How to play .cue and .bin files

You don't play them.  You burn them.  Take Nero (and probably other CD Burning software) and "open" the cue file - it basically has info that describes to the burning software how to burn the bin file to a CD.  Then you play the CD.

For more info:
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/7976
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/165745
http://www.zeropaid.com/bbs/archive/index.php/t-5017.html

If you do not want to burn a CD, a roundabout MAY work for you.

Download WinISO from :
http://www.winiso.com

"WinISO is a CD-ROM image file utility that can convert BIN to ISO, extract/edit/create ISO files directly, make bootable CDs and as a BIN/ISO converter/extractor/editor."

With WinISO, you can convert your .bin file to .iso file, then open this .iso file using WinISO, and extract the movie.

WinIso is covered in the first four comments of the third link I posted.

.bin is an image of the original file.

If you want only to view the files, you can also use daemon tools
You will need to mount the .cue and it will open in a virtual drive.

Sorry Lee, I did not bother to visit all your links :(

A program called Alcohol 120 will allow you to mount the image files as if they were burnt to a disc.  From there you can access them like a normal disc.
http://www.alcohol-soft.com/

I used this for years flawlessly

Ok, since people insist on reposting my answer, here - this is what the first link says - please note the other links have additional and similar info:

 1) What is a .BIN? What is a .CUE? What is an .ISO

The .BIN / .CUE CD image format was made popular by the CDRWin software. Afterwards many programs have started supporting or partially supporting it, including: Nero, BlindWrite, CloneCD, FireBurner. The .CUE file contains the track layout information, while the .BIN file holds the actual data.

.ISO is also a CD image format, but is sometimes used for 'ISO9660 format' (standard, recognized by all applications) and sometimes for unique Easy CD ISO format.

2) I have download .BIN&.CUE/.ISO files - what to do with them?

You can burn them to a CD-R or a CD-RW with:

-Alcohol 120% - My favourite, excellent software, easy and yet very advanced (burns ISO, BIN/CUE, CCD, CDI, BWT files!):
http://cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_tools/alcohol120.cfm

- BlindWrite - easy to use: http://www.cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_applications/blindwrite_suite.cfm

- FireBurner - also very good, a single .EXE file! http://www.cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_applications/fireburner.cfm

- BurnAtOnce - A handy and FREE tool for burning .bin/.cue/.iso. Easy to use!
http://www.afterdawn.com/software/cdr_software/cdr_applications/burnatonce.cfm

- Nero - many of you have this, but it can't handle all image files:
http://www.cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_applications/nero.cfm

- CDRWin - This is the original BIN/CUE software:
http://www.cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_applications/cdrwin.cfm


You can also mount image files as virtual CD-ROM drives using

Alcohol - http://cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_tools/alcohol120.cfm

Daemon Tools - http://www.cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_tools/daemon_tools.cfm

There are also several softwares you can use to exploit & manipulate BIN/CUE files in various ways:

CDMage - http://www.geocities.com/cdmage/
IsoBuster - http://www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/

3) I have a .BIN file but no .CUE?
.CUE can be made with just Notepad. A typical Playstation(One or 2) .CUE file looks like this:

FILE "image-name.BIN" BINARY
TRACK 1 MODE2/2352
INDEX 1 00:00:00

A typical PC CD-ROM .CUE looks like this:

FILE "image-name.BIN" BINARY
TRACK 01 MODE1/2352
INDEX 01 00:00:00

"image-name.BIN" being the name of the image file (IWDII.BIN, CIV3.BIN and so on...)

Notice the difference of the track mode - PC-ROMs being Mode 1, Playstations CDs Mode 2 and (Super)Video CDs are also MODE2/2352.



4) How do I make .BIN/.CUE files?

CDRWin or the BIN/CUE format is not ideal for distributing. BlindWrite suite and CloneCD perform a lot better in this purpose and can also handle various copy protections. Both of these softwares can also create .CUE files for increased compatibility


5) I have a .BIN & .CUE, but my CD writing software can't locate the .BIN file?

Edit the .CUE file with Notepad (or similar) and verify that the FILE "C:\path\image.bin" matches the location of your image file


6) My image file is IMAGE.BIN.EXE and I can't rename it!

Read here
http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/23982

7) Sector sizes of CD image files (by Aldaco12)



When you talk about images must think on SECTORS not on DATA SIZE.

The rules are:

1)A standard 74 min CD is made by 333,000 sectors.
2) Each sector is 2352 bytes big, and contains 2048 bytes of PC (MODE1)Data, 2336 bytes of PSX/VCD (MODE2) Data or 2352 bytes of AUDIO.
3) The difference between secor size and data content are the Headers info and the Error Correction Codes, that are big for Data (high precision required), small for VCD (standard for video) and none for audio.
4)If you extract data in RAW format (standard for creating images) you always extract 2352 bytes per sector, not 2048/2336/2352 bytes depending on data type (basically, you extract the whole sector).

This fact has two main consequences:

a) You can record data at very high speed (40x) without losing information, but if you try to do the same with PSX or Audio you get unredable CD (for PSX) od audio CD with lots of clicks because there are not error correction codes (and error are more likely to occur if you record at high speed.

b) On a 74 min CD you can fit very large RAW images,up to 333,000 x 2352 = 783,216,000 bytes (747 Mb). This should be the upper limit for a RAW image created from a 74 min CD. Remember that if you store standard data (backup files), you can burn only 333,000 x 2048 = 681,984,000 bytes (the well known 650 MB limit).

Please note that an image size is ALWAYS a multple of 2352 bytes (you extract SECTORS), if extracted in RAW mode.

Hi Dann47,

I have Alcohol 120% but i could not use to play those files.  I am not trying to burn these files.  I just want to be able to play them on my machine.  I will try some of your suggestions later today and get back with you.  
thanks for your efforts.

VCDGear will change it to video.

http://www.vcdgear.com/download.html

Thank you for your effort but let me refine my question because nothing of the above did what I needed to do or was simply too off the topic.
I have three different folders, each containing .cue and .bin file.  All three of these folders comprise one video file.  What tool DO I USE to have this image files extracted into one video file that is playable on my computer. I am not intending to burn a CD!
I will be looking forward a detailed answer as to what tools will get me this task completed and steps that are involved.

bengoa,

I think you are misunderstanding what these files are.  You don't have ONE video file.  You have 3 video files.  You may have one "video" that's broken into THREE parts because they wouldn't fit on ONE CD.

.bin/.cue files are INTENDED to be burned.  There are ways of extracting the files, but they were packaged this way to make it possible and EASY to burn them.  You might not WANT to burn them, but that's the purpose of them.

Sometimes the answer isn't what you want, but it doesn't make it wrong.

In addition, your continued and FREQUENT participation in the question can help improve the quickness of an answer as well as quality of that answer.

You are right about files being broken up into three different folders.  It is one big video file that's broken up into three folders which has .cue and .bin files in it.  Well, since you say that those files are there to be burned then how do I burn all of them to DVD to make it one whole movie.  Can I use alcohol 120% to accomplish that? Or do I need an additional tool?  If you have the answer please give detailed explanation as to how to burn them into one DVD.  
Thanks.

Download Daemon Tools from here http://www.cd-rw.org/software/cdr_software/cdr_tools/daemon_tools.cfm
Install it and then run it.There should be a red icon in the quick launch tray at the bottom of the screen.Click on it with your right mouse button and choose Virtual CD/DVD ROM=>Device 0:[E] No Media,(where "E" is the letter of the virtual cd/dvd rom drive) =>Mount image
browse to find the bin or cue file(it doesnt matter) to mount
And then use any of your players to play the file located on your virtual cd/dvd rom