Virtual CloneDrive 5.5.3.0

Virtual CloneDrive adds pretend CD, DVD and Blu-ray drives to Windows, so you can open disc image files without burning them.

Double-click an image and it appears in File Explorer as if you had put a real disc in a drive.

It is free, it comes from Elaborate Bytes, the Swiss maker of CloneDVD, and version 5.5.3 is a security update you should not skip.

What Virtual CloneDrive Actually Does

A disc image is a single file holding everything that was on a CD, DVD or Blu-ray. Virtual CloneDrive creates a virtual drive and "inserts" that file, so programs see an ordinary disc.

That is useful for old software and games that still want their disc, for DVD and Blu-ray backups, and for any installer that comes as an ISO. You can mount from your own drive or from a network share.

• Formats - ISO, BIN, IMG, UDF, DVD and CCD images
• Disc types - emulates CD, DVD and Blu-ray drives
• Drives - up to 15 virtual drives at the same time
• Explorer menus - mount with a double-click, unmount with the drive's Eject command, and pick from recently used images

What Changed in 5.5.3

Version 5.5.3.0, released on 10 February 2025, updates the ElbyCDIO.sys driver to 6.1.5.0. That fixes a privilege escalation flaw, a bug that could let a program gain more control over Windows than it should have.

If you have an older Virtual CloneDrive installed, update it even if it still works. The earlier 5.5.1 and 5.5.2 releases from 2020 cut CPU use on Windows 8 and later, fixed crashes with some UDF images and dropped Windows 2000.

Do You Still Need It on Windows 10 and 11?

For a plain ISO, often not. Windows 8, 10 and 11 can mount ISO and IMG files themselves: double-click the file, or right-click it and choose Mount.

Virtual CloneDrive earns its place when you need more than that. It opens BIN, CCD, UDF and DVD images that Windows will not mount, it can present the drive as a Blu-ray drive, and it keeps several images mounted with a history to switch between them.

What It Cannot Do

Virtual CloneDrive only mounts images; it cannot create them, burn them or edit them. Those jobs need a separate tool.

• Make an image from a disc - ImgBurn reads CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays to ISO for free
• Copy a DVD or Blu-ray - CloneDVD and CloneBD from the same company, both paid
• Edit or convert images - PowerISO or UltraISO, both trialware
• Look inside an ISO without mounting - 7-Zip or PeaZip open it like a folder

Playing Mounted DVD and Blu-ray Images

Once a movie image is mounted, open the virtual drive in your player as if it were a real disc. VLC Media Player and MPC-BE both play DVD images this way, menus included.

Commercial Blu-rays add copy protection, which free players cannot always get past. To turn a disc or image into a normal video file instead, MakeMKV copies it to MKV and HandBrake shrinks the result.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

The tell is the file you want to use. If it is a normal .iso and you are on Windows 10 or 11, skip the install and use the built-in Mount command.

If you want to install Windows or Linux from an ISO, a virtual drive will not help - the image has to go on a USB stick.

Rufus and balenaEtcher do that, and Ventoy lets one stick carry several ISOs.

More disc tools are in our CD and DVD utilities category.

Quick questions

Download Virtual CloneDrive 5.5.3 and mount your first image, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.