From time immemorial, mankind has been trying to capture its centuries-old knowledge for posterity, so that development never stops in one place, but only rapidly increases its momentum. And recently, this has been very well done with us, especially in the era of the invention of semiconductors and optical carriers.
Everyone already knows about the huge amount of information on the Internet, but how many think about where the optical discs went? Computers are no longer equipped with a drive, but we still use disk images from time to time. In this article, we will describe in detail how to open an MDF file at home. This article is recommended for novice users of the Windows operating system.
What is MDF and why was it created
Initially, you need to temporarily move to the beginning of the zero years - the era of optical media. When walking around the city, you could find many points selling movies, games, TV shows, programs and pirated operating systems exclusively on disks. But why? The whole thing was their cheapness, unless, of course, we were talking about Blue-Ray disks having a volume of 50 gigabytes or more.
The manufacturer took the usual plastic circle as a basis for the manufacture of disks, on which a special film was glued. On it, in fact, the recording process took place. Those who opened the insides of the disc will understand.
When recording to disk, the smallest recesses are created - if the surface is flat, then it is 0, if the recess, then 1. This, by the way, explains this medium's sensitivity to damage, as well as to greasy hands. Indeed, thanks to the above, either unknown data (chaotic bits) may appear, or the laser head simply cannot read anything due to fat, which will make the area empty.
A special bootloader is created on the disc right at the factory, so that the drive accepts it. But one of the most important components of this medium must be an image. When any information is written to disk, it is created automatically by a burning program, so that later it can be easily and easily pulled out - this is an MDF image, and in some cases an ISO, when special compression technology is required.
So we figured out what it is. From what has been said, one can guess that only specialized programs can open such a file, or one that burned the image. And then we will talk about just such a program, as well as how to open an MDF file. The software will be used for Windows, if you have a different OS, then find analogues.
Which program to open the MDF file
At the beginning of the zero years, everyone remembers the Nero burning program used to burn discs, but few knew that there was a much more multifunctional and smart competitor in the market - Alcohol 120% or 52%.
The 52% version is absolutely free for non-legal entities, unlike the fully paid version - 120%. This program will be able to 100% open MDF. And if you do not want this software product, then below we will show a way to make a virtual drive and start the image.
So, how to open the MDF file in Windows 7 using the Daemon Tools utility:
- We go to the official website of the above application and download the Lite version, it is completely free to use.
- We install in any place convenient for you on the computer.
- We start it, after which the program will ask you to allow you to install your own drivers. Agree.
- When everything is ready, just drag or open the MDF image with the first icon. Then click the "Mount image" button.
- In Explorer, a virtual drive will appear in place for the disks, and your image will be inserted into it. You can turn off the image using the “Extract” button in the context menu of the drive.
How to open MDF and MDS files with other programs
The previous paragraph made it clear to you that at the moment there are at least two programs capable of implementing the plan. However, there are others, both paid and free, the only thing is convenience.
List of programs to open MDF:
- Ultra ISO. The program for integrated work with disks.
- PowerISO. Very good for creating MDF and ISO files.
- PowerDVD. From the same company as the applicant above, however, more specializes in burning DVDs.
You can choose absolutely any of the above if it is only about opening an image file. However, with the choice of a program for burning, you should be careful and use the first or last option, because they have long proved themselves to be the best.
Warning
If you were wondering how to open an MDF file, then you are probably trying to get the contents of some file and, as a rule, a pirated one, because in the CIS countries this format is used in a larger turnover. We strongly recommend that you do not download various software from torrents, and if you do this, then with the antivirus turned on to the full, as dishonest crooks can easily put a virus into the image, and the consequences can be very, very unpredictable, up to theft of bank cards .
Finally
We hope that after reading this article you understand how to open the MDF file. Although this skill is less and less required in the modern world. In contrast, images sometimes take on a new life. For example, in flash drives, where they got along well. True, not all formats, but mainly ISO.