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Virtual blank CD

Posted: 2. Dec 2018, 17:23
by Seymour Krelborn
Greetings,

I need a virtual blank CD, to be used by a VM to write data (I hope that the virtual CD drive is capable of writing).

How do I create a virtual blank CD?
Or, where can I download a virtual blank CD?


Thank you.

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 2. Dec 2018, 17:35
by socratis
Seymour Krelborn wrote:I hope that the virtual CD drive is capable of writing
I'd start with that part first, and if the answer is "no", then a blank CD would be moot.

As things stand right now, the virtual CD is incapable of writing a CD, it's a DVD-ROM device. Just check with any CD writing software if the CD drive can do it or not...

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 3. Dec 2018, 06:38
by Seymour Krelborn
I found a workaround, so that I ended up not needing to write to a virtual CD.

***** New, somewhat related question:
I would like to, at a minimum, be able to create a virtual CD.

Can you (or anyone reading this) recommend a good .iso creation tool?

I am not looking for a way to burn to physical disks. I just want to be able to create an .iso file, containing the files of my choosing, for the purpose of inserting the .iso image into a virtual CD ROM.

I have scoured duckduckgo.com and youtube.com
The tools I found either trigger multiple hits on:
https://www.virustotal.com/#/home/upload
or they are ad based, or their free trials are too crippled to evaluate.

Although a good freeware version would be great, I have no problem paying for a program if it is good.


Thank you.

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 3. Dec 2018, 07:59
by socratis
Try ImgBurn, freeware. I think you'll find it more than adequate for what you want to do.

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 3. Dec 2018, 10:37
by Seymour Krelborn
socratis wrote:Try ImgBurn, freeware. I think you'll find it more than adequate for what you want to do.
Yes, ImgBurn looks like it is exactly what I need.

Unfortunately,
https://www.virustotal.com/#/home/upload
reports 8 hits for virus related code. I am not comfortable with that many positive results.

https://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/products/dtLite
is too crippled to evaluate, partners with with every other software vendor, and tries to sneak in several unsolicited apps -- so I do not trust them.

http://www.magiciso.com/download.htm
seems to work. But I am not thrilled with it, and it costs $29.95 to purchase a license for a non crippled version.

Do you have an opinion on my ImgBurn concerns?
Or do you have any other .iso app suggestions?

If not, I will probably purchase the Magiciso app.


Thank you.

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 3. Dec 2018, 11:03
by Etepetete
Hey Seymore,

I have used ImgBurn extensively in the past and would regard those warnings to virus related code as false positives. I stopped using ImgBurn when the developer stopped updating the software, too bad, it was really good.

Since then I've been using CDBurnerXP
https://cdburnerxp.se/en/home

I can highly recommend it.

Here are the instructions to create an iso image:

https://cdburnerxp.se/help/Data/createiso

best regards

P.S. I have as yet not used it in a VM

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 3. Dec 2018, 11:04
by pt58
Imgburn itself is safe. However, the 2.5.8.0 installer comes bundled with OpenCandy adware which you have to be careful to untick when you install it.
Alternatively, you can use the installer provided on ninite.com which strips out nasty adware and toolbars etc.

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 3. Dec 2018, 11:55
by Seymour Krelborn
Etepetete wrote:Hey Seymore,

Since then I've been using CDBurnerXP
https://cdburnerxp.se/en/home

Hi Etepetete,

https://www.virustotal.com/#/home/upload
shows 10 positives for CDBurnerXP's installation file. I am not comfortable with that many hits.

Thanks for the suggestion, and please comment if you feel I should not be concerned with Virus Total's report.

Cheers!

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 3. Dec 2018, 12:33
by Seymour Krelborn
pt58 wrote:Imgburn itself is safe. However, the 2.5.8.0 installer comes bundled with OpenCandy adware which you have to be careful to untick when you install it.
Alternatively, you can use the installer provided on ninite.com which strips out nasty adware and toolbars etc.
Hi pt58,

The ninite.com installer of imgburn was clean.

I installed it on a VM, without issues.

Thanks for the suggestion!

By the way, I tested creating an .iso file.
I created it, and inserted it into a virtual CD ROM drive. The .iso file contained the correct files. All went well.

But imgburn created an accompanying .mds file (a small file).
I did not use the .mds file, and I had no problems.

I could not find help for what the purpose of the .mds file is.
Some forums discussed it. But I saw nothing conclusive.

Do you know what the .mds file is for?

Re: Virtual blank CD

Posted: 3. Dec 2018, 13:18
by socratis
Seymour Krelborn wrote:please comment if you feel I should not be concerned with Virus Total's report.
You should not be concerned with Virus Total's report.
Seymour Krelborn wrote:But imgburn created an accompanying .mds file (a small file).
You didn't do it right.
Seymour Krelborn wrote:Do you know what the .mds file is for?
Google is your friend.

And to make a long story short, please let's keep these forums focused on VirtualBox related issues. If we start discussing virus signatures, application usage and filenames, the game is lost.