How To Use, Open, Mount MDF Files On Windows 11/10/8/7?

In this guide, you’ll find instructions on How to mount, open or use MDF files on Windows.

This tutorial was created on a Windows 11 device, but you can also follow it to mount, use, or open MDF files on Windows 10, Windows 8/8.1, and Windows 7.

ISO vs MDF Files

Upon downloading Windows 10 from Microsoft website, you will notice that the downloaded file is an ISO image file if you look at it carefully.

It would be fair to say that the ISO is a universal disk image format. The ISO file format is natively supported by Microsoft Windows.

You can burn the Windows or any other ISO file to DVD without any additional third-party DVD burning software.

You can browse the content of the ISO image file by mounting it as a virtual DVD drive. It is also possible to copy the content of the ISO image file.

MDF and ISO are similar formats. MDF disk was developed for Alcohol 120%. Windows 11, Windows 10 and other old Windows versions don’t support MDF file type.

The MDF Disk image format is used less and less these days in DVDs, Blu-rays, and other media. But back in the old days, MDF disk images were used to distribute third-party programs and games and other things.

What Do I Need To Mount, Open, Extract MDF Files On  Windows 11/10/8/7?

You need to use a third-party image file processing tool to extract content from MDF files. You can use PowerISO, Magic ISO and other programs to mount or extract MDF image files.

If you want to just extract MDF files, You don’t need any image processing tool. Winrar or 7zip can be used to extract MDF files.

Suggested – How To Extract ISO File In Windows 10/8 Without any Software?

If you have multiple MDF files and there is not enough disk space on your device, you will have to use software like Daemon Tools Lite to use the content of MDF files.

Watch Video Tutorial

Download WinRar

We are going to use WinRar to extract the content of a MDF file. You can use 7Zip or any other file archiver utility. Download WinRar from here and install it.

How To Extract .MDF Files With WinRar?

Keep In Mind – This method does not work in most cases.

After installing WinRAR, you can now open .MDF files using the “Open With” option.

Right-click the .MDF file and select “Open With” WinRAR.

If you’re using Windows 10, 8, or 7, you’ll easily find the “Open With” option in the context menu.

On Windows 11, you’ll need to click “Show more options” to access the classic context menu.

Once you’ve opened the “Open With” menu, click on “Choose another app” to find WinRAR.

If WinRAR isn’t listed, click “More apps.” If it’s still not there, select “Look for another app on this PC” and navigate to the WinRAR installation folder, typically found in Program Files.

After opening the MDF file with WinRAR, click the “Extract” button.

Choose the location where you want WinRAR to extract the contents of the MDF file and click “OK.”

The extraction process will complete, and you can now access the extracted contents.

How To Mount MDF Files As Virtual Drive On Windows 11/10/8/7?

It takes a while and requires disk space to extract the content of MDF files. You can swiftly install games, programs and other things from MDF files by mounting them as a virtual drive.

We will use Daemon Tools to mount a MDF file. This image processing software is offered in free and paid versions. The free version is enough for this purpose.

Download Daemon Tools Lite

You can download the Daemon Tools Lite version from here and then install it.

How To Use Daemon To Mount MDF Files As Virtual Drive?

When Daemon Tool is installed, it automatically becomes the default virtual drive. Double click on a MDF file, it will automatically mount the MDF file and open content in the MDF file.

As you can see, This MDF file contains a classic game, which we can now install without extracting. The Virtual DVD drive saves you a lot of time and disk space.

Final Words

We hope you find these suggested solutions for opening and using MDF files helpful.

If you know of any other methods or if we’ve missed any important points, please let us know in the comments section below.

We’re here to assist you and always appreciate your feedback, questions, and suggestions.