How to create a virtual disk for installing the game. Removing a virtual disk. ❸. How to open images: ISO, MDF, NRG, etc. and run the application from them

Hello dear friends! In this article I would like to show, by example, novice users using the program Alcohol 120% and mount it on the device. In one of the articles I already mentioned this program, you can check it out. And of course, we’ll touch on the sore subject of changing the language settings in the program.

The first thing we need is the Alcohol 120% program itself. Download it, the program is excellent, I’ve been using it for as long as I’ve used it, there haven’t been any problems. First, let's look at where to change the language from English to Russian.

Open the program and click on the “View (service)” tab, then, “Language (language)” and select the Russian language, everything is simple.

Now let's move on to creating a virtual disk. Why do you need to create a virtual disk? For example: You downloaded an ISO image with a toy or an image with a program that is installed directly from DVD disc, this example makes it possible to install a game or program without a DVD disc. That is, the virtual disk creates emulation installation DVD disk with a program or game. I hope I explained it clearly))). Let's look at everything with an example. Left-click the downloaded image and drag it into the program window. Click on the " Virtual disk».


In the window that opens, you can create until the 31st virtual disks This is of course a lot and not necessary. It is not necessary to create so many disks; for each image, you create one virtual disk. Select the number of virtual disks (for example, I will select 3 disks) and click “OK”. You will notice that at the bottom of the program window, three virtual drives will appear on which you will need to mount the ISO image.



Click right key mouse on your image. In the drop-down window, hover your mouse over the “Mount to device” tab. In the next drop down window, select virtual drive .


After everything has been done, you will immediately see a window asking you to install the game or program. If the window does not appear, double-click on the virtual drive on which the disk is mounted. Also, when you open My Computer, you will see created virtual drive with a program or game icon. It's that simple.

Virtual HDD is a file that stores various information: from simple text documents to a full working operating system. They are used for various purposes. For example, a new OS is installed and completely customized to the user's requirements. He does virtual copy partition and saves it on portable media. In case of crash or unrecoverable errors of the current system, the user can easily restore it from the image.

Disk space virtualization is possible different ways. Let's take a closer look at each of them.

Create a virtual disk using system tools

The first option is to use standard Windows tools. To do this you need to click right click mouse on the menu " Start" and select "".

Select the menu " Action", Further " Create virtual disk».

Click on the button " Review"to set the location created file, and come up with a name for him.

The next parameter is size. Set the required value and indicate the unit of measurement: Megabytes (MB), Gigabytes (GB) or Terabytes (TB).

Next, select disk space format. First option - standard format, which was created in 2005 by Microsoft, is called VHD. But it has limitations: it supports virtualization files that are no larger than 2040 GB.

If the user needs to create a file big size, then it follows useVHDX. It supports up to 64 TB and 4K sector size, allowing you to work with hard drives larger volume (over 2 TB). VHDX is also more fault tolerant than the previous solution. The standard was developed by Microsoft in 2014.

And the last parameter that needs to be specified is virtual disk space type. When choosing “Fixed size”, the file will take the full size specified by the user.

In the second option, only the data indicated on the this moment. Later, when adding new information, the size will gradually increase depending on the data being stored until it reaches its limit. It is calculated depending on the requirements that the user specified in the “Virtual Hard Disk Size” line.

After all the data has been specified, press the button “ OK».

For further work, you must complete initialization procedure. Right-click on the left column and select the option “ Initialize disk" In a new window, the user will be required to specify the format of the partition that will be initialized.

MasterBootrecord– this is an outdated format, but it is supported by everyone Windows versions. At the moment, it is almost not used in modern operating systems.

GUIDPartionTable was introduced in new versions of operating systems about Microsoft in 2010 year. Works with Windows versions starting from Vista.

After initialization, you need to mark out the space for the required file system. Default better useNTFS– it allows you to work with files larger than 4 GB. To do this, right-click on the unmarked area and select the item “ Create a simple volume».

Using the setup wizard prompts, we perform the necessary actions. By default, the program suggests using all free space as a single logical partition. If there is no need to create additional volumes, then we leave it as is.

The next stage is letter assignment logical partition. Here you can also use a function like " Mount volume as emptyNTFS folder». This action means that a virtual volume will be added to the specified partition in the OS. This method is often used in large organizations, since workstations have small hard drives, and purchasing new ones takes a long time.

Third option " Do not prescribe" means it can be done later.

It is recommended to choose letters that come at the end of the Latin alphabet. This will be convenient when further work with them.

The next window offers format Tom and select file system. Considering that the section has just been created and there is nothing on it yet, we leave everything as it is.

At the end, the setup wizard will display all the basic information about upcoming operations and ask you to confirm.

Connecting a drive manually

Consider a situation where the user already has virtual volume and he wants to connect it. To do this, open “” as indicated in previous paragraph. Select menu " Action", Further " Join».

You will need to specify the path where the file is located. Considering that in the future it will be necessary to work with it and make changes, set the parameter “ Only for reading" Do not do it.

Confirm the mounting operation by clicking the “OK” button

Disconnecting a drive

If virtual partition is no longer required by the user, it can be disabled. To do this you need to open " Control» and select the virtual volume by right-clicking on it.

A context menu will open. Next, select the option “ Disconnect».

The system will ask for confirmation. Press the button " OK».

Creating Volumes and Partitions

In order to split a virtual volume into logical partitions, in the snap-in " Control» select the newly created virtual volume and launch the setup wizard.

Here we indicate the size that the user needs, for example, 3 GB and click “OK”

A logical partition of 3 GB was created, and another 2 GB remained free.

Managing VHDs with DISKPART

All of the above operations can be done using diskpart utilities. First you need to right-click on the “Start” menu and select the option “ WindowsPowerShell (administrator)", in seven just press Win+R and enter in the window " Powershell».

In the command line that opens, type diskpart.

The user is now in console utility on working with disk space. DiskPart supports the following commands:

  1. Creation.

create vdisk file=e:\VHD\test1.vhd maximum 3000 type=expandable

Createvdisk– command to create a virtual disk.

file= e:\ VHD\ test1. vhd– the path where the created file will be stored and its name.

maximum 3000– size of the created file in megabytes.

type=expandable– format of the created file. IN in this example choose dynamic. For fixed you need to specify the command: type=fixed

  1. Volume selection for further work with it.

select vdisk file=c:\vhd\vhd1.vhd

  1. Mount chapter.

attach vdisk

  1. Unmount volume.

detach vdisk

  1. Assign letter.

assign letter=G

  1. Format section for user requirements

format fs=ntfs label=vhd1

FS= NTFS– file system format

Label=vhd1– label of the disk to be formatted

  1. DiskPart command assistant
  1. Exit the program

How to install the system on a virtual disk

To install the operating system on a virtual partition you will need distributionWindows. Let's start the process Windows installations according to the usual scenario. When a message appears on the user’s screen about selecting a disk for installing the OS, call the command line using a keyboard shortcut « Shift" + "F10". We enter the DiskPart utility.

As a result, after all operations with the DiskPart utility, a virtual disk will be added to the selection window. To display it, you must press the button " Update»

A virtual disk in the Windows operating system is the same as regular hard, can be used to store data. This data may include user files such as images, music, documents, etc., as well as files used installed programs and the operating system itself.

Many users like to have a separate partition for storage important files, which is created in addition to the system one. In this case, if the operating system crashes, you will need to reinstall it, formatting only system partition. Important data stored on the additional logical partition will remain intact.

In the absence of a separate physical disk, it is always advisable to have a main one for several additional sections before installing the OS. But, be that as it may, these partitions will remain parts of the same HDD. If it fails, your important data will not be protected from destruction.

What to do if you want to create a separate place to store any data after installing Windows and marking the necessary partitions. You can simply create a virtual disk using the free space of the HDD. It will be possible to format it, assign its own separate letter and work in the same way as with a separate physical one.

This may also be useful for you to conduct various experiments with and other virtualization testing. Let's see how you can create such a disk using the operating system. Windows systems 10.

VIRTUAL DISK

Press combination Win keys+ R on the keyboard and in the input field write:

Diskmgmt.msc

then wait for launch system utility management.

Identify a disk partition that allows you to allocate enough free space to create a virtual one. Click on the main menu item "Action" and select "Create a virtual hard disk."

Specify your preferred file location, size and type, then click on the “OK” button.

After the creation process is completed, right-click on the created disk and click on “Initialize”.

After that, select the “Create simple volume” item in the context menu, assign a letter, label, file system and finally click the “Finish” button.

Go to Explorer, where you will see the created virtual HDD. Now you can use it to store files or attach to a virtual machine. When you want to delete it, go to management, detach the volume and delete the folder with the file. That's all!

P.S. View a list of all our computer advice By .

Creating a virtual disk

Creating a virtual disk is possible in all versions of the operating system. Let's look at Windows example 7.

  1. Launch the Computer Management utility using search bar Start menu.
  2. Select the “Disk Management” subsection in the expanded window.
  3. Expand the "Action" item.
  4. Select the “Create virtual hard disk” option.
  5. Specify the path to the folder in which the file responsible for the virtual disk will be located. Please note that it must be placed on a section where there is enough free space.
  6. Register maximum size the disk being created.
  7. Choose from two formats: dynamic or fixed. The first mode will increase the disk capacity as new files arrive on it until its size approaches the figure specified in previous step. The second mode allows you to immediately create a disk of the previously selected size.
  8. Save the file in VHD format and name it with the letter or word you want.
  9. Wait for the creation process to complete.
  10. Find the black block with unallocated virtual memory. It means that you have created a disk, but now you need to split it into volumes to start using it.

    A black block with unallocated memory means that the disk needs to be divided into volumes before you can start using it

  11. Right-click on the disk and select "Initialize Disk".
  12. In the window that opens, select disk being created and his style. It is recommended to set the “Master Boot Record” option.
  13. Split the disk into volumes. Right-click on the unallocated memory and select “Create simple volume”.
  14. Specify how much of the unallocated memory will be allocated to the virtual disk partition. You can give away all the memory at once, or you can split it into several volumes.
  15. Assign a letter to the partition.
  16. Remember that you can always shrink or delete an already created virtual disk volume in the same program.

If you are happy with the virtual disk allocation, you can start using it.

Video: how to create a virtual disk in Windows 7

Removing a virtual disk


Please note that by deleting a virtual disk, you will erase all the information located on it.

Third party programs

To expand the list of options for setting up a virtual disk and make them easier, you can use free third-party programs.

DAEMON Tools Lite Buy or download trial version can be found on the official website of the developer. The program has a simple and clear interface


in Russian. With its help, you can create virtual disks and drives, edit and delete them. DAEMON Tools Lite is free and functional application

to create disk images

Video: how to use DAEMON Tools Lite

The application supports the Russian interface, has a simple design and protects the created virtual disk from copying. You can download the trial version or buy the full version on the official website of the developer. It allows you to create and delete disks and virtual CD drives.

Video: how to use Alcohol 120%

Virtual drives

A virtual drive or virtual floppy drive performs the same functions as a physical floppy drive, but reads virtual rather than physical CD/DVD discs. For example, a virtual disk can be downloaded from the Internet or from another computer if it has already been created there. And you can record on it everything the same as on a real one.

Creating a virtual drive

For creating virtual drive you will need one of third party programs, designed to work with virtual disks and drives:

  1. In the “Number of devices” line, select the number of drives that will be created.
  2. Click OK.
  3. Make sure that in the main menu of Explorer, in the Devices and Disks block, new drives appear, named with unique letters.

Removing a virtual drive

Removing a drive occurs in almost the same way as creating it:

  1. Download and install UltraISO program from the developer's official website.
  2. Click on the “Options” button in top panel programs.
  3. Select the "Virtual Drive" tab.
  4. In the “Number of devices” line, set the “None” option and click “OK”. Done, the drive has been removed.

Virtual disks and floppy drives can be useful if you have to install suspicious programs, additional operating systems or transfer parts hard drive other users. Remember that a virtual disk takes up space on a physical hard disk, so it is not additional memory to your computer, but only uses part of what is already available.

Hello, friends! Virtual disk or VHD is a file with an exact copy disk structure. It is intended mainly for virtualization. It's also very convenient to store in it. various information, and install programs on it. All this will be compactly placed in one file, which will eliminate any confusion. Virtual hard disks are very convenient for connecting to virtual machines, especially if you need to pass ( virtual machine) huge amount of data. To work with VHD in Windows 7, you do not need to install anything additional. Almost everything can be done from the Disk Management snap-in or using the DISKPART utility. In this article, we will learn how to manage virtual disks and install Windows on them.

Open the Disk Management window. Go to the Start menu and write “control” in the search field. In the results found, select Computer Management

In the window that opens on the left, select Disk Management

To create a virtual disk, open the Action menu and select Create virtual hard disk

In the window that opens, use the Browse... button to specify the name and location of the virtual disk file

  • use the words "Windows" in the VHD file name
  • place virtual disks in the Windows folder

The Creation Wizard will open. simple volume. Click Next >

Assigning a drive letter

Check the parameters for creating a simple volume and click Finish

We get a virtual hard disk.

To detach a VHD, you need to right-click on it and select Detach virtual hard disk

In the window that appears, click OK and the disk will turn off.

By checking the Delete virtual hard disk checkbox, the file containing this disk will be deleted along with all the information on it. (You can read about file recovery)

Once disabled, the ability to change information on the VHD will not be available. To do this you need to connect it again.

To do this, open the Action menu and select Attach virtual hard disk. In the window that opens, use the Browse... button to select the desired disk (for example, an image created by the Windows backup system) and click OK

The disk will connect and will be available for various manipulations.

Create, connect and disconnect virtual disks considered.

Managing VHDs with DISKPART

Utility for working with DISKPART disks allows you to do all of the above and a little more. This is necessary to install Windows 7 and/or Windows 8 on virtual disks.

Since we are studying the DISKPART utility, we will format from command line

Team list partition look through the sections. * — the selected section is indicated. Team format We format with default parameters. If you want to set your own parameters, see the help - help format

The virtual disk has been created and is ready for use.

To disconnect the disk, run the command detach vdisk

Also, using the DISKPART utility, we can expand the virtual disk we need. You can of course delete and create new disk larger volume, but then you will have to copy information to it again, install programs and/or operating system.

To increase the size of the virtual disk, select the desired VHD select vdisk file=C:\1.vhd

Set a new volume for the selected disk expand vdisk maximum=2000

Connecting an enlarged virtual disk attach vdisk

What we got in Disk Management utility

Now let's expand the partition to the entire size of the virtual disk.

Looking through the list of disks - list disk . If * not worth it the desired disk select the required VHD select disk 1

Looking through the list of sections - list partition and select the one you need - select partition 1

We expand the volume with the command extend

Result in Disk Management

This way you can manage virtual and real disks using the DISKPART utility. If something is not clear, then refer to the help - help or help “command name”.

Here interesting video Managing VHDs in Windows 7 which will help us better understand this topicWindows 7 or Windows 8. Boot from the prepared flash drive or disk and go to settings and selecting a partition for installation

Click here Shift+F10- the command line will open

Launch the utility DISKPART by typing its name

Create a virtual disk for installation using the command create vdisk file="E:\Win7.vhd" type=fixed maximum=30000

We choose him as a team select vdisk file="E:\Win7.vhd"

Connect the selected virtual disk attach vdisk

Then close the command line window and click Update

A new unallocated partition will appear - our VHD. Select it and, ignoring the warning, click Next

One more interesting opportunity is to install operating systems on a virtual disk. This feature makes it possible to try a new operating system (for example Windows 8) without breaking anything in the old one.

The video below shows how to install Windows 7 on VHD