CD Anywhere - User Guide and FAQ

• CD Image Creator
  • Create Audio CD image
  • Create Program or Game CD image
  • Create Video DVD image
  • Create CD image from Files
• CD Image Converter
  • Convert BIN to ISO
  • Convert MDF to ISO
  • Convert CDI to ISO
• CD Anywhere Manager - Mount, dismount, review and manage virtual CDs
• CD Burner - Burn your CD image onto a disc

Frequently Asked Questions - CD Anywhere

1. Why should I use CD Anywhere rather than just copy files from my CD to the hard disk?
   A number of applications and games do not work properly if their CD is not in the CD-ROM drive. CD Anywhere emulates the physical media so that the application works correctly. In addition, CD Anywhere can compress the CD image. When the original CD has a lot of small files, these files will consume considerably more disk space because of the way files are stored on the hard disk. The single CD image created by CD Anywhere makes for the most efficient use of the disk space. With compression on, you can usually save another 50% in disk space.
   
   
2. Does compression of a CD image affect performance?
   Since the hard disk provides data at up to 200 times faster than a CD drive, the small overhead of decompressing an image can be ignored. The virtual CD will always be faster than using a physical CD-ROM drive.
   
   
3. Can I access a single CD image located on a server from different workstations simultaneously?
   For those CDs without restrictions, the application will run fine when using the CD Anywhere Network Edition. Personal Edition does not support this configuration. Keep in mind that some applications shipped on CDs have licensing restrictions to prevent you from running it more than once. CD Anywhere cannot bypass these restrictions.
   
   
4. Can I make an image of a copy-protected CD?
   In some cases - yes. A few copy protection systems will mark every CD with a unique identifier that is not readable by CD Anywhere. If this is the case, while an image can be made, the program on the image may fail to run properly. Most DVD videos also use a form of copy protection, CD Anywhere can release from region and CSS encrpytion protection automaticly.
   
   
5. What types of CDs are supported?
   CD Anywhere supports data CDs, audio CDs, mixed CDs that have both data and audio tracks, DVD-ROMs (with a DVD-ROM drive), VCDs and most multi-session CDs. You cannot make an image of most DVD videos, due to the copy protection techniques, and the large file sizes (over 2 GB) that would be required. The editing feature (the ability to add and remove tracks from an image) is supported for all images except multi-session CDs.
   
   
6. Can I specify the drive letter for each virtual CD-ROM drive?
   Yes. When you install a new virtual CD-ROM drive you can specify any desired drive letter, from those not in use.
   
   
7. Can audio CDs be saved into MP3 format?
   Yes, also you need not have an MP3 encoder installed to save MP3 tracks, but need an MP3 player to listen to MP3 tracks. These are not part of CD Anywhere. There are many such products available.
   
   
8. I created an image of a program CD, but when I insert this image in a virtual drive the program can't locate it. What is wrong?
   Some programs save the drive letter that you used to install it from. The easiest approach is to first make the image of the program, and then install the program from the image, rather than the physical CD.