Copyright: Virtual Drive Creator  Version 2.1.0                            J. A. Associates ©2001 - 2005             Friday, January 07, 2005 08:54:57
Citation: Virtual Drive Creator Version 2.1.0 by J. A. Associates ©2001 - 2005


VIRTUAL DRIVE CREATOR™ – PRO

Virtual Drive Creator™ is a utility that modifies your system to allow the use of unused drive letters, from A: to Z:, to point to a folder on a fixed disk (hard drive), floppy disk (drive A: or B:), or CD/DVD-ROM drive (Windows 2000 or XP only).

Virtual Drive Creator™ does not work on network drives. Although it  works on Zip Drives and USB Jump (Flash) drives.

In some instances you can use Virtual Drive Creator™ to create virtual CDs, essentially making CD-ROM drives obsolete! See Creating a Virtual CD for details.

Special Notes

The “Available Virtual Drive Letters” and “Used Drive Letters” lists; if the number of letters in either list exceeds the length of the list, little scroll bars will be added to the bottom of the list so you can scroll between the columns. You can also use the cursor keys to move between the columns.

The letters in the “Used Drive Letters” list that are UPPER CASE signify that the drive is either a fixed (hard) drive, a virtual drive, or a removable drive (floppy drive, CD/DVD drive, or another type of removable drive, i.e., floppy drive, ZIP drive, USB Jump drive, SAN Disk). The removable drive may or may not have media present.

The lower case letters in the “Used Drive Letters” list are network drives, if present.


Creating a Virtual Drive

Select a letter in the “Available Virtual Drive Letters” list. You can use the cursor keys to select your letter or Click the letter with your left mouse button. You can then type in the path in the “Full path:” text box or, using the Drive and Folder Lists, browse to the folder you want set to the selected Virtual Drive letter. Click the “Add Virtual Drive” button to set the virtual drive for this session. Click the “Make Permanent” button to make the virtual drive permanent. Or, Click the Exit button to abort the operation and exit VDC.

You can also input the full path first, then Double Click on the letter. This will create your virtual drive while bypassing the “Add Virtual Drive” button. Be sure to input the full path before Double Clicking the letter!

Creating a Virtual CD Creating a Virtual CD

Copy the contents of a CD-ROM to a folder on your Hard Drive, not to the root directory. Make that folder a Virtual Drive (see section above), then install the Virtual CD from the Virtual Drive letter. Click Start, Run and in the space provided type L:\setup or L:\install (substitute your Virtual Drive letter for L and see the documentation that came with your CD-ROM for the proper installation command). Now every time you need to access the CD you can use the Virtual CD from your hard drive.

Disclaimer: This does not work for data or music CDs, and it only works on about 70% of the application CDs we’ve tested. Be sure to try it out before purchasing the Pro version of Virtual Drive Creator™.

More on Make Permanent

The “Make Permanent” button is only available in the Pro version of Virtual Drive Creator™, during the unregistered, Freeware version, the “Make Permanent” button is replaced by the “Test Pro” button.

The Test Pro button allows you to see if Virtual Drive Creator™ is capable of performing the required instructions, on your system, to make the virtual drive permanent.

If you’ve already created a virtual drive and want to make it permanent, select the Virtual Drive Letter you want to make permanent and, very important, be sure to have the correct path in the “Full Path:” text box, then Click the “Make Permanent” button. If the wrong path is in the “Full Path” text box, it will be the path of your permanent virtual drive the next time you boot up.

Virtual Drive Creator™ creates a small batch file and places it in your Startup folder. When you log in you may sometimes see the program running for a short time in the Command Prompt. Some operating systems leave the Command Prompt open after running the batch file, just click on the [X] in the upper right hand corner of the box to close the window.


Removing a Virtual Drive

Select the letter of the virtual drive you want to remove in the “Used Drive Letters” list (if it is not a virtual drive you will not get an error message and nothing happens). As with creating a virtual drive, you may use a combination of your left mouse button and the cursor keys to select the letter of the virtual drive you want removed. Then Click on the “Remove Virtual Drive” button. You can also Double Click the letter to remove its’ virtual drive.

Note:

Unless you make a virtual drive permanent (which requires purchasing the Pro Version), when you reboot your computer the virtual drive will be removed.

If the virtual drive you are removing has been set to permanent, as you start the removal process, you will be asked if you want to remove it permanently. Answer No and the next time you boot up, your virtual drive will be back, otherwise it will be gone for good (or until it is “virtualized” again with Virtual Drive Creator™).


Support

Be sure to check the VDC Home page to see what’s new and download the latest version, if you don’t have it, prior to contacting support.

Email support is available to all registered owners of the Virtual Drive Creator™ at support@j-a-associates.com)

Support is also available via the USPS, mail inquiries to:

J. A. Associates

P.O. Box 956

Sun City, CA 92586

Suggestions and comments are welcome, (Send them to support@j-a-associates.com).


Ordering Information

For all the latest prices, and ordering information please visit our web sites Buy Now page

REGISTRATION

After purchasing Virtual Drive Creator you will be issued a registration number, be sure to copy it correctly. Click on Enter Registration Number and follow the instructions.


License Agreement

Virtual Drive creator™ Copyright   2001-2005 by J. A. Associates All rights reserved.

USE OF THIS SOFTWARE IS SUBJECT TO THE SOFTWARE LICENSE TERMS SET FORTH BELOW. USING THE SOFTWARE INDICATES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NO ACCEPT THESE TERMS, YOU MUST DELETE THIS SOFTWARE FROM YOUR SYSTEM.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY

THIS SOFTWARE IS SOLD “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OF MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED.  BECAUSE OF THE VARIOUS HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE ENVIRONMENTS INTO WHICH THIS PROGRAM MAY BE PUT, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED.  GOOD TECHNIQUE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THROUGHLY TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT.  THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING THE PROGRAM.  ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVLY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE

TRADEMARKS

Virtual Drive Creator™ is the trademark of J. A. Associates.

EVALUATION AND REGISTRATION

The unregistered version of Virtual Drive Creator is Freeware, use it, pass it on, but do not sell it except as a package with other Freeware/Shareware for evaluation purposes. The registered version, Virtual Drive Creator – Pro, has upgraded functions for the advanced user, see More on Make Permanent in Create Virtual Drive.

To apply the registration number, Click Enter Registration Number and enter the registration number in the space provided.