How to open mdf and mds files: the best programs, installation and work with them. What is and how to open iso nrg mdf and mds files Alcohol 120 how to open mdf

  • 21.11.2020

Download a program to open, mount and run files downloaded from the Internet mds and mdf, ccd and bin / cue, ISO and ISZ, cdi, bwt, nrg and other formats

How to open an image created in ISO format, what is this strange NRG file, how to run some MDS and MDF that ended up in the downloaded archive instead of a long-awaited game or program ..

And in general, I have been downloading all day, and then ... Damn those that are stuffed into the archive, but not the promised normal movie or game ...

Alcohol 120%/52% or what to do with mdf, nrg, iso..

Approximately such a reproach happened to hear recently and me. A person who had not previously encountered such formats simply could not understand what kind of ISO it was, instead of the promised ..

So, the most common formats of captured CD/DVD disc images are:

  • MDS and MDF- native formats of programs Alcohol 120% and Alcohol 52%
  • NRG- format native to Ahead Nero products
  • I SO, ISZ (compressed ISO)- the most common format, which is "own" for any program, ranging from the WinRar archiver, and ending with special. programs like UltraISO, ISO Commander, IsoBuster..., created for creating and advanced editing of existing images of folders with files or entire CD / DVD discs.

How and how to open mdf, nrg, iso images

1. Only a few programs can be considered the most powerful, advanced and popular programs for creating and emulating virtual drives, for successfully opening and running downloaded images in mdf, nrg, iso formats through them.

2. The safest for the system, of all these programs, are emulator programs (paid) and (Free), which perfectly recognize and work with almost everyone image formats that exist today.

Alcohol120% / Alcohol52% - installation and getting started

If suddenly, when you first start Alcohol, for some reason the program itself does not ask about creating a virtual disk, then follow this step yourself, from the program interface.


creating a virtual drive with Alcohol120

2. After rebooting the system, going to "My Computer", we see that we have an additional CD / DVD drive that allows you to mount and run downloaded images of any format, even MDS, even ISO, even two dozen other formats.


newly created virtual DVD drive

How to mount / run mdf, nrg, iso image files:

1. Everything is very simple. We right-click on the drive we created and select "Mount Image". In the dialog box that opens, specify our mdf - nrg - iso image:


virtual drive menu

2. Another way to open mdf, nrg, iso image files:

After downloading and unpacking the archive with the image of a game or program, right-click on this image already. We will have two options:

First option. Specify immediately our virtual drive in which to mount the image


mount selected image

Second option. If the "Mount Image" line does not appear in the context menu, then click the "Open" item, and in the program selection manager we specify our Alcohol52% program.

Note: do not forget to check the box (Use it for...). Now all files of this format will be opened directly by the Alcohol program, saving us from having to choose each time we open mdf, nrg, iso images.

Well, on the road:

Of course, there are many more ways to open an image, the main thing is that the principle itself is clear. Do not be lazy, take a walk through the program settings, set file associations, run the program to search for all mdf, nrg, iso images on your computer, do other similar little things that greatly simplify subsequent launches and opening CD / DVD images with movies, music, games ...

Very often, programs or games that are full on the Internet have the mdf extension. Most people who are not IT professionals simply do not know how to deal with such files. After all, they do not open in the usual ways. Neither archivers nor other common office programs. In fact, everything is much simpler than it seems at first glance. So, how to open mdf format? (and then consider how to open mdf format).

The file with the mdf extension is a disk image. That is, if the game you want to play requires a game CD. But the computer can be fooled by creating a virtual drive. That is, a special program on the hard drive creates a CD drive that does not actually exist. Accordingly, for such a drive, it is necessary to have the appropriate CDs. So, files with the mdf extension are such disks.

A file in MDF format is never alone. It must be accompanied by a file in MDS format.

These two files are required for the image to work correctly. The MDF file contains all the data that was written to the original CD. That is, in this it is very similar to a regular ISO file. It is for this reason that an MDF file is nearly the same size as the files written to it.

But the MDS file that accompanies it contains the metadata of the original storage medium. It is the presence of such data that allows you to ignore all kinds of copy protection and makes it possible to run the game when not the disk itself is present, but only its image. And because the metadata takes up little space, the MDS file is also small.

By logical reasoning, it is easy to calculate that the question of how an mdf file is opened is not difficult - you need to install the appropriate program. Let's figure out which one you need.

Programs with which you can open the MDF format

As already mentioned, there are many programs through which mdf is easily opened. Perhaps we should start with the program for which, in fact, this format was created.

Alcohol 120% is a CD emulator. It is she who creates an image of a CD with video, audio information, and archives on the computer's hard drive. After the image is created, other programs can freely communicate with it as with a simple drive in a real drive. Alcohol 120% works with a wide variety of CD/DVD formats. At the same time, Alcohol 120% allows you to create 31 images. Between the image and the application, by the way, the transfer is carried out at a speed several times faster than between the program and a real CD drive. To date, experts consider this program for virtual disks the best. Because it allows you not only to connect virtual disks, but also to create them.

How to run downloaded games, how to open mdf and mds files, images in iso, nrg format..

One of the most important questions of a novice user who has downloaded an archive with a game, video, etc. from the Internet for the first time.

After spending more than one hour on downloading, toiling in anticipation of the end of the download, I finally waited - downloaded it !! Opened the archive and..?????

And there, instead of the usual installer - incomprehensible files - iso, nrg, mdf, mds. What is it? How to open them, how to save your wasted time?

How to open mdf and mds, iso, nrg formats.

Actually, there are many programs for opening and modifying files of this format, one of my favorites is UltraISO, also do a very good job of this task - WinIso, IsoBuster, ISO Commander and a whole dozen more programs.

Format files iso in general, you can open Winrar-ohm. We are not interested in changing the content, but in ways to run these files to watch a video or install a game.

Opening and running image files in mdf, mds, iso, nrg format.

As you can see from the title, all these file formats are just different extensions of captured CD/DVD images:

  • Formats mdf and mds- favorite extensions of the program Alcohol 120%
  • Extension nrg- native format for Nero
  • Disk images in the format iso- in general, a universal extension created and understood by absolutely all emulation and imaging programs.

So, in order to run an image downloaded in any of these formats, the first thing to do is to mount it in a virtual CD / DVD drive.

Where can I get this virtual CD/DVD drive?

Virtual drives can be automatically created by Nero, Alcohol, DAEMON Tools - these are the most popular and common programs for emulating and creating virtual drives.

An example of opening / launching iso, nrg, mdf and mds images with the Alcohol 120% program

2. We start the installation, agree to create a virtual drive.

After rebooting the computer, going to "My Computer", we see that we have another CD / DVD drive. He is what we need.


virtual drive Alcohol 120%

3. Now, to mount the downloaded image into the created virtual drive, just right-click on it and select " Mount Image"


mount image to open iso nrg mdf and mds

4. In the window that opens, specify the image file we need by double-clicking on it with the cursor. The image is automatically mounted into a virtual drive and it will autorun if this feature is not disabled in your settings.

Method 2 opening mdf, mds, iso, nrg using Alcohol 120%

It's also very simple:

1. Right-click on the downloaded file (in the example, the mds extension)


open iso nrg mdf and mds files

2. In the menu that opens, select " Mount Image" and specify our created virtual drive.

Method 3. If the drop-down menu does not include the ability to select a drive

On some computers, with strict security settings, with prohibitions on changing registry entries, with a prohibition of making changes to the context menu, with bad antivirus settings, the entry " Mount Image"

1. In this case, just double-click on the image or select " to open with"

2. In the window " Program selection"specify Alcohol 120%, you can also check the "Use it for all files of this type" checkbox.

In this case, all files with the mdf, mds, iso or nrg extension, depending on the extension of the file being opened, will be associated with the Alcohol 120% program and immediately opened by the program.

3. The program will start, in the window that opens, select the desired image, the program itself mounts it into the drive and starts it.

Everything is simple! Good luck!

Hello, my dear readers, computer lovers and novice system administrators.

What is this file?

About 7-10 years ago there was not much broadband Internet. And where he was, the cost of it was exorbitant. Protection on games was not so complicated, it just required inserting a disc into an optical drive and loading certain files from it. To bypass it, it was necessary to create a virtual image of a blank. Now we are used to working with images with the ISO extension, and the previously made copy was compressed into files with the mdf and mds extensions. These two files exist in pairs. For example, with a pig called Games, you will receive two files after virtualization: Games.mdf and Games.mds.

MDF is the main image file, and all the data that is on the disk is compressed in it. Usually it weighs much more than the second part of the image. But MDS is a file with a folder structure on the main image. It usually weighs a couple of tens of kilobytes and is needed purely as a guide map of directories and disk structures.

Open with alcohol 120%

You can open these files with alcohol 120%. Software can be downloaded from here. In the archive, open this file.

The installation interface will open, where we press the button next.

Now carefully! We choose not a quick installation, but a fad below, and uncheck the boxes that offer to install additional software.

Click next.

The installation should start. We are waiting for its end.

Now a sign should pop up asking you to restart your computer.

After turning on the laptop, such a sign will appear, which means that we did everything right.

Open the program and click on the image search item.

We select the folder where exactly our files with the MDS and MDF extensions are located.

We choose which extensions we will scan on the laptop.

After the search has passed, a list of all found images will be displayed.

Select the desired one and mount it in a virtual optical drive.

If everything is done correctly, at the bottom of the software you will see that the virtual drive is busy with the image.

Now go to my computer and there you will see a disk drive with a disk. Then you work with it as with a regular drive.

Working with Daimon Tools

We all know that daumon tools can work with almost any image. . You can download the software right here.

Open the setup file. Choose the Russian language and click Further.

We familiarize ourselves with the license agreement and accept it.

Select the free type of our software and click on the button Further.

We set the checkboxes as in the picture below. You won’t really need a desktop gadget, especially since it takes up the working power of RAM and GPU.

Now carefully! We pick out all the checkboxes except the first one.

And then a bunch of unnecessary software will be installed on your computer, and the start page will change.

Open our software, click on the button images, and then on the right side click on the plus sign.

We go to the folder where the mdf and mds files are located, select any of them and press the button open.

You can even just drag and drop these files from the folder onto the Daimon Tools interface itself.

Select the integrated files and click the button mount.

Opening with UltraISO

Also, mdf and mds files can be opened via ultraiso. Download it from here. Run the executable and click Further.

Now we set everything as shown in the picture below. Especially the checkmarks at the bottom. We proceed further by the button of the same name.

We prescribe the local section where the software will be installed and go ahead.

The installation process will start. It can last from one to five minutes, it all depends on the hardware inside your computer, as well as on the speed of your hard drive.

Now put a tick in the line with the launch of the software and press the button below.

The program interface will open. In the upper left corner, click on the word file, and then on the line to open the file.

Or just click on the green folder icon.

Additional Information

I would like to note that the above programs are far from the only ones that can work with files of this extension. By the way, you may well not just open images, but simply convert them, for example, into archives, which, by and large, they are.

In addition, there are now a lot of assemblies with additional modules of such a file manager as Total Commander. It is very convenient to work in it, and it supports everything, and with additional software it can generally be used as a second operating system, after disabling the design styles in Windows itself.

This will reduce the amount of resources consumed by the operating system, it will speed up the computer. And you can also translate the MDF file into an ISO image through online converters, which opens with the standard means of the tenth Windows. In other cases, you will not be able to cope without programs, since this is a rather old file format and new versions of the OS do not work with it. I also want to warn you not to delete either of these two files. One without the other, they simply do not work, this, in principle, is their main drawback.

Conclusion

Already by tradition, I provide you with several videos on a given topic:

They will show you exactly what to do and how to do it. In addition to this, I would like to advise you something else. Before opening the image, scan it with an antivirus. You never know what kind of malicious software there may be.

Well, with that, I will end this article. Share a link to it in classmates, facebook, contact and other social projects so that your friends can also read it. And if you subscribe to update materials on my blog, you will always be the first to know about the publication of new useful texts! All the best to you and keep in touch!

Alcohol 120% is a computer program for creating CD and DVD images, creating virtual CD and DVD drives, and for burning CDs and DVDs.

Alcohol 120% copies discs at the physical level, not at the file system level, which allows you to copy, for example, discs for PlayStation and PlayStation 2 game consoles, as well as some copy-protected discs.

Program features:

  • Allows you to create up to 31 virtual disks (using SCSI Pass Through Direct (SPTD) layer).

  • Direct copy from disk to disk.
  • Erasing information from CD-RW and DVD-RW discs.

  • Search for disk image files (local disk).

  • Writing an image to a disc.

Supports image formats: MDS, CCD, BIN/CUE, ISO, CDI, BWT, B5T, B6T, NRG, PDI, ISZ.

All these file formats are just different extensions of captured CD/DVD images:

  • Formats mdf and mds- favorite extensions of the program Alcohol 120%
  • Extension nrg- native format for Nero
  • Disk images in the format iso- in general, a universal extension created and understood by absolutely all emulation and imaging programs.

So, in order to run an image downloaded in any of these formats, the first thing to do is to mount it in a virtual CD / DVD drive.

Where can I get this virtual CD/DVD drive?

Virtual drives can be automatically created by Nero, Alcohol, DAEMON Tools - these are the most popular and common programs for emulating and creating virtual drives.

Using the program

The program window looks like this: the standard menu is at the top, the main functions and navigation through the program are in the left column, and the main application settings are also there. On the right is the workspace, and below is the disk selection panel. Everything here is stretched / compressed - it will not be difficult to adjust for yourself. In fact, there is no particular need to change anything in the standard form, but if the need arises, then there is no problem: you are the creator here.

The first thing to do after entering the program is to activate the virtual drive. Of course, there are tasks in which it may not be needed, but suppose that we still need it. In order to add a new virtual drive, you need to click on the inscription "Virtual disk" in the left column with the name "Settings". Here you can connect up to six readers (in the trial version, this number is less). We select the number of drives we need and click on the "OK" button. Now virtual devices can be used!

Image creation

Let's say you have a disc that you plan to copy to your computer. An alternative to the usual transfer of material is the creation of a disk image. This method is better for the following reason: instead of a lot of files, you get a single one. Agree, the fewer units of information, the more convenient it is to store this very information. So, first we load the disk into the computer drive. To create its image, click on the first inscription in the side menu ("Basic operations" - "Creating images"). A menu appears in which we are prompted to select the drive from which we will record the image. In addition, by clicking on the "Reading Options" tab, we will see several useful add-ons. Here you can set the name of the future image, select the location folder, file format, and also configure the image splitting. Actually, everything is extremely simple, but some points are still worth clarifying.

Image creation

When setting the image format, the default value is the mds extension, but in many cases it will still be better to use the iso format. It has at least one advantage: choosing this type creates a single file, but in the case of mds, two. It is also impossible not to mention the function of "separation" of images. Obviously, it is needed so that a "broken" disc (for example, Blu-ray or a two-layer DVD) can subsequently be written to smaller media. It should be noted that splitting is available only for mds-images. Also in the "Reading Options" you can check the box next to "skip reading errors" in the event that the media from which the recording is being made is damaged. Sometimes it helps to save at least something useful from a worn disk. After all the necessary manipulations, to start creating the image, simply click on the "Start" button.

Burning images to discs

The second possibility of the program is the recording of images. We have an iso file (or some other) that needs to be copied to disk. Moreover, we are not interested in transferring the image itself, but the files it contains. The write operation in this case is quite simple. You just need to insert a blank disc into your PC's "burning" drive and follow a few simple steps. The first is to click on the "Burn images to disc" button located in the left column of the program. In the window that appears, specify the path to the image file that you want to burn to optical media. If necessary, check the "Delete image file after burning" checkbox. Then click the "Next" button and you will proceed to the second step. In the window that appears, select the drive in which you have a blank disk (if there is only one drive, then it is selected by default). Also here you can select the recording speed and its type (simple recording and recording with imitation). In the lower drop-down menu of this window, you can specify the type of data to be written. Check the one you need or leave everything "by default" and click on the "Start" button. That's the whole process!

Burning the image to disk

Copying discs and searching for images

The disc ripping feature is essentially a combination of imaging and burning operations. It is in the third position in the left column. Having chosen this operation, we will first see the "Image Creation" window in front of us, and then a slightly modified "Records" window. The copy operation is elementary, and if you didn’t have any questions before, then there won’t be any here either.

"Image Search", located in the same left area of ​​our application, is designed to quickly scan disk space. With it, it is convenient to search and add images to the Alcohol workspace.

Finding images on your hard drive

DVD/CD manager, disc eraser and audio converter

Disk Manager all from the same "Basic Operations" panel allows you to find out some information about your drive. In addition to the main points like the name of the drive and the write speed, here you can see which discs your drive can read and write. The disk erasing routine doesn't look complicated - it's just a couple of tweaks. Set the speed and type and click on "Erase". As for the "audio converter", this option is not included in the base part of the Alcohol program and you will have to pay extra for it (unless, of course, you decide that you need this application).

Image mastering

The last major component of the Alcohol program is the Image Wizard. You can call it from the "Basic Operations" panel. It serves to create images from files stored on your computer's hard drive. The thing is definitely very useful. So, after calling the wizard, a window appears in which you must place the files from which the image will be molded in the future. This can be done by simply dragging the desired objects to the active "alcohol" window or using the "add file" and "add folder" commands. After the objects are added to the wizard window, click on the "Next" button. On the next page, select the location of the image, name it and select the format. Then again use the "Start" button.

Image mastering

Using images

We have completely considered the creation of images. And how to view files recorded as images? Everything is very simple. For this, virtual drives are used, which we created in the first place. The image file is identical to a regular optical disc. In order to run it, you need to move the desired file from the workspace with the mouse to the bottom menu of the Alcohol program. Where the "virtual DVD/CD drives" are located. We place the image on the icon of any drive and that's it! Now, using "My Computer" or any file manager, you can view the mounted images. On the computer, they appear as normal drives.

Loading the Image to the Drive

Summarizing

Alcohol 120% is by far one of the best programs of its kind. It is easy to use, yet has good functionality.

An example of opening / launching iso, nrg, mdf and mds images with the Alcohol 120% program

2. We start the installation, agree to create a virtual drive.

After rebooting the computer, going to "My Computer", we see that we have another CD / DVD drive. He is what we need.


Immediately after launch, the program scans the system and creates a virtual drive.

In the window that appears, there will be a list of possible letters for the drive.

We select for example "W". That's all! You have a virtual drive in which you can mount a variety of image files.

3. Now, to mount the downloaded image into the created virtual drive, just right-click on it and select " Mount Image"


mount image to open iso nrg mdf and mds

4. In the window that opens, specify the image file we need by double-clicking on it with the cursor. The image is automatically mounted into a virtual drive and it will autorun if this feature is not disabled in your settings.

Method 2 opening mdf, mds, iso, nrg using Alcohol 120%

It's also very simple:

1. Right-click on the downloaded file (in the example, the mds extension)


open iso nrg mdf and mds files

2. In the menu that opens, select " Mount Image" and specify our created virtual drive.

Method 3. If the drop-down menu does not include the ability to select a drive

On some computers, with strict security settings, with prohibitions on changing registry entries, with a prohibition of making changes to the context menu, with bad antivirus settings, the entry " Mount Image"

1. In this case, just double-click on the image or select " to open with"


2. In the window " Program selection"specify Alcohol 120%, you can also check the "Use it for all files of this type" checkbox.

In this case, all files with the mdf, mds, iso or nrg extension, depending on the extension of the file being opened, will be associated with the Alcohol 120% program and immediately opened by the program.

3. The program will start, in the window that opens, select the desired image, the program itself mounts it into the drive and starts it.

And more info:

Instructions: HOW TO VIRTUALIZE DISKS

1. click search for samples

2. choose the place where they lie
3. click search

4. highlight the found disk samples you need 5. click add files to alcohol
(Instead of all these items, you could simply drag the image file into the main field of the program with the mouse)

6. click virtual disk

7. choose the number of disks(you only need to do this once, because by default they are disabled for the program)

8. click ok

9. double-click on the file you need while it is virtualized(if, for example, it asks for a second disk, we do the same)

10. We are happy with the result.