7 replies to this topic

[laugher]

I understand Alcohol doesn't allow me to burn to a virtual "blank" CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, etc but can I please request this feature please? Surely it can't be that hard?

The problem I waste a lot of CDs/DVDs when I try to burn something to "see if it will work". This could range from experimenting with Nero Burning ROM to see if a Video CD format would work on my player which may or may not support +/-R formats to burning directly to an image because I just don't have a blank CD/DVD on me at any point in time.

I can see a lot of practical uses I can leverage for a feature such as this.

Is this something someone here on this forum can pass on to the Ideas/development team please? If this feature is already enabled in the latest version of 120%, someone please tell me how to go about doing this.


Thanks.

[zamiel]

What you are asking for is not available in the current version of Alcohol.

This idea is not a new one and has been mentioned a few times before. I still believe it is a pretty good feature to include and hopefully the DEVS will look at adding something like this in a future version of Alcohol.

[Jito463]

Even if this does happen, it will not be quickly. Writing code like this requires time and testing and more time and more testing (ad nauseaum). In answer to your question, yes, it can be that hard. Even if they licensed the code from another company that has a product out now that does this, they would still have to incorporate it into Alcohol and do extensive testing to ensure no compatibility issues occur when adding the code. In the meanwhile, you can do a search on Google for "virtual cd-rw", which should turn up a few hits of software that do this presently.

I wouldn't mind seeing this happen, either (though I have no present use for it at this time); but speaking realistically, it wouldn't happen overnight.

[laugher]

I wouldn't mind seeing this happen, either (though I have no present use for it at this time); but speaking realistically, it wouldn't happen overnight.

Understand the effort required. I did a search as you suggested and nothing really fits the bill that I could see (unless google has sorted the results all wrong for me). The only one exception which kind of fits is NoteBurner. However, I gather that Noteburner must be using a proprietary format for the in-between CD image. They are not interested in burning the CD image because their application is about burning iTunes or DRM protected audio files to an audio CD image and then ripping from that CD image to unprotected MP3, WMA, etc.

Ironically, one of the uses I would have used the virtual CD-RW/DVD-RW feature for is what NoteBurner is trying to fill.

While you all observed that you don't actually have a use for it in the short term, you'd be surprised how many times this feature would be EXTREMELY useful/valuable if this kind of technology is widely available. The company who introduces it (and markets it just as well) should expect increased sales/distribution of their product.

Here are just some of the ones I can think of right now that applies to me personally;

1. Burning to a CD-R/DVD-/+R image (ISO, BIN, etc) file when you are at a customer site and don't have blank media on you
2. When you are doing a backup on iTunes and you start running out of physical media!!! This was EXTREMELY annoying.
3. iTunes burning to a CD-R image so you can then rip the resultant audio CD to MP3/WMA/WAV, etc. Currently, I get around this by using a physical CD-RW.
4. DVD authoring of a DVD movie with DVD menus, etc require a lot of testing to get right. If you just use DVD-/+R discs, it could end up to be a very expensive exercise.
5. Mastering a CD/DVD data, audio or video disc for customer distribution but doing it directly to an image file so you can edit it to your heart's content until you get it right. Then burning the final ISO image to hundreds/thousands of physical media for customer distribution.
6. You use a laptop and the laptop's system restore facility (the one that restores your laptop back to factory default installation in case your hard disk dies) wants to burn directly to physical media (usually DVDs). If I can get the system restore facility to believe it is creating the DVDs but instead, it burns directly to ISOs, I can back these image files up to external hard disk, tape drive, etc and not risk my system restore capability to a set of physical media which could be scratched, or suffer data loss due to the life of the media. This bypasses creating the restore capability to physical media first and then using Alcohol 120% (as it stands) to create an image file.
7. Reducing the need to have so many CDs and DVDs around because there are a lot of applications that only want to burn to physical media as a backup device and is incapable of creating its own ISO, BIN, etc. image files.

As I said in an email to support, I would pay for this feature. You can call it Alcohol 120% version n+1 or you can call it Alcohol 180%. I want it now!!!!

[Glenn_108]

I can't believe A120% doesn't already do this. It can emulate a whole drive but not the media in it.

A120% kind of does with image burn but it requires to be the builder/burning app.

I came here thinking I just need the info of how to get A120% to enable a virtual blank CD/DVD.

I'm really shocked it doesn't.    oh well.

 

 Anyway here are some more reasons for a virtual blank CD\DVD option/feature:

All the apps that require to be the burner, like windows System Repair Disk.

Create Windows System Repair Disk ISO/MDF

Other Backup/Archive tools and many DVD Movie creation/editing apps

 

So yes please, create (enable) a Virtual Blank CD\DVD option.

 

Thanks,

Glenn

[Charalambos]

Please don't doublepost.

[Windows9xSeriesFan]

The most important advantage of having virtual optical disc writers in Alcohol 120% is for testing video discs (DVD/BD) with menus.

I also want Alcohol Virtual Drives to support virtual CD/DVD/BD-R/RW/RE media, so please make it happen!

[Charalambos]

I don't really think that this is possible, the purpose of Alcohol as a program is different.