One way to save your collection of CDs and DVDs is to create their disk images that can be copied to your hard drives. Since very large capacity hard drives (like 1TB or 2TB) are very cheap and easily available, you can store hundreds of disk images on your hard drive. This way all of your old audio CDs can be easily backed up. You can use exactly the same method to make a backup of important software installation CD/DVD media. For this, you can use a freeware software called Anyburn.
Here is how you can save any CD, DVD or Bluray as a disk image using the free Anyburn software:
- First of all download Anyburn from http://www.anyburn.com/. We recommend the portable version as it can do everything that the installer version can do and does not make any changes to the system.
- Launch Anyburn and select Copy disk to image file from the Anyburn window.
- On the next screen, select the source disk drive, select the image file name, select an image file type (ISO, CUE or DAA) and then click on the Create Now button.
- In a matter of a few minutes, you will have the disk image ready on your local storage drive.
Anyburn allows you to create three types of optical disk image files ISO, CUE and DAA. All of these have different special characteristics and uses. ISO file is the most popular, standardized and widespread disk image format for CD/DVD disks and as a result it can be used in thousands of software. CUE is a binary format that saves the disk data in the binary format and has less acceptance than the ISO image format. The DAA is a format developed by PowerISO. DAA files can be password protected unlike CUE or ISO files.