Daemon Tools
Encyclopedia
Daemon Tools is a disk image emulator
and optical disc authoring program for Microsoft Windows
. Daemon Tools was originally a furtherance in the development of another program, Generic SafeDisc emulator, and incorporated all of its features. The program claims to be able to defeat most copy protection
schemes such as SafeDisc
and SecuROM
. It is currently compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. DAEMON Tools has a special mode for proper operation of copies of discs with advanced protection (SafeDisc
, SecuRom
and LaserLock
, CDCOPS, StarForce
and Protect CD), which are used on some discs with games.
, had no adware
, and was solely an imaging disc-emulation software (no image conversion, creation, burning, and so forth).
Currently, four editions of the product exist: Lite, Pro Standard, Pro Advanced, and Net. DAEMON Tools Net is an enterprise-oriented edition containing modern network features. A feature comparison is given below:
Notes:
It’s a simple utility that can be used to hide emulated drives from SecuROM 7
and SafeDisc 4
. YASU is a companion program for Daemon Tools and currently being hosted, supported and maintained by the Daemon Tools team. On March 4 of 2009, sYk0 announced development of Omen which is to succeed development of YASU. As of January 2010, development of Omen has been abandoned.
. 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.
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.
Virtual drive
A virtual drive in computing is a device that to the operating system appears to be an ordinary physical disk drive, with disc images substituted for disc reading hardware through the use of software called a disk emulator...
and optical disc authoring program for Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
. Daemon Tools was originally a furtherance in the development of another program, Generic SafeDisc emulator, and incorporated all of its features. The program claims to be able to defeat most copy protection
Copy protection
Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy obstruction, copy prevention and copy restriction, refer to techniques used for preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media, usually for copyright reasons.- Terminology :Media corporations have always used the term...
schemes such as SafeDisc
SafeDisc
SafeDisc is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management program for Windows applications and games. Created by Macrovision Corporation, it aims to prevent the copying of discs for casual or commercial use....
and SecuROM
SecuROM
SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management product developed by Sony DADC. SecuROM aims to resist home media duplication devices, professional duplicators, and attempts at reverse engineering software. It is most often used for commercial computer games running under the...
. It is currently compatible with Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. DAEMON Tools has a special mode for proper operation of copies of discs with advanced protection (SafeDisc
SafeDisc
SafeDisc is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management program for Windows applications and games. Created by Macrovision Corporation, it aims to prevent the copying of discs for casual or commercial use....
, SecuRom
SecuROM
SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management product developed by Sony DADC. SecuROM aims to resist home media duplication devices, professional duplicators, and attempts at reverse engineering software. It is most often used for commercial computer games running under the...
and LaserLock
LaserLock
LaserLock is a CD-ROM copy restriction technique. It works by including a hidden directory on the CD which contains corrupted data. When the disk is copied, the read device encounters errors due to the hidden directory....
, CDCOPS, StarForce
StarForce
StarForce is a software copy protection mechanism developed by Protection Technology, which claims that products protected with StarForce are difficult to reverse engineer.- Product families :Currently known official versions of StarForce include:...
and Protect CD), which are used on some discs with games.
Editions
Versions prior to v4.00 had only one edition. That edition was freewareFreeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
, had no adware
Adware
Adware, or advertising-supported software, is any software package which automatically plays, displays, or downloads advertisements to a computer. These advertisements can be in the form of a pop-up. They may also be in the user interface of the software or on a screen presented to the user during...
, and was solely an imaging disc-emulation software (no image conversion, creation, burning, and so forth).
Currently, four editions of the product exist: Lite, Pro Standard, Pro Advanced, and Net. DAEMON Tools Net is an enterprise-oriented edition containing modern network features. A feature comparison is given below:
| Feature | Lite | Pro Standard | Pro Advanced | >- | >- | >- | >- | (without preset profiles) | >- | >- | >- | 4 | 16 | 32 | >- | 0 | 0 | 4 | >- | >- | >- | >- | >- | >- | >- | >- | >- |
|---|
Notes:
- A. Free for non-commercial use without technical support. Technical support and the right to use commercially may be purchased.
Y.A.S.U.
Y.A.S.U (Yet Another SecuROM Utility) is a very small tool that works as a "SCSI-drive protector". It was created by sYk0, who also created CureROM (but CureROM uses an alternative method to protect SCSI drives)It’s a simple utility that can be used to hide emulated drives from SecuROM 7
SecuROM
SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management product developed by Sony DADC. SecuROM aims to resist home media duplication devices, professional duplicators, and attempts at reverse engineering software. It is most often used for commercial computer games running under the...
and SafeDisc 4
SafeDisc
SafeDisc is a CD/DVD copy protection and digital rights management program for Windows applications and games. Created by Macrovision Corporation, it aims to prevent the copying of discs for casual or commercial use....
. YASU is a companion program for Daemon Tools and currently being hosted, supported and maintained by the Daemon Tools team. On March 4 of 2009, sYk0 announced development of Omen which is to succeed development of YASU. As of January 2010, development of Omen has been abandoned.
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 imagesMDS file
An MDS file is an optional media descriptor file that can be generated when creating a disc image from a CD or DVD. The format is a binary file with the magic number "MEDIA DESCRIPTOR" appearing in the beginning of the file...
. 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.
MDX file contains metadata
Metadata
The term metadata is an ambiguous term which is used for two fundamentally different concepts . Although the expression "data about data" is often used, it does not apply to both in the same way. Structural metadata, the design and specification of data structures, cannot be about data, because at...
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
Data compression
In computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
. MDX file includes the magic number
Magic number
Magic number may refer to:* Magic number , number of atoms or molecules forming an exceptionally stable cluster* Magic number , a number that indicates how close a team is to winning a season title...
"MEDIA DESCRIPTOR" at the beginning of the file.
See also
- Comparison of ISO image softwareComparison of ISO image softwareThis article is a comparison of notable software applications that can access or manipulate ISO image files. It compares their ISO image handling capabilities.- Notes :...
- SCSI Pass-Through DirectSCSI Pass-Through DirectSCSI Pass Through Direct is a proprietary device driver and application programming interface developed by Duplex Secure Ltd. that provides a new method of access to SCSI storage devices. The SPTD API is not open to the public.- Uses :...
(SPTD) - Virtual driveVirtual driveA virtual drive in computing is a device that to the operating system appears to be an ordinary physical disk drive, with disc images substituted for disc reading hardware through the use of software called a disk emulator...