Virtual CD (computer software): A way to mount an image on
stored on your hard-drive as a CD (whether audio or data CD-ROM) for all
intents and purposes. Boring old trivial task on Unix/Linux. This is
mostly only an issue on Microsoft Windows - you'll need special software.
It'll install virtual device drivers to simulate a SCSI CD-ROM drive, a very
limited system (only D:, E:, ..., Z: can be mounted).
Why would one want to do this? I have an 82 GB hard disk. I do a "full
installation" of a computer game, and yet it always asks for the CD-ROM,
apparently for anti-software piracy purposes. So instead I can do a "minimal"
installation and keep an image of the CD-ROM. See also: Why do I bother to take
the Porn CD out of the Drive anymore?