File extension mdf information

The file extension is used by Alcohol 120%, a CD/DVD burning software. The file is actually a disk image converted by the disc authoring program similar to the .ISO image file. The file format comes in two files stored in the same folder. The other file contains an .MDS file format which stores the track and header information of the corresponding .MDS file. The Media Descriptor File is thus used to hold the complete image of the CD. The MDF file can then be accessed exactly the same way a CD would be in CD disk drive.
One advantage of using the Media Descriptor File is that Alcohol 120% is used to copy protected CDs and DVDs. Since these copy protected CDs and DVDs use defective sectors that have been intentionally set up, other file formats will fail to copy these CDs and DVDs. However, the MDS format is unique since it is able to copy even these defective sectors and store them on the hard disk. Thus, copy protected disks can be accessed by converting them into the MDF file format and opening them normally using a virtual disk image creator.