Extract text from Disk image segments (MD1)
To convert MD1 Image segments to another format, you need Alcohol 120% or other Disk Image software.
To convert other file formats to the "Multi-volume Disk Image" file type, you need software like Alcohol 120% or a similar tool.
.MD1 files serve two primary functions: they are either GEAR CD Disc Images created by GEAR PRO or Alcohol Disk Image Segment 2 files generated by Alcohol 120%. In the case of Alcohol Software, the .MD1 file is a raw data chunk of a split multi-volume disk image, logically following an MDF (Media Descriptor File) and an MD0 (Segment 1). Users historically split disk images into these segments to fit massive game or software archives onto physical storage media with strict size limits, such as FAT32 USB drives or standard CDs.
You need to convert this file because the .MD1 format is proprietary, obsolete, and highly restrictive. It requires specialized, often paid legacy software to mount. Unlike standard ISO files, .MD1 files are not supported natively by Windows, macOS, or Linux. Furthermore, managing split archives presents a significant risk; if you delete or lose the .MD1 segment, the entire disk image sequence becomes corrupted and permanently unusable.
We highly recommend converting your multi-volume image to a single ISO file. ISO is the global standard for optical disk images and mounts natively on almost all modern operating systems without extra software. Be aware that you must combine all segments before conversion, meaning you need the original master file (MDS or MDF) present in the exact same directory. Converting to ISO may strip out specific copy-protection subchannel data stored in the original Alcohol 120% dump.
This file format is exceptionally difficult to open or convert online. Because an .MD1 is a closed, proprietary format and often just a fragmented, meaningless piece of a larger dataset without its master file, standard online converters fail to process it. Usually, only the original software can properly read the split sequence and export the complete data. If our analysis detects a supported underlying or embedded format, viewing or conversion may still be possible.
Convert.Guru analyzes your MD1 file, detects the exact format, and lets you read the text inside.
Users also converted MD2 files.
If you want to convert MD1 file to ISO, IMG, DMG, VHD, VMDK, VDI, HDD, QCOW, QCOW2, RAW, VBOX or OVA, you can use Alcohol 120% or similar software from the "Optical Disc Image Storage" category. In the File menu, look for Save As… or Export….
To convert VFD, DMG, OVA, IMA, VBOX, ADF, PVS, VHD, OVF, ISO, DSK or IMG files to MD1, try Alcohol 120% or another comparable tool in the "Optical Disc Image Storage" category.
The history of Convert.Guru began over 25 years ago in California with Tom Simondi’s file-format database. A former contributor to Space Shuttle development and a software pioneer of the 1980s, Simondi established a trusted resource for file type analysis that was even referenced by Microsoft Windows XP. Today, we use modern technology to process and convert thousands of file formats while continually improving our MD1 converter.