CDIMAGE - COOL image making/compressing tool

[aElien]

This software is something which will really save you a lot money and energy.

What does it do ? well it does this. Yeah...it looks like a DVD....But its not ! It is a normal 702.8mb CD !. Check out Image1 attachements below, go ahead...,and now see Image2, use this software wisely and you could end up with Image3


About

Well, belive it or not, this software is believed to have actually been made by Microsoft !, for their own use. A guy named cyberian(believed to be from Veitnam!) has wrapped up the originally DOS based software into an easy to use GUI (using Delphi i believe). Boy am i am a believer


How it works ?

Now im not sure about the full funda behind it, cos there is not much litreature about it out there, but in layman terms, it does nothing but kindof cross-link duplicate files. i mean there might be two or more identical files on you cd at different locations. now cdimage, while creating the image, compiles those files only once so that all the files occupy the space of only one file, keeping the identity of all the different files intact but all of them pointing to one address. Members please also read the FAQ Q4 for the basic config of this software.


The Possibilities

Well i can guarantee you that this will definately save u some amount of money. My personal experiences :

1) U might have seen that last image i have attached. that Autorun has been by Autoplay Menu Studio. its even got an option to Compile Standalone ISOs for individual versions. I have not made that CD. But i did try to make one DVD for my friend who has almost all major builds of all OSes. he shoved a pack to DVDs to me and asked me to shrink it all into one DVD. Well in order to compile the s.h.i.t You gotto have space. cdimage shrunk about 22gb+ of data into one 3.1gb ISO, list of OSes
XP (home, pro, vol lic)
XP SP1 (home, pro, vol lic)
XP SP2 (home, pro, vol lic)
XP others (ripped versions 3+)
XP ME Ed. (2 builds)
Longhorn (3 builds)
Win2003 Server (10+ editions)
Win2k (pro, srv etc etc with diff vers for service packs 6+)
so about 3+3+3+3+2+3+10+6= 33+ OSes in one DVD and theres even some space left on our DVD ! about 1.6 gb. i could have put another 10-15 from the Win9x series had i not run out of space. Similarly you can burn ur complete OS collection into once DVD with all ur basic tools, WinPEs, Knoppixs, Boot CDs etc. Now obviously to make this multibootable and to install stuff in DOS mode ull have to use EasyBoot (-ezbsystems.kom/easyboot). but u gotta deal with that

2) My friend recovered his elibrary collection from his crashed HD. many of them were curropt. that was about 5 gb of data. he also had a working backup somewhere. i merged it up. there wasn't a way of making out what was curropt and whats working. we couldn't take the risk nor we had the time, so we compiled the whole thing using CD image onto one 4.7 gb DVD and burned it.


FAQ

Q1 Why isen't this stupid software compressing my files ? I hate you
Ans Well It not compressing because this software is not some some archiving tool like winzip. u got no compression cos there is not scope of it. U cant squeeze all ur music collection one CD. infact you will get 0% compression.

Q2 The links dont work ?
Ans email me @gmail.com-aElien

Q3 I get this stupid error in some phoren language when i close cdimage
Ans Just delete the cdimagegui.INI file. It will aumatically get created the next time u start the soft.

Q4 The configuration is bhery-bhery difficult. huh. i am not using your crap
Ans Most of the options are self explainatory but here are the generic options. Put a check mark on the following options. Notice the switches before the options, u can use them in the command line version.

Configuration/Files/ -h Include hidden files and directories
Configuration/File System/ -n Allow long file names (Longer than DOS 8.3)
Configuration/File System/ -d Dont force lower case filenames to upper case
Configuration/Signature CRC/ -o optimize storage by encoding duplicate files only once
Configuration/Creation/ -m Ignore maximum size of 681,984,000 bytes
Configuration/Creation/ -l Volume Label (Put the volume label)
Bingo !

okay the links are down below. Both the SFX and 7z file include the GUI version and command line version. The command line version has more options but u gotto use switches and stuff to use. pretty messy. Files in the archives :

cdimagegui.exe - 1.36mb - the deal
cdimagegui.INI - 326bytes - INI file
CDIMAGE.EXE - 107kb - Command line version
X.TXT - 137bytes - crap

MEMBERS PLEASE DONT ABUSE THE LINKS. MY SITE MAY GET DELETED. SO DONT REDISTRIBUTE THE LINKS. I HAVE UPLOADED IT ONLY FOR Tech-Arena MEMBERS. IF ANYONE HAS DIFFICULTY GETTING THEM, PM ME AND ILL MAIL IT TO YA. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.

SFX, 568kb
http://www.freewebs.com/andr/Files/CDIMAGEv3.EXE

7z File, 471kb (u need 7zip or Powerarchiver etc to open it)
http://www.freewebs.com/andr/Files/CDIMAGE.7Z
mirror
http://www.freewebs.com/warturtle/Files/CDIMAGE.7Z

.....


PS :
1) now obviously some of you know about this but ive made this post in this way cos i wanted ppl who dont know abt this soft to feel the same spasms when i had first seen this baby.
2) i wanted to post this on 20th oct on me bday, but i slept off that day
3) sorry for the goof ups (if any)

[aElien]

anybody tried this

[akitosforever]

What it does it do ,means actually compresses or decompresses the data ,wat is the main moto behind the software.If u cud explain it in two lines or simple words.

[aElien]

It basically compiles ISO files and saves space by encoding duplicate files only once. Hence if you have Softwares which have similar files, for example winXP sp1 would have many similar files to winXP sp2, and so when u compile the CD using cdimage, both would fit onto a single CD even tho the total size exceeds 700mb.

The loads of details i have put in probably includes all there is to know about using CDImage and getting started right away. and i did it to make things simple lol.

[chinto]

hi, everyone . plzz can anyone tell me how to use this software (cdimage). How do i fit in 3 OS in one cd.

[chinto]

HEY guys can anyone plz tel me how to make a bootable multi os cd with cdimage

[chinto]

helooooo plz anyone tell me about cdimage . how the hell do i compress the os

[akitosforever]

Thanx a lot ,but i think a demo tutorial will help every 1 a lot,i mean step by step guiadance

[fundusanju]

i use this software for making ISO's of XP SP2 installaton disk after adding customized stuff in support folder....so i hav a XP setup disk with abt 100 MB's of my customized software...
but after reading thsi post realised the potential of this small piece of software

[aElien]

@akit

will make a small page with images and small tutorial and upload to me site. im just using a keyboard right now. no mouse. gimme 2 days. but i have given a list of config in Q4 in FAQ in my first post. for starters.
1) make a folder xyz. put all that u want to compress in that folder. If u plan to put winxp sp1 and winxp sp2. make separate subfolders winxpsp1 and winxpsp2 and dump the files in them.
2) now in the CDimage window, specify the location of the source folder (xyz)
3) then specify the location for the output ISO.
4) then follow these steps in the Configuration window

Configuration/Files/ -h Include hidden files and directories
Configuration/File System/ -n Allow long file names (Longer than DOS 8.3)
Configuration/File System/ -d Dont force lower case filenames to upper case
Configuration/Signature CRC/ -o optimize storage by encoding duplicate files only once
Configuration/Creation/ -m Ignore maximum size of 681,984,000 bytes
Configuration/Creation/ -l Volume Label (Put the volume label)

5) Start image creation. thats all

[islador]

Plz Help me it's not working at all .... i wanted to make a vista bootable cd i tried but it is still as it is ... i mean i tried all what you said up there and chose the vista windows folder then it is still 2GB i need it to be 700 MB plz i really need help