Virtual CDs Protect Game Discs from Careless Kids

When was the last time you spent a weekend taping music? Music for a special occasion or maybe just a little something to help you through the daily grind of your commute?

Chances are you haven't done this in a while -- maybe not since the turn of the century -- because long ago you switched to MP3s.
With their play lists, search functions, and high-quality portable music, MP3 players are such a superior technology, that few of us wax nostalgic for the days of muffled audio tapes, which offered limited play time, took up physical space, and wore out quickly.

For the mobile music lover, times have never been better. But video gamers and parents of small children, still dealing with physical CDs and DVDs for games and disc-based applications, may struggle to manage -- and protect -- the ever-expanding disc collections they share with others.
Often, shared discs are treated badly. Left out their cases and exposed to kids and pets, game discs are soon turned into expensive coasters, damaged beyond all other usefulness. Traveling with disc collections can create all kinds of logistical horrors -- for instance, volume 4 of an educational set may simply disappear when the family goes on vacation.

MP3-LIKE CONVENIENCE FOR DISC-BASED APPLICATIONS

Virtual CDs bring MP3-like ease use and portability to video games, CD-ROM clip art collections, educational software, and other disc-based applications. They're the perfect solution for anyone sharing application CDs with members of the family or transporting discs from place to place.

You'll need a "CD emulator" to convert an application disc into a virtual CD, or a file that you store on a laptop computer or a USB device and play just like a physical CD. There's no need to load the physical disc -- simply click on desktop icon to launch a favorite application. If you're so inclined, you can have several virtual CDs running simultaneously. It seems like a silly notion, but gamers in particular like to keep multiple titles loaded so they can hot swap between virtual CDs.

Although it emulates, or "acts like" a physical CD, a virtual CD operates directly on the hard drive, improving playback times by up to 200% and eliminating wear and tear on the CD-ROM drive. It can be shared over a network, customized to contain multi-disc sets and expansion packs, and organized with other virtual CDs in a searchable library with a Windows Explorer-like directory tree.

CHOOSING THE RIGHT CD EMULATOR
Most commercial CD emulators cost between $30 and $60 -- a bargain compared to many game titles, and well worth the price of admission if you're able to spare just a few of your discs from abuse. But while nearly all CD emulators have certain basic features in common, not all offer the same usability and disc support.

If you're interested in a CD emulator, you might want to download some evaluation software. Try to determine which product works best with the discs in your collection, then decide which brand gives you the best value for your money.

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