Can I view a CD created under a PC (Windows) Operating System

DaisyMay,

We need a little more information. First if you could find out what type of files are loaded onto the CD, are the images saved in a propriatary file format (this is a major pain if so), or something more standard like jpg, tiff, etc..

You can run MS Windows on your Mac, that's the good news. If you do you will need to get a license of MS Windows either XP, Vista or Windows 7. Then you will need to decide how you want to run it. You can dual boot your iMac as either a Mac or PC using Boot Camp, Boot Camp is already loaded on your machine. The up side is it's already included the down side is you can either run in MS Windows or OS X but you can't run them simultaneously.

For your needs I'd recommend either Parallels or VM Ware Fusion. Both are excellent and allow you to run MS Windows and OS X simultaneously. Personally I use Fusion and have found it to be stable and pretty fast, other like Parallels just as much. In addition there is free software that will do the same thing however unless you consider yourself very OS savvy and technical I'd recommend Fusion or Parallels.

My recommendation is to ask your hospital personnel if they can save the images in a more standard format like JPG or TIFF, if they can then reading them should be extremely simple and you can avoid the whole MS Windows experience. If they are in any of the formats supported by Preview (Applications-Preview) you're in business!

If you do decide to load MS Windows on your Mac in any fashion remember that part of your machine will be susceptible to all the oddities Windows users suffer from including virus's and other malware. So if you do decide to load Windows take proper precautions. The good news is even if the Windows portion becomes diseased it in now way affections the OS X partion.

Roger

Virtualbox is also good, and is free for the virtualization, just not the operating system. But before you go that far, let us know if the CD can mount on the Mac desktop. Sometimes all you need a software to be able to read the CD on the Mac.

http://www.softarch.com/EN/Product/ReadDVDMac.html

Adds support for CD formats not normally supported by Mac OS X.

And most images that would be in an X-Ray can either be read by Mac OS X's Preview or http://www.lemkesoft.com/ 's GraphicConverter.

Only get Windows if neither gives you the ability to read the files.

Since you are able to tell the images are there that are 4.8 MB, those are likely your X-rays. No Windows needed.

OK so we know Elements 8 and Preview won't open them. What you can do is a Google search to find out what will. For example if the file is a .tiff format then do a Google search like this:

*What opens a .tiff file in OS X*

From there can then begin searching for applications that will open that file.

Roger

Your welcome.

Hope the hubby mends quickly!

Roger

I would try GraphicConverter. It is able to autorecognize numerous file formats from its open menu. It has a demo mode that simply requires 40 seconds before dismissing. It is cheaper than Windows in any case, and a very handy image editing program able to do a lot of what Elements does without the overhead. If it can't open the image, contact the hospital and ask them to tell you what format the files are saved in. It is after all your right to be able to open something from a government funded hospital. Section 508 accessibility applies here. http://www.section508.gov/

I have tried in vain several times to view images from CDs given to me by the local hospital; unfortunately, they rely on the hospital's installed software to be read/viewed - in fact, I took them to another doctor in Portland (different state/no affiliation with the other hospital) and they were unable to view them because they did not have the software installed. So, not only could I not view them on my Mac, but unless you are trying to look at them with a computer that has the (proprietary?) software installed, you may be out of luck.

Hey I'm glad to see you got a solution!