Tuesday 10 July 2012

How to Mount ISO Images using Alcohol 120%



Alcohol 120% is a really cool software that will let you create virtual CD/DVD ROM drives.  With a virtual drive, you won’t have to load the physical media, so you can preserve those expensive games CDs or DVDs on your hard drive.  It is also very useful for mounting ISO files so you dont’ have to burn them to physical media.
So how do we create a virtual CD/DVD ROM drive?  In Alcohol you can set multiple virtual drives using its easy to use GUI.  First open the Alcohol 120% application and then click Virtual Drive under the Options group:
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The options window will open with the Virtual Drive parameter fields. Set the number of virtual drives to 1 if you want to make only 1 virtual drive (or more if you want).  Check the Remount images upon system reboot if you want the drive to remain loaded after restarting Windows.   
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Set the drive letter of the virtual drive using the Drive letter field.  By default it will use the next available drive letter it could find from your computer.  Click OK to activate the drive.
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In the example above it used the drive “F” as the drive letter.  You can confirm the drive by exploring it on Windows Explorer:
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If you click the drive you will see a message like below:
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This means the disk has no media inside it.  Since this is a virtual drive, we need to point this to a CD or DVD image (like an ISO or any disk image file).  To load an ISO file, right click the drive using the Alcohol window and then choose Mount Image:
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Locate the ISO file using the Open dialog box:
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Then you should be able to see the image loaded on the virtual drive:
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After this you can use the virtual drive like an ordinary CD/DVD ROM drive.  Browse the drive to see the content of the ISO image:
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You may use the same steps above for any of the image file formats shown below:
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If you want to change the image file loaded, use the steps above to point to other image files.
Overall, I am very happy with how Alcohol 120% handled my image files.  With this tool I don’t have to waste blank CDs or DVDs just to be able to use the image files. You can also read my previous post on how to mount ISO images using Virtual CD-ROM from Microsoft.

Format Windows 7

how to format and install Windows 7Windows 7 is far better than previous windows versions (XP and Vista). The install process is plain simple and easy to follow. Big Bravo! for Microsoft for this. Now, just follow these steps and you will install windows 7 in no time
You can Install Windows 7 via DVD Disk you’ve purchased or with bootable USB.
This post explains installing windows 7 with dvd disk.
- 31 steps total, every step is screen-captured

First, insert your Windows 7 Boot Disk into your dvd drive and reboot your PC
  • While the PC is rebooting, you will be prompted ” Press any key to boot from CD…” Just press any key here

  • After you press a key, windows will load installation files.
  • Windows 7 setup will start
  • Select your language, time and currency format and keyboard input (US)
  • Click Install Now to proceed
  • Setup will load for a min or two
  • If you do, select I accept the license terms and click Next
  • If you are upgrading from Windows Vista select Upgrade, if you had Windows XP you have to select Custom (Advanced). Upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7 is not available. Click Custom (Advanced)
  • Select the Partition where you want to install Windows 7 and click Next. You will need at least 5716mb free space.
  • If you don’t have enough free space to Install Windows 7, you will receive the following warning
  • If that’s the case, you will need to format the partition where you previously had Operating System installed. WARNING: Formatting a partition will erase all existing data on the partition, proceed only if you have backed up all your files!
  • If you want to format the partition, go to Drive options and format the partition where you want to install windows 7. Again, do this only if you have backed up your documents/files!
    click format and then yes
  • After you press Next, Windows 7 Installation will begin. Approximately takes about 30 min to 1 hour to finish, depending on your computer speed.
  • After half an hour, setup is complete and windows 7 installation is almost finished. Few more minutes
  • Now your computer will reboot, since the Windows 7 DVD boot disk is still in the drive, the message press any key to boot from DVD will appear. We already did that, so this time DO NOT press anything. Just wait 5 sec and your PC will continue booting and finish installing your operating system.
  • Windows will continue booting and installing, almost there!

  • Finally! Insert your name (this will be your windows username)
  • If you want to, insert password for your computer. ( Hey….you won’t forget it, right? :) )
  • Insert your Windows 7 product key and press Next
  • Do you want Microsoft Updates for your new operating system? It is highly recommend you know…! Select use recommended settings
  • It’s time for Time zone, select yours from the drop down menu
  • Depending on your location, select the appropriate network location.
  • If you have more than 1 computer, type homegroup password for sharing files. Make sure to remember it
  • Windows is finalizing your settings
  • Can you see the finish line ? Yup, we’re there
  • That’s it. Now insert your computer manufacturer drivers CD and install drivers. Also FYI, Windows 7 has great driver support, go to Start –> Control Panel –> Select View By = Small Icons –> Click Windows Update
  • Check for updates and click on optional updates, to see which drivers windows 7 found for your computer automatically.
  • Install Windows 7 - Welcome screen
    Install Windows 7 - Welcome screen
    U R DONE......NJOY