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'Daemon Tools' (styled 'DAEMON Tools' by its creators) is a disk image emulator for Microsoft Windows that mounts images of DVD and CD media on virtual drives, and is known for supporting a variety of different disk image formats. The program is able to defeat most copy protection schemes such as SafeDisc and SecuROM.
Daemon Tools was originally a furtherance in the development of another program, ''Generic SafeDisc emulator'', and incorporated all of its features. It is currently being developed and distributed by ''Daemon's Home'' and is free for non-commercial purposes but the "free" version comes with the option to install an advertisment system from WhenU, which is ticked by default. Daemon Tools is known colloquially as D-Tools or just DTools. Version 3.47 is Adware-free, while later versions are not.^[1]

Contents

Uses

Other uses

★ cue/bin ★ iso ★ ccd (CloneCD) ★ bwt (Blindwrite) ★ mds (Media Descriptor File) ★ cdi (Discjuggler) ★ nrg (Nero) ★ pdi (Instant CD/DVD) ★ b5t (BlindWrite 5) ★ isz (Compressed ISO images)

Products

See also

References

External links

Uses

Like other disc image emulators, using Daemon Tools means a user does not have to swap discs to run different programs, which also eliminates scratching of the disc. It is useful for those who purchased software, but either lost or damaged the disc, to still be able to use that program. On a more quotidian level, Daemon Tools enables users to run games and other programs on their laptops without requiring them to bring an entire library of CD or DVD media around with them, which is safer and more convenient.
It can also be used to access software distributed as a disk image (drivers, support files, archives, etc) without the need to burn a physical CD/DVD. This is somewhat similar to how .dmg files are used in Mac OS X.
Several disk images can be loaded at once, which can be useful for installing or using software that ships on multiple discs and requires shuffling between them during use.
It is also useful for networking applications, where a program requires a CD to be operated, and it is impossible to distribute the requisite CDs to all users.

Other uses

As with any software, there is potential for abuse by users. One such use is the copying of copy protection material. To curb the act of copyright infringement, Daemon Tools clearly states that the software should not be used for that purpose.
== Supported filetypes^[2]

★ cue/bin

★ iso

★ ccd (CloneCD)

★ bwt (Blindwrite)

★ mds (Media Descriptor File)

★ cdi (Discjuggler)

★ nrg (Nero)

★ pdi (Instant CD/DVD)

★ b5t (BlindWrite 5)

★ isz (Compressed ISO images)

Blacklisting ==
Some software publishers go to great lengths to try to disable or frustrate Daemon Tools. For example, some games will check to see if the driver for Daemon Tools is loaded, and if so will take some action, such as uninstalling the toolset altogether. New releases of Daemon Tools take various measures to ensure the functionality of the application. For example, revision 4.06 randomizes the name of the virtual driver installed by the software.
In latest versions Daemon Tools uses a rootkit technology to hide from other applications and operating system itself. It often leads to false reports by antivirus or anti-rootkit software.

Products

The Daemon Tools team has been working on Daemon Tools Pro, which has been released on June 25, 2007.^[3] The regular version has been renamed to Daemon Tools Lite, as of version 4.10. Compared to the Lite version, the Pro version is capable of making CD/DVD images. It is also possible to protect one's virtual CD/DVD images with a password.

See also

★ Disk image emulator

★ CDemu

★ Alcohol 120%

★ SCSI Pass Through Direct

★ IsoBuster

References

1. http://www.pricelesswarehome.org/2006/PL2006SYSTEMUTILITIES.php#VirtualCD
2. http://www.daemon-help.com/index.html
3. DAEMON Tools Pro Released LocutusofBorg

External links

★ Official Daemon Tools website

★ Official Daemon Tools Pro website