How to open mdf file?

It often happens that when you download a game, program, or a whole disk with programs or an operating system, you crawl into a folder with downloaded files and find unusual installation files with the extension .exe and not winrar or winzip archives in it, and some completely incomprehensible and unfamiliar files with a strange extension .mdf.

mdf file

Do not worry and do not be alarmed, you have not become a victim of scammers and downloaded exactly what you need. The fact is that an mdf file is nothing more than a regular disk image. A disk image is a kind of full copy of a disk stored on a computer’s hard disk, convenient for quickly writing to a blank disk or for instant mounting on a virtual disk.

The mdf format is one of the most common (along with iso) disc image recording formats. You will have no difficulty opening it with a minimum of software.

So, you have downloaded, let's say, the game in one file, and the file format is mdf. To open it, you will need any program that allows you to create and mount virtual disks. One such program is DaemonTools - a very powerful and at the same time easy-to-understand program. When you install it on your computer will automatically create one virtual drive. Launch the program, select “file-open” in the main menu and find your mdf-file - it will be added to the list of images in the program window. Next, right-click on it and select "Mount" from the context menu . Or you can do it easier: immediately find the game file and run it with a double click. If you have DaemonTools installed at that time, then your file will be automatically opened by it and mounted on a free virtual disk. After that, you can open it in the "Explorer" and work with it as with a regular disk.

mdf file format

You can also just write the mdf-file to a physical disk, only for this you will need almost any program for burning discs - almost all of them support working with images. Just in the menu of the recording program you will need to select "record image or saved project", again find your game file and click "record".

If you want to create such a file, it will not be difficult if your disc burning program supports the “write to file” option. If not, you will have to download another program - Alcohol 120 or Alcohol 52.

mdf format
They differ only in that the first requires a paid license key, and the second is absolutely free, but does not support the function of writing to disk. Having selected and downloaded the version of the program that is more suitable for you, install and run it. Select "create image", then select the files that you would like to have in the disk image, and start the creation. You can do the same with the whole disk located in your drive. As a result, you can get an exact copy of it.

Mdf-file, like any other image file, is convenient because by creating it you can no longer suffer from the fact that some games refuse to run without a disk with a game in the drive - just mount the image on a virtual disk and the game is deceived. After all, a virtual disk in its parameters does not differ (except that it does not exist) from a regular CD or DVD-ROM, therefore the game “thinks” that everything is in order and starts up quietly.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/C22371/


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