ImgBurn

LIGHTNING UK! ImgBurn Version 2.5.7.0

Freeware Optical File Management Installation (WIN)

Release Date: 2012.03.29

Pros: Loads of optical disc burner features. Lots of supported formats. Burns Blu-ray discs.

Cons: Complex options may put off novice users. Windows-only.

Bottom Line: ImgBurn is one of the most powerful disc-burning and disk-image creating programs around, and if you don’t want to delve into all its gory details, you can use it’s EZ-mode for care-free operation.

ImgBurn is one of the most powerful disc-burning and disk-image creating programs around, and if you don’t want to delve into all its gory details, you can use it’s EZ-mode for care-free operation.

As the software guy at PCMag.com, I often get people asking me for installation disks for this or that piece of software (none of it bootlegged, of course). We’re constantly reinstalling Windows 7 for testing purposes, for example, in all of its Ultimate, Home Premium, or Professional flavors, both 32- and 64-bit. This often involves burning new DVDs, since almost no one returns them. To fulfill these requests, I turn to ImgBurn, the free utility that I use whenever I need to burn a DVD (or a BD). In fact, I’ve got my systems set to autorun ImgBurn whenever I either put a blank disc in the drive or double-click an ISO disk image file.

There could be or may not be a fragmented kind of restorative poll, which you might fill in a online cialis pills midwayfire.com slipshod way. In other words, it is an inner battle once a bully throws cruel words or actions at another child. viagra pill cost Many ED patients complained about their inability to gulp down the tablet. generic cialis prices Neem is household order generic cialis name in India when home remedies are concerned. I’ve used this Windows-compatible software numerous times to burn images to disc with flawless results. No matter what sort of formats I throw at it, it just works. It works not only with standard ISO disk image files, but with proprietary formats like Nero’s .NRG, and Pinnacle’s .PDI, HP RecordNow!’s .GI formats—something you won’t see in commercial programs, such as Nero Burning ROM.

ImgBurn program can also burn CDs and Blu-ray recordable media of all flavors. But ImgBurn does more than just writing preexisting image files to optical media: It can also record image files in the other direction, from disc to hard drive, and build image files from existing files on the hard drive such as those needed to create a movie DVD. Of course, if the disc is a copy-protected movie, ImgBurn won’t pull the image from it.

Burning with ImgBurn
The friendliest way to use ImgBurn is in its Ez-Mode Picker view. This just displays the app’s six main functions, with large, captioned icons: Write image file to disc, Create image file from disc, Verify disc, Write files/folders to disc, Create image file from files/folders, and Discovery. If you want to go more advanced, the software even lets you adjust setting for particular drive manufacturers’ capabilities, such as whether to use Samsung’s “MagicSpeed” or Lite-On’s “SmartBurn.”

You can choose whether you want maximum burn speed or any setting the drive supports below that. In all, there are 13 pages in the program’s Settings dialog (though mostly you can just choose one of the six main icons)! That’s more than you’ll see in mainstream products like Roxio Creator or Nero Burning ROM. And, like those for-pay competitors, ImgBurn can make a disc bootable, and you can use it to erase rewriteable media.

ImgBurn can also write non-image data to discs, and the latest version adds an ‘Advanced’ Build mode that lets you create any file and folder layout you want for a disc or image. The software also can verify already-written disks, and a “discovery” mode that tells you about the quality of your DVD burner’s work. The last requires a graphical viewer such as DVDInfo Pro to interpret results. You can also view the drive’s capabilities and check for firmware updates for it and tells you which version you’re currently running.

The main program window is accompanied by a log window below, and if you try to close that you’ll get the humorously chiding message: “This window was designed to be left open all the time! If you close it down, you’ll miss out on a lot of information.… Are you sure you want to play like an ostrich and bury your head in the sand?” In a clever interface turn, if you move the two windows so that they touch, they remain glued together. The helper window gives useful information about what the program is up to—reading, burning, verifying, and so on.

ImgBurn offers a powerful way to burn optical discs or to create files for later burning. It’s interface can be as simple or complex as you want, offering either a few simple choices or a multitude of drive settings. Best of all, ImgBurn is free—though its developer hopes you’ll donate a couple bucks through PayPal so to help support ImgBurn’s ongoing development.

The site is now showing that the site has been identified with a phishing vulnerability.

This entry was posted in File Management and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.