How do I write a driver for a Virtual CD Drive or a CD Emulation drive?

Question

I want to develop driver for a Virtual CD Drive or a CD Emulation drive. How do I go about starting? I found these links these links from the MSDN:

Windows Driver Kit Introduction to the Windows Driver Model (WDM)

Will this information be sufficient? How much time it may take considering that I am new to programming?

Do you want to do this to learn programming, or do you want a free way to mount ISO files? This will take a lot of effort and their are free tool out there, as two of the answers indicate. — Justin Dearing, Nov 21 '11 at 18:58

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 13 '11 at 12:06

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The links are fine. However for a skilled Windows programmer (not web programmer) it takes about 6 to 12 months to create a kernel-mode driver "from scratch", and more time to polish it. There exist some sample drivers for certain tasks, but they still require lots of hand work and solid understanding of both programming principles and architecture of Windows. There also exist third-party solutions which include a pre-built driver and let you write "business logic" (in your case CD emulation) in user mode, which is easier (but still not trivial). So if you are interested in learning, you've got a long road to walk.

answered Jul 13 '11 at 12:06

Eugene Mayevski 'Callback

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""There also exist third-party solutions which include a pre-built driver and let you write "business logic" (in your case CD emulation)"" Can you name a Third party solution? – Ravi Gautam Jul 13 '11 at 12:20
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@Ravi As one of examples, our virtual storage products ( http://www.eldos.com/virtual-storage/ ) – Eugene Mayevski 'Callback Jul 13 '11 at 13:26
actually, it took me 1-2 months to adjust imdisk to our needs. it is not that bad. (no kernel mode experience) – JE42 Nov 21 '11 at 22:07
@JE42 there are serious licensing and technical (design) issues with ImDisk. Also, you *adjusted* the code - I can adjust something in a minute. – Eugene Mayevski 'Callback Nov 22 '11 at 07:13
Yes there are issues in these areas, however they are not showstopper issues. Adjusting is fine to get you to the goal. – JE42 Nov 22 '11 at 17:31
@JE42 - licensing issues are showstopper ones. AFAIK ImDisk itself severely violates IP rights. – Eugene Mayevski 'Callback Nov 22 '11 at 19:10

JE42 · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-21T22:05:46.080

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Check out ImDisk. It comes with sources. Among other features, it provides Virtual CD Emulation for basic iso image files.

edited Nov 21 '11 at 22:05

answered Aug 22 '11 at 21:31

JE42

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score 0 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 25 '13 at 16:26

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WinCDEmu Is an open source windows driver that will mount ISO images to a drive letter. You should check this out.

edited Nov 25 '13 at 16:26

om-nom-nom

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answered Nov 21 '11 at 18:56

Justin Dearing

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How do I write a driver for a Virtual CD Drive or a CD Emulation drive?

3 Answers3