PowerISO
Encyclopedia
PowerISO is an application used to create, open, mount
/ emulate, compress
, encrypt
, and otherwise manipulate CD / DVD
image files
. It is most commonly known for its proprietary DAA
disc image format. Other supported formats include ISO
, BIN, NRG
, and CDI
. PowerISO is able to modify all supported CD images formats, most notably ISO. The trial version cannot create or edit images greater than 300 megabytes, but can burn files of any size to disc. The maximum file size PowerISO can process is 256GB.
PowerISO is currently produced by PowerISO Computing, Inc. The company's domain name is registered to an address in Beijing, China.
files. The format supports features such as compression, password protection, and splitting to multiple volumes. Popular disk image mounting
programs such as Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools
currently do not support the mounting of DAA images.
Currently there is no published information about the format. Among mainstream applications, it can be opened or converted with PowerISO and MagicISO
. Various free open source packages are also available to convert DAA to ISO images
ISO image
s without any added functionality in comparison to ISO. It thus offers no advantage to a zipped ISO image and can be considered a case of vendor lock-in
.
and Mac OS X
which allow the user to extract DAA files or convert them into ISO format, however these tools haven't been updated to support the newest version of the DAA format. The PowerISO Windows
trial version only supports converting images from DAA files up to 300MB, less than half of the capacity of a standard CD.
AcetoneISO
is a free CD/DVD management application for Linux that can convert DAA to ISO with the help of the external PowerISO command-line tool for Linux.
daa2iso is an open source command line application has been developed to convert DAA files to ISO files. The program comes with a Windows binary and source code which compiles under Unix-like operating systems. daa2iso allows users to select the .daa file, and the location for the .iso output via standard windows open and save dialogs.
For Mac OS X, DAA Converter is a GUI application which wraps the daa2iso command-line tool (GNU license).
Virtual drive
A virtual drive in computing is a device that to the operating system appears to be an ordinary physical disk drive, with disc images substituted for disc reading hardware through the use of software called a disk emulator...
/ emulate, compress
Data compression
In computer science and information theory, data compression, source coding or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation would use....
, encrypt
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of transforming information using an algorithm to make it unreadable to anyone except those possessing special knowledge, usually referred to as a key. The result of the process is encrypted information...
, and otherwise manipulate CD / DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
image files
Disk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
. It is most commonly known for its proprietary DAA
Direct Access Archive
Direct Access Archive, or DAA, is a proprietary file format developed by PowerISO Computing for disk image files. The format supports features such as compression, password protection, and splitting to multiple volumes...
disc image format. Other supported formats include ISO
ISO image
An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
, BIN, NRG
NRG (file format)
A .nrg file is a proprietary CD image file format used by Nero Burning ROM, a utility suite made by Nero AG, to create and burn ISO 9660 CD images.Other than Nero Burning ROM, a variety of software titles can use these image files...
, and CDI
DiscJuggler
DiscJuggler is a professional CD/DVD recording software program, able to duplicate multiple CDs at once with its ability to simultaneously drive multiple CD recorders and replicate virtually any existing standard CD...
. PowerISO is able to modify all supported CD images formats, most notably ISO. The trial version cannot create or edit images greater than 300 megabytes, but can burn files of any size to disc. The maximum file size PowerISO can process is 256GB.
PowerISO is currently produced by PowerISO Computing, Inc. The company's domain name is registered to an address in Beijing, China.
Features
- Supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows
- Can open and extract ISO files
- Can create an ISO file from hard disk files or CD/DVD-ROM
- Can edit an existing ISO file
- Can convert image files between ISO/BIN and other formats. PowerISO can convert almost all image file formats to standard ISO format file
- Can make bootable ISO file, get boot information from bootable ISO file
- Can make floppy disk image file
- Can optimize files to save disk space while saving ISO file
- Can mount ISO files with its internal virtual drive
- Supports shell-integration
- PowerISO can save DAA images, which add the following features that are absent in ISO (but can be obtained by manually compressing ISO files):
- Can compress DAA images, thus saving space and allowing smaller downloads
- Can password protect DAA images
- Can split DAA images into multiple smaller files
Direct Access Archive
Direct Access Archive, or DAA, is a proprietary file format developed by PowerISO Computing for disk imageDisk image
A disk image is a single file or storage device containing the complete contents and structure representing a data storage medium or device, such as a hard drive, tape drive, floppy disk, CD/DVD/BD, or USB flash drive, although an image of an optical disc may be referred to as an optical disc image...
files. The format supports features such as compression, password protection, and splitting to multiple volumes. Popular disk image mounting
Mount (computing)
Mounting takes place before a computer can use any kind of storage device . The user or their operating system must make it accessible through the computer's file system. A user can access only files on mounted media.- Mount point :A mount point is a physical location in the partition used as a...
programs such as Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools
Daemon Tools
Daemon Tools is a disk image emulator and optical disc authoring program for Microsoft Windows. Daemon Tools was originally a furtherance in the development of another program, Generic SafeDisc emulator, and incorporated all of its features. The program claims to be able to defeat most copy...
currently do not support the mounting of DAA images.
Currently there is no published information about the format. Among mainstream applications, it can be opened or converted with PowerISO and MagicISO
MagicISO
MagicISO is a CD/DVD image shareware utility that can extract, edit, create, and burn disc image files. It offers the possibility of converting between ISO and CUE/BIN and their proprietary Universal Image Format disc image format.In addition to being able to edit the contents of the disc images...
. Various free open source packages are also available to convert DAA to ISO images
File structure
Although lacking official documentation, DAA image files seem to be zlib-compressedZlib
zlib is a software library used for data compression. zlib was written by Jean-Loup Gailly and Mark Adler and is an abstraction of the DEFLATE compression algorithm used in their gzip file compression program. Zlib is also a crucial component of many software platforms including Linux, Mac OS X,...
ISO image
ISO image
An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, composed of the data contents of every written sector of an optical disc, including the optical disc file system...
s without any added functionality in comparison to ISO. It thus offers no advantage to a zipped ISO image and can be considered a case of vendor lock-in
Vendor lock-in
In economics, vendor lock-in, also known as proprietary lock-in or customer lock-in, makes a customer dependent on a vendor for products and services, unable to use another vendor without substantial switching costs...
.
Conversion tools
PowerISO provides free command-line tools for LinuxLinux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
which allow the user to extract DAA files or convert them into ISO format, however these tools haven't been updated to support the newest version of the DAA format. The PowerISO Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
trial version only supports converting images from DAA files up to 300MB, less than half of the capacity of a standard CD.
AcetoneISO
AcetoneISO
AcetoneISO is a free software program to mount and manage image files. Its goals are to be simple, intuitive and stable. Written in Qt 4, this software is meant for all those people looking for a "Daemon Tools for Linux"...
is a free CD/DVD management application for Linux that can convert DAA to ISO with the help of the external PowerISO command-line tool for Linux.
daa2iso is an open source command line application has been developed to convert DAA files to ISO files. The program comes with a Windows binary and source code which compiles under Unix-like operating systems. daa2iso allows users to select the .daa file, and the location for the .iso output via standard windows open and save dialogs.
For Mac OS X, DAA Converter is a GUI application which wraps the daa2iso command-line tool (GNU license).
System requirements
- Windows98/Me, Windows2000/XP/2003/Vista operating system or above (although the internal virtual drive needs Windows2000/XP/2003/Vista or above)
- Intel Pentium 166 MHz or above
- 64MB memory
- At least 10MB hard disk space
See also
- List of ISO image software
- Comparison of ISO image softwareComparison of ISO image softwareThis article is a comparison of notable software applications that can access or manipulate ISO image files. It compares their ISO image handling capabilities.- Notes :...
- Disk image emulators
- :mount images
External links
ISO conversion utilities
- daa2iso application for Windows (source code included, and may be compiled for *nix / MacOSX without modification)
- DAA Converter for Mac OS X, graphical Mac interface for daa2iso