.bin - .cue files and what to do with them

Author: DarkKent

Bin “Binary” and cue “Cue-sheet” are CD image files and used a lot today, the cue reflects the bin so you burn the bin through the cue file although there are exceptions were you don’t need the cue file to burn if you choose to burn it at all, They are a copies from a CD made in to image files used in games, movies "VCD/SVCD", operating systems and other applications.

Cue-sheet file info:
The cue is as I said the key to burn the bin it’s an index for the bin to read from, the cue reads a tracks from the bin which makes it possible for the cue to find the bin and burn.

Binary file info:
The bin is the file that contains the info of these image files, the bin is the main source of you’re movie game or application file and is the file that will be burned.

Ripping info:
Ripping is what it’s called when the bin and cue files are made, that’s copying the CD’s to image files.

Mounting info:
Mounting is when you open the bin and cue files to something called a virtual drive that will simulate what it would look like if you burned a CD, through the mounting you can either install “if it is a game” or you can view the movie file in one of the folders in the virtual drive.

Burning info:
The burning is as said when the bin is burned through the cue file,

Burning, Ripping and mounting process:
There are many programs to burn mount or rip the bin and cue files with, here is a list on some programs and how to use them.

Nero Burning Rom:
Start any guide "Burning wizard" or just an ordinary burning application, you click the archives "file" list in the right top corner and then "burn image" find the cue file on you're hard drive and then burn. Without the cue file you can burn like this "nero/archives "file" list/burn image/select all/ select the bin file and burn as data mode 2." And that's it with Nero you can find a trial version at Nero Burning Rom (TRIAL VERSION)

Alcohol 120%:
With alcohol it's easier then burning with Nero just start the "Image burning wizard" and you will just have to choose the location of the cue file and then it will guide you through the burning!
When you mount you just right click the Virtual device in the device window then mount and choose the cue, when you want you can just un-mount the cue to not have it on you’re virtual drive any more. You can also use Alcohol 120% to Rip a cd down to bin and cue files by using the "Image making wizard" you can RIP almost any kind of file, and here you can find the trial version, Alcohol 120% (TRIAL VERSION)

Daemon-tools:
I don’t have any experience with Daemon-tools what so ever, although I know that you can mount without the cue which can be good if you lost the cue to a movie for example, and here you can find a copy of it that you don’t have to buy or register, Daemon-tools.

Fire Burner:
Fire Burner is the far easiest way to burn the Bin and Cue files, but there are programs that will give you better results, just add the cue file to the track list and choose burn, Fire Burner(TRIAL VERSION), on that link you can find a trial version of Fire Burner, to find out more about it read the first post in this thread.

VCDGear
I don’t have any experience with VCDGear but you can extract the bin and cue to mpeg to you're hard drive in no time without having to burn it to a CD,VCDGear.

CDMage:
CDMage is used to see and use the files within the bin, you just extract the bin file and the files will be visible to you, link CDMage.

CloneCD:
You can use CloneCD to burn image files to, by clicking "Write from Image File" after that you just have to follow the wizard and you're done,CloneCD(TRIAL VERSION).

VCDEasy:
You can use VCDEasy to RIP down a VCD CD to bin and cue files also use it to burn ordinary VCD from MPEG "you can only RIP VCD with this program no other files",VCDEasy.

VLC “Video Lan software”:
With this program you can view the bin movie files without the cue, just click “Open a file” then browse the bin of the movie press ok and it’s going! Works like a charm, VLC Video Lan.

And always remember to keep the bin and cue in the same folder "mostly put so in downloads".

As I mentioned in the part about VCDGear that you can use it to extract the mpeg file to the hard drive without burning, you can do the same thing with Alcohol 120% or Daemon-tools, just mount the cue to you're virtual drive then open it and go to folder MPEG2 there you will find the MPEG and view it "the file is often named AVSEQ01", that way you don’t have to double it up on you're hard drive.

Cue-sheet file extras:
Here is the basic form of a data cue file “games, apps etc”. By writing this below in Notepad or any other text editor you can make you're own and use it as an ordinary cue file.

FILE "THE BIN FILES NAME. Bin" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

Copy and paste the bin name don’t forget the .bin. This doesn’t work with movies because the code for the movie cue changes.

So good luck with the bin and cue files!