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Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Windows x64

VHD Attach enables right-click mounting and dismounting of VHD files in Windows 7

One of Windows 7's slick new features is its handling of VHD (virtual hard disk) files. You can use them for a number of handy functions - from discreetly archiving files and folders to booting a full-fledged Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 install via your Windows 7 boot.ini.

But VHDs aren't as easy to work with out-of-the-box as they could be. To mount and unmount, you've got to head over to the Disk Management snap-in (diskmgmt.msc), wait for the screen to populate, go to actions->attach (or detach), browse for your VHD, and then wait some more.

VhdAttach speeds the process up by adding two entries to your context menu. Mouse over a .VHD file, right-click it, and you can mount and dismount right from Windows Explorer. Left click attach, and your VHD will pop up alongside your physical hard disks. When you're all done, detaching is just as simple.

The control app (inset in screenshot) which can open your VHDs and display information about them. You can also attach and detach from this screen.

VhdAttach is a free download and works with both Windows 7 and Server 2008.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Free GizmoDrive is an excellent virtual CD, DVD, and HDD app

Yet another trick Windows 7 has up its sleeve is the ability to handle virtual hard drive images (.vhd) natively. If you're running an older version of Windows, GizmoDrive can provide the same functionality and more.

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!

Filed under: Utilities, Open Source

WinCDEmu mounts disc images as Windows drives

WinCDEmu
There are plenty of apps that let you mount a disc image (like an ISO file) as a virtual drive in Windows. And to be honest, WinCDEmu is just another one of those apps, without too many special features. But the utility is light weight and open source, so it might be worth checking out if you're into those things.

Once you've downloaded and installed WinCDEmu, you can have Windows treat any ISO, CUE, BIN, RAW, IMG, or SMB network share as a hard drive just by double clicking on the file. If another program is already your default utility for mounting images, you'll need to right click on the file and select "open with vmnt" to use WinCDEmu. You can unmount a file by right clicking on the virtual drive letter in Windows Explorer and clicking "eject."

[via gHacks]

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Pismo File Mount turns any ZIP or ISO file into a virtual drive

Pismo File MountThere are plenty of utilities that will let you mount a disc image as a virtual drive, allowing you to browse the contents without actually burning the image to a disc. But Pismo File Mount is one of the easiest to use that we've seen -- and it has the added benefit of also being able to mount ZIP archives.

To install the free Windows utility you just need to download and run the PFM Audit Package found on the Pismo web site. Once the program is installed, you can mount a ZIP or ISO file by right-clicking on the file and selecting Mount or Quick Mount from the context menu. You can also launch Pismo File Mount first and then browse for the files you want to mount.

Once you map the archive to a virtual drive, you can should be able to view the contents in Windows Explorer. You can also decide whether or not you want read/write or read only access to the archived files.

[via Freeware Genius]

Filed under: Internet, Security, Utilities, Windows, Commercial

SftpDrive: Access your SSH server as a network drive in Windows

SftpDriveSftpDrive is a commercial app (free six-week trial, $39 to buy) that lets you map remote SSH/SFTP servers to network drives in Windows, meaning you can access your remote files just like local files from any Windows program securely. In addition to mapping network drives, SftpDrive will do SSH tunneling. I installed the trial (the download is less than 1.5MB) and found that the "zero configuration" claim on its web site is absolutely true. It took less than 30 seconds to get a network drive set up, most of which was spent trying to remember my username. Accessing remote files is fast—faster than my usual SSH client—and you can set up an unlimited number of drives. SftpDrive is slick and, as far as I can tell, performs as advertised in every respect.

[Via Joey Day]

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So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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