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This is my wish list for Daemon tool. I'm sure that some of them are plain impossible, but one can dream !
#1: Image compression.
why ?: I use a lot of emulators that in turn use ISO images to play game (Dreamcast, 3dO, etc..). with an average size of 450Mb (100Mb to 650Mb)
and compression level of 10 to 60% (With plain zip), no wonder it's number one on my list. Compared to the weak NTFS compression (Better than nothing) the savings potential in HD space is enormous. I plan to eventually burn those individual ISO on a 9Gb dual layer DVD as single files. The more single images I can pack on a single DVD and still be able to mount them directly in DT, the better. Those with a lot of ISO with archiving in mind (Like me with my emulators) would greatly benefit from this.
#2: Windows support to ALL the CD and DVD format ever made from any platform.
Why ?: ISO is best for all apps because it's the defacto standard used by all applications. I use the DT / Blindwrite combination to convert my images to ISO. This only work, of course, if DT is able to mount the image in the first place... A Mac image format for example is impossible to convert, for now...(Unless you use Transmac). Extracting audio or video from an Xbox image is not possible either (Unless you use Xiso tool). The fact is ISO is only a standard for the ''exterior shell'' of the file, the internal structure can differ quite dramatically from one manufacturer to the other. Try to read a Mac ISO disc on your pc.... This feature alone could take eons to implement
#3: Emulate CD or DVD from folder on HD.
Why ?: For testing purpose, it would do magic. The fact that I requires to ''assemble'' the ISO prior to mounting it to test it is one step to many for nothing that could be prevented with this function. Only when you are satisfied with your result you create a final image, not at every step of the process. Lot's of time saving here. Could alos be used to isolate specific files on a shared drive over the network.
#4: Burn CD or DVD to Daemon tool drive.
Why ?: This one is obvious. This way, you could burn (save) ISO directly from alcohol or Nero instead of getting MDS or NRG ! It would be exactly like the ''image recorder'' in Nero, but would create a pure ISO instead of those lame proprietary formats. Just select the DT drive as the burner in any burning app would do it. Virtual burning straight from windows. This would be a first. I guess DT would have to emulate the full set of hardware of an actual CD/DVD burner to be properly recongnized in any burning apps.
Real, down to the IC, PC CD/DVD burner emulator anyone ?
#5: Any image to ISO built in converter.
Why ? This is only one step more than burning a CD or DVD through DT and would save the use of 2 apps when only one could be used for image converting.
#6: keyboard short cut / scheduled image mounting.
Why ?: Some emulated game use more than one CD. It would be nice to be able to mount the next CD game at the press of a button instead of getting out of the game, change the image with DT and go back. Other advantage would be to switch on the fly from often used images. The scheduled feature would involve automatic image switching at pre-defined times. This would be great for web/ftp server to switch avialble content automatically and keep it more secure since the data is isolated in a virtual drive. This vistual drive could even be mounted in a virtual server environement to improve even more security by totally isolating the shared data from the host OS.
#7: Low level hardware access emulation.
Why ?: This would be a very powerful feature that would put DT in a class of it's own. I have this MAC image that only ONE app could read: ISObuster. The only other apps that seem to use some form of Windows override to acces your drive at the hardware level is Blindwrite. This software actually install a bypass system in the form of the VSO device that can be found in the windows device manger (after installing Blindwrite and rebooting your pc). Now, what if DT could mount this image and actually be abble to make it appear to windows as a regular cd ? You could then open a MAC image in explorer and transfer all the files you want, and even interect with those files from any windows apps. Your windows PC could also act as a CD/DVD server for MAC on your LAN !! Now apply this principle on any CD or DVD you came across that you inserted in your cd/dvd rom or mounted in DT and that windows could not open to show you the content. Now you see the potential.
#8: Password protected / encrypted image support.
Why ?: Just in case you want to keep this ''personal data'' out of reach of prying eyes. A 1024 bits scrambling engine should do the trick. Very good for the Porno / wife combination
#9: Built in HEX reader / image identifier.
Why ?: Some time I mix up images for different emulator. Being able to look at the first few pages of ASCII code from the boot block is most of the time enough to know what type of image you are dealing with. Would be great to identify those ''Unknown'' images without testing it with zillion of apps until you get lucky. A built in, automatic image identifier would be top.
#10: Create or use ISO more than 9Gb in size.
Why ?: First, those new blue ray and HD-DVD format are coming soon. At 50 and 45Gb respectively (The theatrical limit is said to be around 200Gb !!), would be nice to be able to get a head start and create files to be burn on those format when there are available. Second, one could merge two DVD or multiple CD games in one big ISO image to prevent image swapping. Third, you could use this trick to get bigger file access from your server in case you only got one physical CD/DVD reader. This way you could share one big image instead of being limited to one physical drive of 9Gb and keep all those file in the image from fragmentation since there not individual files, but one big image.
That's it !
To the DT development team:
Keep the good work! Your DT is already a killer app as it is, my suggestions are only to point out different possibility for future development, and amusment of exploration of ideas !
Ramon
#1: Image compression.
why ?: I use a lot of emulators that in turn use ISO images to play game (Dreamcast, 3dO, etc..). with an average size of 450Mb (100Mb to 650Mb)
and compression level of 10 to 60% (With plain zip), no wonder it's number one on my list. Compared to the weak NTFS compression (Better than nothing) the savings potential in HD space is enormous. I plan to eventually burn those individual ISO on a 9Gb dual layer DVD as single files. The more single images I can pack on a single DVD and still be able to mount them directly in DT, the better. Those with a lot of ISO with archiving in mind (Like me with my emulators) would greatly benefit from this.
#2: Windows support to ALL the CD and DVD format ever made from any platform.
Why ?: ISO is best for all apps because it's the defacto standard used by all applications. I use the DT / Blindwrite combination to convert my images to ISO. This only work, of course, if DT is able to mount the image in the first place... A Mac image format for example is impossible to convert, for now...(Unless you use Transmac). Extracting audio or video from an Xbox image is not possible either (Unless you use Xiso tool). The fact is ISO is only a standard for the ''exterior shell'' of the file, the internal structure can differ quite dramatically from one manufacturer to the other. Try to read a Mac ISO disc on your pc.... This feature alone could take eons to implement
#3: Emulate CD or DVD from folder on HD.
Why ?: For testing purpose, it would do magic. The fact that I requires to ''assemble'' the ISO prior to mounting it to test it is one step to many for nothing that could be prevented with this function. Only when you are satisfied with your result you create a final image, not at every step of the process. Lot's of time saving here. Could alos be used to isolate specific files on a shared drive over the network.
#4: Burn CD or DVD to Daemon tool drive.
Why ?: This one is obvious. This way, you could burn (save) ISO directly from alcohol or Nero instead of getting MDS or NRG ! It would be exactly like the ''image recorder'' in Nero, but would create a pure ISO instead of those lame proprietary formats. Just select the DT drive as the burner in any burning app would do it. Virtual burning straight from windows. This would be a first. I guess DT would have to emulate the full set of hardware of an actual CD/DVD burner to be properly recongnized in any burning apps.
Real, down to the IC, PC CD/DVD burner emulator anyone ?
#5: Any image to ISO built in converter.
Why ? This is only one step more than burning a CD or DVD through DT and would save the use of 2 apps when only one could be used for image converting.
#6: keyboard short cut / scheduled image mounting.
Why ?: Some emulated game use more than one CD. It would be nice to be able to mount the next CD game at the press of a button instead of getting out of the game, change the image with DT and go back. Other advantage would be to switch on the fly from often used images. The scheduled feature would involve automatic image switching at pre-defined times. This would be great for web/ftp server to switch avialble content automatically and keep it more secure since the data is isolated in a virtual drive. This vistual drive could even be mounted in a virtual server environement to improve even more security by totally isolating the shared data from the host OS.
#7: Low level hardware access emulation.
Why ?: This would be a very powerful feature that would put DT in a class of it's own. I have this MAC image that only ONE app could read: ISObuster. The only other apps that seem to use some form of Windows override to acces your drive at the hardware level is Blindwrite. This software actually install a bypass system in the form of the VSO device that can be found in the windows device manger (after installing Blindwrite and rebooting your pc). Now, what if DT could mount this image and actually be abble to make it appear to windows as a regular cd ? You could then open a MAC image in explorer and transfer all the files you want, and even interect with those files from any windows apps. Your windows PC could also act as a CD/DVD server for MAC on your LAN !! Now apply this principle on any CD or DVD you came across that you inserted in your cd/dvd rom or mounted in DT and that windows could not open to show you the content. Now you see the potential.
#8: Password protected / encrypted image support.
Why ?: Just in case you want to keep this ''personal data'' out of reach of prying eyes. A 1024 bits scrambling engine should do the trick. Very good for the Porno / wife combination
#9: Built in HEX reader / image identifier.
Why ?: Some time I mix up images for different emulator. Being able to look at the first few pages of ASCII code from the boot block is most of the time enough to know what type of image you are dealing with. Would be great to identify those ''Unknown'' images without testing it with zillion of apps until you get lucky. A built in, automatic image identifier would be top.
#10: Create or use ISO more than 9Gb in size.
Why ?: First, those new blue ray and HD-DVD format are coming soon. At 50 and 45Gb respectively (The theatrical limit is said to be around 200Gb !!), would be nice to be able to get a head start and create files to be burn on those format when there are available. Second, one could merge two DVD or multiple CD games in one big ISO image to prevent image swapping. Third, you could use this trick to get bigger file access from your server in case you only got one physical CD/DVD reader. This way you could share one big image instead of being limited to one physical drive of 9Gb and keep all those file in the image from fragmentation since there not individual files, but one big image.
That's it !
To the DT development team:
Keep the good work! Your DT is already a killer app as it is, my suggestions are only to point out different possibility for future development, and amusment of exploration of ideas !
Ramon
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