Daemon Tools Lite

Daemon Tools is available for both MacOS and Windows and is an optical disc authoring program and a virtual disk drive which incorporates all the features from the previous version of the software, which was named Generic SafeDisc emulator. Daemon Tools Lite is compatible with Windows 10, Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows Vista and can run on these operating systems with ease. This software claims to defeat the copy protection softwares such as SecuROM and SafeDisc and works securely for the game discs.

Features of Daemon Tools Lite

• Disc Soft Ltd has placed six versions of this tool in the market with minimal to maximum features. The editions of this software are: Pro Advanced, Pro Standard, Ultra, and Lite. It also has a DT feature available for MAC only.
• The company is reliable in providing two types of storage software, i.e., Daemon Tools ISCSI Target 2 and Daemon Tools USB 2. This software facilitates file transfer between the remote computers and decreases the workload of the user.
• If we have a look at the features of the Daemon Tools, the Lite version of this software comprises a command-line interface, password protection, and compression system for images and 4 DTs and SCSI virtual devices at max. The license available for the Lite software is adware/shareware, meaning you can use it for free, but your software will have ads embedded into it.

The format of Daemon Tools files

• Media Data eXtended (MDX) file format is the default file format for Daemon tools. If you know of MDF or MDS image format, then MDX image is like both of them. The best part about Daemon Tools is its extensive support for MDS and MDF files in a single monolithic file. These can both be mounted into the program, for example when mounting game ROMs, and you can run the setup after mounting them.
• .mdx is another file format of Daemon Tools Lite and contains the metadata (data of all the original data) including tracks, sessions, layer breaks, etc. which are physical features of the disc. This format is also responsible for compression of data and conversion to an archive containing all information of the DVD.
• .iso which is, of course, one of the most famous file extensions, can also be mounted via the Daemon Tools Lite interface.

The controversy of Daemon Tools software

MountSpace, a component of Daemon Tools software, was an optional installation add-on which would be bundled with the Daemon Tools Lite setup. It was considered a threat to security back in 2012 and posed considerable privacy concerns. The conclusion was that mountspace used to receive all the data of the users collected by their useage of Daemon Tools. Such data included their IP addresses. It is not compulsory to install MountSpace, and this tool can be unchecked during installation, but the threat was regarding the breach of the users’ privacy by this software without people even knowing. In fact Daemon Tools has since then faced many similar controversies, with users going as far as accusing ths software of spreading viruses to end-users. Daemon Tools is still looked down upon in many online circles, such as on Reddit.

YASU, sister software

You can combine Daemon Tools with a software called YASU, which is a S.C.S.I. Protector also managed by the Daemon tools team. This SCSI protector tool is also responsible for providing complete security during the virtual disc creation.

TL;DR

To conclude, Daemon tools is a powerful software which helps users create virtual discs on the PC and also helps in sharing data via remote computers.  The Lite version of this software is sturdy and will help you achieve most of your image mounting and creation tasks. If you upgrade your Lite software to a higher version, you will receive many powerful features as well.