 |
 | This article needs to be updated. (August 2018) |
| DAEMON Tools | |
|---|---|
 | |
.png) DAEMON Tools Pro running on Windows 7 | |
| Developer | Disc Soft Ltd.[1] |
| Stable release | |
| Operating system | Windows 98, Windows 2000 and later; OS X 10.6 or later (DT for Mac 2)[6] |
| Available in | 38 Languages with additional translation packs[7] |
| Type | Virtual drive |
| License | Shareware |
| Website | www |
Supported file types | |
| File Types | Details |
|---|---|
| b5t | BlindWrite |
| b6t | BlindWrite |
| bwt | BlindRead |
| ccd | CloneCD |
| cdi | DiscJuggler |
| cue/bin | Cue Sheet |
| iso | Standard ISO |
| isz | Compressed ISO |
| mds/mdf | Media Descriptor File |
| mdx | Media Data eXtended |
| nrg | Nero Burning ROM disc image |
| ape/cue | APE images |
| flac | Free Lossless Audio Codec images |
| As of August 2014[8] | |
DAEMON Tools is a virtual drive and optical disc authoring program for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS.[9]
Overview
DAEMON tools was originally a successor of Generic SafeDisc emulator and incorporated all of its features.[10] The program claims to be able to defeat most copy protection schemes such as SafeDisc and SecuROM.[11] 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, CD-Cops, StarForce and Protect CD), which are used on some discs with games.[12]
Editions
Six editions of the product exist: Ultra, Lite, Pro Standard, Pro Advanced, Net and DT for Mac. A feature comparison is given below.[13] Also, the company provides two additional solutions for the data storage organization: DAEMON Tools USB 2[14] that allows sharing different types of USB devices between remote workstations and DAEMON Tools iSCSI Target 2[15] – 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.
| Feature | Lite 5 | Pro Standard 5 | Pro Advanced 5 | Net 5 | Ultra 2 | for Mac 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| License type | AdwareA / SharewareB | Shareware | Shareware | Shareware | Shareware | Shareware |
| Maximum number of DT and SCSI virtual devices | 4 | 16 | 32 | 32 | 32 | Unlimited |
| Maximum number of IDE virtual devices | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Command-line interface | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image compression | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image password protectionC | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image creationD | Extraction only; no preset profiles | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Burning images | Needs Astroburn | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image collection's management | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image editing | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image splittingE | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Shell extensions | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Virtual device property monitoring | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Volume Mount PointsF | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Burning RMPS data on discs | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image conversionD | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mounting virtual hard disks (VHD) | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Installation over the network | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Image Catalog sharing | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| iSCSI Server | No | No | No | Up to 16 targets | No | No |
| iSCSI Initiator | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mounting images on remote computers | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| Sharing disc drives on the network | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Bootable USB creation | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| RAM Disk creation | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| TrueCrypt image creation | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Mounting ZIP files | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
- Notes
- A. ^ Free for non-commercial use without technical support. Technical support and the right to use commercially may be purchased.[16][17]
- B. ^ In Korea, Freemium license is not available since ver. 4.45.1.[18][19]
- C. ^ Applies on to
.mdsand.mdximages. - D. ^ Supported output formats include
.iso,.mds/.mdfand.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.[20]
- 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.[21]
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.[22][23][24][25] The initial discovery of the concerning issue is attributed to Rafael Rivera of Within Windows blog.[22][24][25]
In May 2026, DAEMON Tools were compromised to a targeted "supply chain" attack by suspected Chinese hackers. They used a malicious backdoor to plant malware across the retail, scientific and manufacturing sectors across multiple countries including Russia, Belarus, and Thailand.[26]
Related programs
Y.A.S.U.
| Y.A.S.U. | |
|---|---|
| Developer | sYk0 |
| Stable release | 1.6.9040
/ 4 February 2009 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Available in | English |
| License | Freeware |
| Website | forum |
Y.A.S.U. (Yet Another SecuROM Utility) is a tiny tool that works as an SCSI-drive protector. It was created by sYk0 (pronounced psycho) and can be used to hide emulated drives from SecuROM 7 and SafeDisc 4. Y.A.S.U. is a companion program for Daemon Tools, being currently hosted, supported and maintained by the Daemon Tools team. On March 4, 2009, sYk0 announced development of Omen, which was meant to be a successor to Y.A.S.U.,[27] but had its development abandoned in January of 2010.[28]
See also
References
- ↑ "Disc Soft Ltd". Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ↑ "Ultra Release notes history".
- ↑ "Lite Release notes history".
- ↑ The date and full version number are based on the digital signature and other metadata in the distribution package
- 1 2 3 4 "Release notes history".
- ↑ "FAQ". Disc Soft Ltd. What are supported operating systems?. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
- ↑ "Translation Packs". Archived from the original on 2014-04-07. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ↑ "File Associations". DAEMON Tools Help. DAEMON Tools. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2011.
- ↑ "DAEMON Tools Lite for Mac 2".
- ↑ "New name of the Generic Safedisc Emulator". 15 November 2005.
- ↑ "Supported games and protections database". Archived from the original on 2010-03-06. Retrieved 2010-01-20.
- ↑ "DAEMON Tools Lite 4.35.5 represents full Windows 7 support". 23 October 2009. Retrieved 3 November 2009.
- ↑ "DAEMON-Tools.cc :: Products :: Compare".
- ↑ "DAEMON Tools USB".
- ↑ "DAEMON Tools iSCSI Target".
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "Installation". DAEMON Tools Lite Help. DAEMON Tools. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
[Inside third screenshot] Support is provided only for Paid License users.
- ↑ "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.
- ↑ "DAEMON Tools Lite" (in Korean). DAEMON Tools. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
- ↑ "Split Image". Archived from the original on 2012-02-29. Retrieved 2012-03-23.
- ↑ "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.
- 1 2 Kovacs, Eduard (13 February 2012). "Daemon Tools Collects Image File Details, Even Without Permission". Softpedia. SoftNews Net SRL. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- ↑ "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.
- 1 2 Tyler, Holman (13 February 2012). "Daemon Tools knows what you mounted last summer". Neowin.net. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- 1 2 "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.
- ↑ Whittaker, Zack (2026-05-05). "Kaspersky suspects Chinese hackers planted a backdoor into Daemon Tools in 'widespread' attack". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2026-05-26.
- ↑ "Omen: The future of Anti-Blacklists is near... – THE DAEMON TOOLS FORUM". Archived from the original on 2010-08-15. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ↑ "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.
Further reading
- "Softpedia Editor's Review for DAEMON Tools Pro (Standard / Advanced Version)". Softpedia. SoftNews Net SRL. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- "DAEMON Tools Pro CNET Editors' review". Download.com. CBS Interactive. 6 November 2008. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- Jacobi, Jon L (15 February 2012). "DAEMON Tools Pro". PC World. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
- "Daemon Tools Pro v4.35". Windows 7 Compatibility Center. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
