When you have a lot of CDs that you use on a daily basis, finding their cases, inserting them into the CD drive, and waiting for them to load can become irritating.

What you need is a software that will create a virtual CD drive on your hard disk, so you can access it by just double clicking your mouse. It's the simplest solution at this moment.

You may think about an advanced burning suit software (like Nero), but for such simple commands, you just need a small and optimized application, like Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel.

This free software has a tiny size, it allows you to copy the entire contents found on a CD, and load them on your local disk, without the need of the physical disc.

In comparison to Nero, for example, Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel is much smaller, so it takes little time to load, whereas Nero eats a larger amount of CPU resources.

The only downside to this free software is that it can become difficult for certain users to install it, seeing as how it requires the installation of specific drivers. Just make sure to view the Readme file before you take any action.

The user interface is pretty standard. You can add or remove a drive, mount or remount a CD, and eject it.

Another huge inconvenience to Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel is the fact that it only runs on XP (and on some Windows 2000 editions, apparently), and it only works with ISO images.

Maybe Microsoft should think about improving its product. But to be fair, Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel accomplishes what it has aimed to do.

In conclusion, if you wish for a simple solution to create a virtual CD drive, then take a loot at Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel.