new image files from a disc or folder. If that's not enough, you can also use the app to burn disc images to physical media.
GizmoDrive isn't done there. Two more things its create image feature can do are set up a ram drive and create password-protected, encrypted virtual hard drives for storing sensitive data. Like most virtualization apps, you can either pre-allocate the virtual drive's full capacity or allow it to expand on-the-fly.
GizmoDrive is a free application for Windows, and adds several useful functions in a single, compact package. The developer packages several apps in one installer, so just make sure to uncheck what you don't want.
Thanks, John!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jenn said 1:05PM on 1-19-2009
does this mean its like Daemon Toos? Or can you create an image of your hard drive, and use that similar to virtual pc?
either way sounds cool.
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Lee Mathews said 1:08PM on 1-19-2009
It's like Daemon tools in that you can mount disc images to virtual drives (like j:, k: etc.)...but it goes way beyond that with the additional (and I think very cool) features.
Bolivar Baez said 1:45PM on 1-19-2009
You can also use Virtual Hard Drives
d00msay3r3 said 1:59PM on 1-19-2009
I prefer virtual clonedrive from elbysoft.
http://www.elby.ch/fun/software/index.html
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Lee Mathews said 2:00PM on 1-19-2009
Does VCD support virtual hard drive files? I didn't think that it did.
d00msay3r3 said 2:22PM on 1-19-2009
No I don't think it does. I just like the way you can easily mount files by clicking on the .iso (or any image file) and it mounts like you just threw in a cd. Some of the mounting programs are kind of a pain to get the image file ready to use.
The program you have here is more feature rich, but I think it's a little more complicated to mount basic files.
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DL said 2:35PM on 1-19-2009
i actually needed an iso mount today. Im running win7 64 and found that the Daemon Tools and Virtual Clone Drive failed to work but powerISO did the trick.
Oddly enough i have a virtual BD drive left over from vcd andi cant get rid of it.
fun with Betas i guess.
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jorgequinteroj said 2:31AM on 3-14-2009
try ccleaner and see if helps you get rid of that driver left on your hard disk.
lazaroarm said 12:53AM on 1-20-2009
I downloaded windows 7 ISO to my laptop ( 2gb ram 32 bit with dvd drive no burner), I read that I have to burn the ISO to a dvd in order to install win7 in my computer, can this Gizmodrive helps me, I repeat, I have already the ISO downloaded in my computer, I have also a 8gb memorex flash memory drive, I have also a 64 bit windows vista with dvd burner pc but failed to download win7 in this one. I want to install the win7 in my laptop only
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Fred Thompson said 3:44AM on 1-20-2009
Very often, drive image mounting programs mention cue and bin but don't fully explain. Cue is just a text file describing what is in the bin. cue files most often point to bin files but can also point to ape, flac, mp3 or a number of other data types. Does this support that or just the cue/bin combination.
Other than VHD, I don't see what this does that Alcohol 52% Free Version does. Daemon is a little more powerful than Alcohol 52% but has lousy shell integration.
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Fred Thompson said 3:44AM on 1-20-2009
I mis-typed. I meant, "Other than VHD, I don't see what this does that Alcohol 52% Free Version doesN'T."
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Fred Thompson said 6:39AM on 1-20-2009
This thing is very poorly designed. Install it, try to mount an image. What do you get? An error message that says you need to define a drive (fair enough) and you should click on "Devices"...which is nowhere to be seen. No wonder it's "now free."...
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Fred Thompson said 6:43AM on 1-20-2009
It also claims to need updates as soon as you run it, even though it's supposedly 3 months old. (Add "lazy" to "poorly designed") and tells you that you must donate to get all the functionality. (Add "liar" to "lazy" and "poorly designed".) This isn't a free drive emulator, it's poorly designed me-too shareware. Adios, Sayonara, purged from my systems.
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Nate Peterson said 11:23AM on 1-20-2009
You sound pretty lazy yourself. Take a closer look. Donated version gives simply the "latest" features, made part of free version eventually.....furthermore, I do not get the error you posted. Works perfectly. Better than Alcohol 52%. You can create more virtual drives. Better UI. Encrypted virtual drives, etc.
Jim Miller said 12:02PM on 1-20-2009
alcohol 52% is nice too but it does not let you create isos from folders. this is actually handy. i saw no error messages so far, but there was notification to reboot after install, which seems fair. really nice ui. you can mount from shell. mount from task tray. mount from command line. alcohol 52% is not really free. you need to pay money for the full feature alcohol 120% version. at least with gizmo you can wait and get all features. current version has all i need.
caryn745 said 3:10PM on 1-20-2009
gizmodrive ui is actually quite polished. the toolbar allows for the drives to be managed with shortcut keys
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