Disk image tools allow you to take physical discs and drives—DVDs, hard drives, and other media—and turn them into virtual images for ease of storage and manipulation. Here’s a look at five of the most popular disk image tools. More »
Windows: Backing up just your data is better than no backup at all, but creating a complete disk image allows you to restore not just your data but your entire operating system and all your settings. SelfImage can help. More »
If you’re in need of partitioning software or had been thinking about trying out Paragon Partition Manager, today is a great day to do so. The $US40 software is available for free, today only. More »
Backing up data is a great way to minimise losses after a computing catastrophe. But what about restoring your actual system right away? Here are the five most popular options for our readers. Photo by Robert Scoble. More »
Windows only: WinCDEmu makes it easy to quickly mount and access the contents of CD and DVD image files you’ve extracted or downloaded. More »
Windows only: Free application Gizmo Drive mounts almost any virtual hard drive you can throw at it, including ISO, BIN, CUE, and the new virtual hard drive (VHD) images supported in Windows 7. The purpose of disk image mounting tools is generally the same: Rather than burning a new CD or DVD whenever you want to access a file inside a disk image, these applications simply mount the image as though it’s a physical hard drive on your computer. We’ve featured several disk mounting utilities in the past, including previously mentioned ISODisk and Pismo File Mount, but Gizmo Drive may be the first we’ve seen that’s added VHD support as well—which may come in handy for XP and Vista users once Windows 7 comes along. The application is included in a packaged install with other apps, so be sure to check only what you want to install. Gizmo Drive is a free download, Windows only.
Gizmo Drive [via Download Squad]Mac OS X only: Freeware application FlashMount streamlines software installation and speeds up mounting various disk images like DMG and ISO files. Intended as a default replacement for OS X’s built-in DiskImageMounter.app—the program that traditionally mounts disk images—FlashMount forgoes the progress meter, presumably because the mount is fast enough you don’t need it. The second thing FlashMount does to speed up software installation is automatically bypass the EULA (the licence agreement) for downloaded software. That may be fine if you never read the EULAs anyway, but if you’re particular about licenses you accept, it’s probably not for you. FlashMount is freeware, Mac OS X only.
