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Daemon Tools
Software

DAEMON Tools is a virtual drive and optical disc authoring program for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS.

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Overview

DAEMON tools was originally a successor of Generic SafeDisc emulator and incorporated all of its features.2 The program claims to be able to defeat most copy protection schemes such as SafeDisc and SecuROM.3 It is currently compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10. DAEMON Tools has a special mode for proper operation of copies of discs with advanced protection (SafeDisc, SecuRom and LaserLock, CDCOPS, StarForce and Protect CD), which are used on some discs with games.4

Editions

Six editions of the product exist: Ultra, Lite, Pro Standard, Pro Advanced, Net and DT for Mac. A feature comparison is given below.5 Also, the company provides two additional solutions for the data storage organization: DAEMON Tools USB 26 that allows sharing different types of USB devices between remote workstations and DAEMON Tools iSCSI Target 27 – a cross-platform solution that enables creating an iSCSI storage server and provides access to virtual or physical devices, along with VHD images, within home or corporate network.

FeatureLite 5Pro Standard 5Pro Advanced 5Net 5Ultra 2for Mac 2
License typeAdwareA / SharewareBSharewareSharewareSharewareSharewareShareware
Maximum number of DT and SCSI virtual devices416323232Unlimited
Maximum number of IDE virtual devices004440
Command-line interfaceYesYesYesYesYesNo
Image compressionYesYesYesYesYesNo
Image password protectionCYesYesYesYesYesNo
Image creationDExtraction only; no preset profilesYesYesYesYesNo
Burning imagesNeeds AstroburnYesYesYesYesNo
Image collection's managementNoYesYesYesYesYes
Image editingNoYesYesYesYesNo
Image splittingENoYesYesYesYesNo
Shell extensionsNoYesYesYesNoYes
Virtual device property monitoringNoYesYesYesYesNo
Volume Mount PointsFNoYesYesYesYesNo
Burning RMPS data on discsNoNoYesYesYesNo
Image conversionDNoNoYesYesYesNo
Mounting virtual hard disks (VHD)NoNoNoNoYesYes
Installation over the networkNoNoNoYesNoNo
Image Catalog sharingNoNoNoYesNoNo
iSCSI ServerNoNoNoUp to 16 targetsNoNo
iSCSI InitiatorNoNoNoYesYesYes
Mounting images on remote computersNoNoNoYesYesNo
Sharing disc drives on the networkNoNoNoYesNoNo
Bootable USB creationNoNoNoNoYesNo
RAM Disk creationNoNoNoNoYesNo
TrueCrypt image creationNoNoNoNoYesNo
Mounting ZIP filesNoNoNoNoYesNo
Notes A. ^ Free for non-commercial use without technical support. Technical support and the right to use commercially may be purchased.89 B. ^ In Korea, Freemium license is not available since ver. 4.45.1.1011 C. ^ Applies on to .mds and .mdx images. D. ^ Supported output formats include .iso, .mds/.mdf and .mdx E. ^ The ability to split an image files into multiple files of fxed maximum sizes. Not supported by DAEMON Tools Lite, as of 22 February 2012.12 F. ^ The ability to mount an image into a folder on an NTFS drive

File format

The default file format of DAEMON Tools is Media Data eXtended (MDX). MDX is a disc image file format similar to MDS/MDF images. It supports all of MDS/MDF format features except that all data is in one monolithic file only. The files of these types bear the filename extension of .mdx.13

MDX file contains metadata of original media – specifically the main physical parameters of disc, such as layer breaks, sessions, tracks and other. It could be described as being an archive file containing all data from a CD/DVD. It also supports data compression. MDX file includes the magic number "MEDIA DESCRIPTOR" at the beginning of the file.

Controversy

On 13 February 2012, one of DAEMON Tools' components known as MountSpace became a subject of privacy concerns. MountSpace, a service-oriented component gathers and sends information about disc images used in DAEMON Tools to mountspace.com along with users' IP addresses. Although MountSpace can be disabled during installation, it is criticized for transmitting information despite being disabled and lacking a privacy policy.14151617 The initial discovery of the concerning issue is attributed to Rafael Rivera of Within Windows blog.181920

Y.A.S.U.

YASU (Yet Another SecuROM Utility) is a very small tool that works as a SCSI-drive protector. It was created by sYk0 and can be used to hide emulated drives from SecuROM 7 and SafeDisc 4. YASU is a companion program for Daemon Tools and currently being hosted, supported and maintained by the Daemon Tools team. On March 4 of 2009, sYk0 announced development of Omen which is to succeed development of YASU.21 As of January 2010, development of Omen has been abandoned.22

See also

Further reading

References

  1. "DAEMON Tools Lite for Mac 2". http://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtMacLite ↩

  2. "New name of the Generic Safedisc Emulator". 15 November 2005. http://news.softpedia.com/news/DAEMON-Tools-Are-Back-12447.shtml ↩

  3. "Supported games and protections database". Archived from the original on 2010-03-06. Retrieved 2010-01-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20100306025421/http://forum.daemon-tools.cc/gamedb.php?letter=all ↩

  4. "DAEMON Tools Lite 4.35.5 represents full Windows 7 support". 23 October 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009. http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/news/bbe0f423e15c028735eadcce333289e6 ↩

  5. "DAEMON-Tools.cc :: Products :: Compare". http://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/compare ↩

  6. "DAEMON Tools USB". http://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/dtusb ↩

  7. "DAEMON Tools iSCSI Target". http://www.daemon-tools.cc/products/iscsi-target ↩

  8. "FAQ: Is DAEMON Tools software free or not?". daemon-tools.cc. Retrieved 21 November 2011. DAEMON Tools Lite is free for home and non-business use. In case you want to use DAEMON Tools in any organization, you need to buy a license. http://www.daemon-tools.cc/eng/support/faq#free_or_not ↩

  9. "Installation". DAEMON Tools Lite Help. DAEMON Tools. Retrieved 21 November 2011. [Inside third screenshot] Support is provided only for Paid License users. http://daemon-help.com/en/installation_notes_lite/installation_lite.html ↩

  10. "Daemon tool lite license problem". DAEMON Tools. Archived from the original on 6 May 2014. Retrieved 24 June 2012. Due to some changes in marketing strategy Korea is no longer among the countries for which a Free version of DAEMON Tools Lite available. https://web.archive.org/web/20140506145210/http://forum.daemon-tools.cc/f19/daemon-tool-lite-license-problem-28984/ ↩

  11. "DAEMON Tools Lite" (in Korean). DAEMON Tools. Retrieved 24 June 2012. http://www.disc-soft.com/kor/products/dtLite ↩

  12. "Split Image". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-03-23. https://web.archive.org/web/20120229050949/http://forum.daemon-tools.cc/f19/split-image-29200/ ↩

  13. "Glossary". DAEMON Tools Pro Help. DAEMON Tools. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011. mdx / mds (Media Data eXtended / Media Descriptor Files) — these formats are developed by DAEMON Tools developers. https://web.archive.org/web/20110708220310/http://daemonpro-help.com/en/glossary.html ↩

  14. Kovacs, Eduard (13 February 2012). "Daemon Tools Collects Image File Details, Even Without Permission". Softpedia. SoftNews Net SRL. Retrieved 23 March 2012. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Daemon-Tools-Collects-Image-File-Details-Even-Without-Permission-252393.shtml ↩

  15. "Daemon Tools: Tool spioniert seine User aus". Chip.de (in German). CHIP Xonio Online. 13 February 2012. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120216221205/http://www.chip.de/news/Daemon-Tools-Tool-spioniert-seine-User-aus_54571564.html ↩

  16. Tyler, Holman (13 February 2012). "Daemon Tools knows what you mounted last summer". Neowin.net. Retrieved 23 March 2012. https://www.neowin.net/news/daemon-tools-knows-what-you-mounted-last-summer ↩

  17. "Are you using Deamon Tools? They know what images you're mounting". Software in Action. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120229091016/http://software-in-action.com/2012/are-you-using-deamon-tools-they-know-what-images-youre-mounting/ ↩

  18. Kovacs, Eduard (13 February 2012). "Daemon Tools Collects Image File Details, Even Without Permission". Softpedia. SoftNews Net SRL. Retrieved 23 March 2012. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Daemon-Tools-Collects-Image-File-Details-Even-Without-Permission-252393.shtml ↩

  19. Tyler, Holman (13 February 2012). "Daemon Tools knows what you mounted last summer". Neowin.net. Retrieved 23 March 2012. https://www.neowin.net/news/daemon-tools-knows-what-you-mounted-last-summer ↩

  20. "Are you using Deamon Tools? They know what images you're mounting". Software in Action. Archived from the original on 29 February 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120229091016/http://software-in-action.com/2012/are-you-using-deamon-tools-they-know-what-images-youre-mounting/ ↩

  21. "Omen: The future of Anti-Blacklists is near... – THE DAEMON TOOLS FORUM". Archived from the original on 2010-08-15. Retrieved 2009-11-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20100815083649/http://forum.daemon-tools.cc/f40/omen-future-anti-blacklists-near-23216/ ↩

  22. "Omen: The future of Anti-Blacklists is near... – Page 4 – THE DAEMON TOOLS FORUM". Archived from the original on 2010-05-15. Retrieved 2010-07-19. https://web.archive.org/web/20100515182933/http://forum.daemon-tools.cc/f40/omen-future-anti-blacklists-near-23216/index4.html#post123255 ↩