Alcohol 120% reads optical discs into image files, mounts those images as virtual drives, and writes images back to recordable media. A disc image is a structured copy of a CD or DVD, not a folder of ordinary documents. Mounting makes that image appear as a drive without inserting a physical disc. Burning creates physical media. The two actions use the same source image but produce different results, so Alcohol 120% separates them into distinct wizards.
The software is meant for discs and files that the user owns or has permission to copy. It does not grant rights to duplicate commercial content, and a successful read does not remove the rules attached to that content.
Reading a disc
Image Making Wizard starts with the physical drive, read speed, data type, output location, and image format. MDS is the default because it can carry disc-layout details beside the main data. The user can select another supported format when a different program or device expects it. The data-type choice acts as a preset for reading options, so a wrong choice can produce an image that looks complete but does not behave like the source.
Alcohol 120% does not always notice a disc inserted after the wizard has opened. When the sessions and tracks area remains empty, the user must right-click that list and run Refresh. Damaged or dusty media can produce read errors, while some disc layouts contain expected error patterns. The log and the completed image need inspection before the source disc goes back into storage.
Image files can be as large as the recorded disc data, and repeated copies fill a drive quickly. A dedicated image folder and descriptive names make the Image Finder useful later. The output location also needs enough free space before reading starts; the wizard cannot finish a large image onto a nearly full drive.
Mount or burn
A virtual drive opens a compatible image without consuming a blank disc. Windows treats the mounted image as inserted media, while the original image remains on storage. Unmounting removes that virtual insertion but does not delete the file. This route is useful for checking the directory structure or using authorized disc content without another physical read.
Image Burning Wizard takes an existing image, a recorder, blank media, and a write speed. Recorder hardware determines which writing modes are available. Alcohol 120% recommends a slower speed when reliability matters because higher speeds can increase the defective rate. A completed progress bar still warrants a playback or file check on the target drive.
The option to delete the image after recording saves space, but it also removes the reusable source after a successful burn. Leave it disabled until the user verifies the new disc. A separate global option can delete image files directly rather than moving them to the Recycle Bin, which makes recovery much harder.
Rewritable media
Erase Wizard handles supported rewritable CDs and DVDs. Quick Mode removes the table of contents and prepares the disc for reuse within Alcohol 120%. It does not overwrite every recorded sector. Full Mode processes the complete disc and takes longer, but the manual recommends it when another packet-writing program will use the media.
Closing the final recording session also has a lasting effect: the disc cannot accept more data afterward. Overburning is another hardware-dependent choice and can exceed the stated capacity of the media. Not every recorder supports it, and the manual warns that an unsupported attempt can damage the recorder. Leaving the recording profile at its documented defaults avoids turning a routine burn into a hardware experiment.
