How to make a disk image in Windows using free utilities

Despite the universal distribution of flash drives, optical disks are not uncommon. In particular, official versions of games, films and music are released on them. In addition, images of such carriers are widely distributed on the Internet. In this regard, beginners often have questions about how to make a disk image in Windows. Of course, many people want to use only free utilities for this.

Well, there is such an opportunity. First, we'll look at Alcohol 52% Free, which differs from its version of 120% with its full freebies and lack of unimportant functions. To make a disk image in this utility , you need to insert the source media into the drive, and then run the program itself. Before you make a disk image, it is advisable to check it for defects and major scratches, which can lead to a "no" all of your endeavor.

A dialog box appears before you . In the left part of it you need to find the item "Creating images". After that, the next window will open, in which you can set your own settings for the progress of the process. So, we recommend not setting the copy speed to the maximum. In addition, it is better to check the "Skipping reading errors" checkbox, which is especially important for older drives. After that, you can click on the "Next" button, selecting the save location and the file format.

As a beginner can make a disk image in this way, the number of settings is minimized, it is recommended for experienced users to use special utilities that can automatically configure "Alcohol" to bypass the most common types of copy protection.

Another quality and free with this program is UltraISO (Free-edition, of course). Note that in the free version you will not be able to make an image larger than 2GB in size, so to create such projects it is better to turn to more advanced options. So how do you make a disk image?

As in the previous case, you first need to put the media in the drive, and then open the program. At the top of its working window (the interface is not too standard) there is a button "Create CD image". Clicking it, you can select the output file format, set ignore reading errors, and also the path for posting.

So what program do the image of the disk, based on the above information? If we talk about the functional, then UltraISO leads. If you do not mind spending 1200 rubles for it, then it will be the best choice. But if necessary, only from time to time to emulate optical drives is unlikely to be worthwhile to pay. In this case, Alcohol 52% will be an excellent option.

If you are interested in how to make an image of a system disk, we can make you happy: in the latest versions of Windows, this is perfectly handled by a regular backup tool.

You can open it by clicking on the "Start" button, by going to "Control Panel" and selecting the "Backup and Restore" item there. Having selected the "Create Image of the System" window on the left side of the window, you can reliably protect your data from all sorts of troubles.

In particular, you will be reliably insured against the consequences of virus infection of the computer.