Read how and why an ISO image is used. How to create an ISO image from an optical disc, mount it to your PC's virtual optical disc, or extract data from it, if necessary. Personal desktop and mobile computing devices are extremely popular and have received widest application in all areas of our lives. Every sector of the economy, education, healthcare, social culture, etc., one way or another, uses computer technology for its needs. All accounting, control, processing and storage of various information is carried out using such devices.
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Naturally, for personal use Computer devices are used by users quite widely. Performing various tasks, communicating using electronic applications, creating any information files, editing and sharing audio, video files and images, sending and receiving emails, organization of leisure and entertainment and much more.
It is not surprising that for the correct operation of computer devices, it is necessary to have modern, high-performance software that will make full use of their capabilities.
Most modern computer programs that have large range capabilities, are delivered to the user on optical media or otherwise in a specific digital format. And quite often a situation arises when it is necessary to save a copy of a particular disk. In this case it may help "ISO image". "ISO file"(often called image "ISO") - This archive file, which contains an identical copy (or image) of data found on an optical disk, such as a CD or "DVD". This type of file format is often used for Reserve copy optical discs or for distributing large sets of files intended to be written to an optical disc.
Name "ISO" taken from the title file system, used by optical media, usually this "ISO 9660". Can you imagine the image "ISO" as a complete copy of everything stored on a physical optical disk such as "CD", "DVD" or "Blu-ray" disk, including its own file system. It is a sectoral copy of the disk, and no additional compression is used. Idea of images "ISO" is that you can archive an exact digital copy of a disc, and then use that image to burn a new disc, which in turn is an exact copy of the original. Most operating systems (and many "utilities"– auxiliary computer programs, which perform specialized standard tasks for the correct operation of the equipment or operating system) also allow you to mount an image "ISO" How virtual disk. In this case, all your applications treat it in the same way as if it were an actual optical disc inserted into your personal computer's drive.
While many users use "ISO" to create backup copies of your optical drive, "ISO image", these days, is used mainly for distribution large programs and operating systems because it allows you to store all files in one easily downloadable file. People can then decide whether they want to mount the image for later use or use it to burn an optical disc.
Most bootable operating systems, including "Windows" and various distributions "Linux", spread like images "ISO". This will come in handy when downloading current version "Ubuntu" for subsequent installation on your computer or installation of any old game disc on a laptop in the absence of a real physical disc.
Concept "install ISO image" means that you will mount your disk image to a virtual optical disk. All your applications will treat the mounted image as if it were a physical disk in your personal computer's drive.
Operating system versions "Windows 8, 8.1 and 10" allow you to mount a disk image "ISO" without the use of additional third-party software. To do this, just open the file explorer "Windows" folder where the image of the required one is stored "ISO disk", and click on it right click mouse to call the pop-up context menu. In the list of available actions that opens, you need to select a section "To plug".
Or in file explorer "Windows" Left-click on the required image "ISO", and then on the Explorer main menu ribbon in the tab in the section "Control" click the button "To plug".
If you are using an operating system on your personal computer "Windows 7"(or a previous, earlier version of the system), then you will need to install additional application a third party app, such as a free and easy to use app "WinCDEmu".
OS "Windows 7, 8 and 10" have an image recording function "ISO" to disk, directly built into the pre-installed services of the system itself. Everything you need to record "ISO image", is to insert an optical disc into the computer drive, prepared for recording, and then use one of two methods to choose from. By analogy with the previously described connection methods "ISO image" you will need to open in file explorer "Windows" folder containing your "ISO image". Now right-click on it and select the command from the pop-up context menu that opens.
Or mark the file with the left mouse button "ISO image" and in the tab in the section "Control" press the button.
Note: If your personal computer does not have a device that allows you to write to an optical disc, you will not see this button. Also, if you have a file compression application installed (such as "7-Zip"), and it is associated with the file extension "ISO", this button will also be unavailable to you. We'll cover this in more detail in the next section.
In the operating system "MacOS" recording function "ISO image" to disk works on the same principle as in the system "Windows", so there is no need to describe it in detail.
If you don't want to mount "ISO image" or burn it to a disk, but still need to access the files stored inside, then you can extract its contents to your computer. For this you will need third party application, For example "WinRAR" or "7-Zip". We will show a way to get data from "ISO image" using an example application "WinRAR", but you can use the application you are used to working with.
If when installing the application "WinRAR" you associated it with a file extension ".iso", then to open and view its contents, you only need to double-click the required "ISO image". Depending on the size of the original "ISO file", the opening process may take some time, so be patient.
You can copy any files from "ISO image" into a regular folder by simply dragging and dropping them.
If you want, you can also extract the full contents "ISO image" to a regular folder. In File Explorer, simply right-click on "ISO image" and open the popup context menu. Among the available actions, you can use one of three sections to choose from, each containing a specific file extraction command. Team "Extract files" allows you to independently select the location for subsequent extraction of files, the command "Extract to current folder" extracts files to the same location where the file is located "ISO image", and the team "Extract to "folder name"» creates a new folder at the location "ISO image" and gives it a name "ISO file".
Other file compression applications such as "7-Zip", work on the same principle and offer similar features as the application described above.
However, one important detail should be noted. If you install a file compression application such as "7-Zip" or "WinRar", and you allow this application to associate with files "ISO", then you will no longer see the built-in control commands "ISO images" in file explorer "Windows" to fully work with them. So it's better to have a control "ISO images" in the file explorer, because you can still right-click on them and access compression application commands to extract data from "ISO image" whenever you want.
If you have already installed one of these applications and it is associated with image files, then you can easily reassign the file extension "ISO" for file explorer "Windows". To do this you will have to use the application "Options". This application contains all the basic operating system settings. And the developers "Windows 10" intend to replace the application with it "Control Panel" to improve the user experience. Therefore, we will dwell in more detail on possible ways opening an application "Options". We will show you five ways to access the application, and you can choose any method you like for further use.
1 way: Open file explorer "Windows" "This computer". On the Explorer main menu ribbon, select the tab "Computer". On the tab panel that opens, in the section "System" press the blue button with the white gear "Open settings".
Method 2: Click the button in the lower left corner of the desktop "Start", located on "Taskbars", and open the main user menu "Windows". Select the button with the gear shown on it in the left menu panel and open the application. Or on the list installed applications lower the scroll bar slider down, and, in the corresponding menu item, select the section "Options".
3 way: Search on "Taskbars" button "Search", presented in the form of a magnifying glass and located next to the button "Start", and open the search bar. Enter your search phrase in the query field "options". The system will analyze in the graph "Best Match" Click on the link of the application you are looking for.
4 way: Click icon "Windows Action Center", which is located in the lower right corner of the desktop on "Taskbars". In the pop-up sidebar menu, find the buttons at the bottom quick access. To open the desired application, press the button "All parameters".
5 way: The simplest and most quick way to call the application "Options"– press the keyboard shortcut together "Windows + I" and open the app directly directly.
On home page go to section "Applications". Next in the left panel new page Choose a section "Default Applications". In the right pane, move the scroll bar to the bottom of the page and click the text link.
The next window displays a very long list of file extensions. Use the scroll bar to find the extension in the list provided. ".iso". Next to the indicated icon in the right half of the window, click any application that is currently associated with the file extension ".iso". From the pop-up menu, select the file explorer option "Windows".
Process of creation "ISO file" from Discs allows you to get a digital backup of your physical discs. Then you can use the created "ISO files" to install them on computers that do not have an optical drive. In the future, you can create additional copies of the disk image from your existing "ISO file" without using the original physical disk. And of course you can share it "ISO way" with other people.
While operating systems "MacOS" And "Linux" come with pre-installed software that allows you to create "ISO image" from a physical disk, in the operating system "Windows" there is no such possibility. Instead, you'll have to use a third party app to create "ISO file"
The term describes any such file, and it does not matter whether the image was obtained from an actual physical disk or not. Thus, the disk image contains all the information necessary to duplicate the structure, location and content of the data of any information storage device. Typically, a disk image simply repeats a set of sectors on the media, ignoring the file system built on it.
Originally, disk images were used for backing up and copying disks where exact preservation of the original structure was necessary and/or practical. With the advent of optical media (CD, DVD), CD/DVD images have become a more common type of image, often in the form of an ISO file containing the ISO 9660 file system commonly used on such disks. The ISO format has become the most commonly used format for disc images, but it does not support multi-session data and audio CDs.
In addition to .ISO, there are a number of other disk image formats, such as .IMG and .DMG, as well as proprietary ones: .NRG (Nero Burning ROM), .MDS/.MDF (DAEMON Tools, Alcohol 120%), .DAA (CloneCD).
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Questions about how to open an unfamiliar file format sooner or later arise for almost any computer user, because the list of applications initially included in Windows library, is not suitable for all of them. It happens that after downloading a program, a person receives a disk image instead of the usual file with the .exe extension, which is an application. In this case, it is important to know what you can use to open an ISO and how to use it.
An ISO file (ISO, less commonly ISO) is a virtual image of a physical medium - an optical disk, usually in CD or DVD format, containing a copy of all its data. This data can be anything: music, videos, movies, copies of real disks used for convenient installation of applications, and so on. This type of file began to spread quite a long time ago, when it practically did not exist fast internet, and search required applications was mainly carried out through the exchange of disks, then ISO files helped to bypass the protection of many programs that required the presence of physical media in the drive to be allowed to work with them.
Now virtual disk images are used to distribute large programs (mostly video games) or their packages. In addition to being used for storing data, an ISO image allows you to accurately reproduce the original physical disc. To do this, you need to write the information contained in it onto an empty “blank”.
Programs that open the ISO extension are divided into two types: archivers that can read the contents of a virtual disk, and virtual drive creators that simulate the presence of a disk drive and connect images to it. The first of these are suitable if you just need to access the ISO file or copy its contents to your computer. Its structure is a regular archive with compressed information, so the files it contains can be opened, edited and copied using programs such as 7Zip or WinRar.
The second type of programs is used for more convenient and advanced work with virtual drives and includes applications like Daemon Tools. They can install programs from virtual disks and simulate the presence of media in the drive. They are always recommended to be used if possible, because there is a whole list of virtual drive emulators that are free and convenient even for inexperienced users.
By default, most archivers do not associate the ISO disk image format with them, but you can still open it with their help. To do this, you need to change the program settings. For example, in the WinRar application this is done using the following algorithm:
You can also open an ISO file using 7-Zip. To do this, just go into the program, click “open” and double-click on the desired image with the left button. In addition, you can right-click on the file itself, select the “open with” function and find the desired archiver in the menu that appears.
The disadvantages of these programs include the fact that they can be used to manipulate files on the image only within the computer. Archivers cannot, for example, copy the Windows installer to a flash drive - this will require the help of more advanced utilities.
The most popular type of programs that can be used to open ISO format on a computer are virtual drive emulators. They include many useful functions for working with disk images, such as mounting and unmounting them, as well as working with multiple digital media at once. The most famous utility of this type is Daemon Tools, but there are others, such as WinISO, ISOBuster, UltraISO, Roxio Easy Media Studio, Alcohol 120%, Gilles Vollant WinImage and others.
The most famous specialized program used for reading ISOs is Daemon Tools. It can be downloaded online from the official website. Exists free version a utility called DT Lite and includes everything necessary for working with ready-made images, as well as a paid one, used for more advanced tasks, such as creating new virtual disks and burning them to physical media.
After downloading and installing, the utility automatically creates a virtual drive onto which you can immediately mount disk images. Once mounted, the user can access the ISO files through the My Computer folder as if they were on physical media inserted into the drive. The “artificial” drive, when opened, provides access to all files on the copy of the disk.
The program interface is very simple and friendly even for beginners, but some of them may still need detailed instructions opening the image ISO utility Daemon Tools:
With Daemon Tools you can open two or more archives at the same time. To do this, click on the “Add virtual DT drive” or “Add virtual SCSI drive” button. There is not much difference between them, except for the response to some copy protection systems. You can mount a separate disk image in each of the virtual drives.
Another good utility for media emulation is a small program under the self-explanatory name Ultra ISO. It is worth noting that it works not only with ISO, but also with other image file formats, for example .bin, .mdl, .cue, .mdf, .isz (its special format) and others - there are 30 extensions in total. To open an ISO image using it, you need to follow these steps:
The main advantage of the utility is the ability to immediately extract all files from the image or start recording it to a blank. To do this, you just need to select the “burn files to CD” option in the top menu of the application.
Another application that allows you to open an ISO extension is Alcohol 120%, which has also gained some popularity among users. Unlike DT and UltraISO, it is paid (with the exception of trial version), and also more difficult to use, but in return it has some functions that are not available to other utilities. In order to open an image using it, you need to:
Using programs to view ISO files is a simple task that even a novice computer user can handle. There are many utilities for this, each with its own features, pros and cons. You need to choose the right one based on the purpose and frequency of its use by the individual.
Creating a virtual disk image is a necessary and very useful feature for every average person who actively uses personal computer. Now you don’t need to store mountains of storage devices, laying them out all over the house and blowing dust off them. It is convenient to store all information from disk devices on a PC, just by first creating a virtual copy placed on HDD, where she is not in danger.
A disk image is a file containing an exact copy of the file system structure and information located on the media, which means any hard, flexible, optical or Flash drive.
The most popular format used by Windows is the .ISO format. Dealing with an ISO image is much more convenient than dealing with files copied from an optical drive. After this, an original copy of the optical disc will remain on your computer, which, during further use, can be written to blank media or mounted in a virtual drive on the computer. Creating “ghost” copies will be very useful for amateurs computer games. Game drives that become scratched over time from frequent use are difficult to read. As a result, your favorite game goes to the landfill. In addition, the disk spinning in the drive can be very noisy, irritating some users.
It is quite important to create ISO images when Windows installation(by copying the Windows installation media to ISO format, creating a bootable flash drive). Create a “weightless” copy of Windows necessary, especially if there is no CD drive on a laptop or netbook.
To figure out how to create a disk image, you need to learn how to use one of the special programs, which will be discussed below.
You can create an ISO image using a number of simple, and most importantly, free programs. And here are some of them. 
1) Daemon Tools Light is a program designed exclusively for virtualizing logical media. Compared to other programs selected for discussion in this article, Daemon Tools has the smallest distribution size, a microscopic volume of 1.5 megabytes, which, in principle, does not prevent it from coping well with the basic tasks of a virtual drive. How to create an ISO image using this particular program? Everything is very simple.
2) Multifunctional program Nero, created specifically to work with external drives, allows the user to create, record and copy virtual images. Thanks to easy controls and a pleasant interface, understanding how to create a mirror copy of a disk using Nero is not at all difficult. 
3) I couldn’t pass by such a utility as UltraISO, which is one of the most popular programs installed Windows users for working with ISO format. Usually, without her participation, work cannot be done when installing Windows OS, creating bootable disks and flash drives, adding, deleting, editing ISO format and much more. 
There are many other utilities for recording an image, such as Alcohol 120%, Gizmo Driv, MagicDisc Virtua l, with which you can easily figure out how to create an image Windows disk or write down your favorite toy.
A number of software manufacturers, defending personal interests, sometimes forget about the opinions of consumers. Yes, any labor must be paid, but the buyer has the right to at least temporary use of the purchased products. Utilities for creating virtual images allow you to fully realize this feature.
Today, progress covers all areas of technological development, technologies are constantly changing and improving. As a result optical media are practically no longer used. But files with the ISO extension, called images, are becoming more and more popular.
The secret is that they contain a complete copy of the file system structure. And this, in turn, provides great advantages in transferring and duplicating information, and is also used to obtain an exact copy.
Unlike conventional copying, which is not capable of transferring system data, the image completely duplicates the structure of the file system from the physical media, repeating exactly the structure of the data and information about it.
The main goals of creating the iso format and ways of using it in everyday life are:
As a rule, the image of a disk or partition is in iso format, although occasionally others may be found. The remaining file extensions are most often specialized and are used for opening or writing only through one of the programs that created them. 
Whereas iso can be opened by any program that works with images, or viewed the contents using one of the well-known archivers, such as Winzip, Winrar. But in order to clone a disk, you need to use special software.
The process of recording any data onto physical media using software or standard means Windows is called burning. In order to transfer a disk image to another user, you need to decide how to burn the iso onto a CD or DVD. 
In operating systems from Microsoft, without the use of additional software, the ability to work with ISO type formats appeared not so long ago:
Despite this support in new operating systems, it is more convenient to use additional programs as a burning tool, for example, UltraISO or Nero.
Copying an exact copy of a disk onto physical media and then burning a copy of it is called cloning. File sharing servers and torrents are overflowing with images of all kinds of disks with programs, games and operating systems, providing the opportunity to download them for free.
But if you need to create an exact copy in order to clone some information from physical media, you need to use one of the programs:
In order to start creating a virtual clone for an optical or physical (partition or flash drive) storage medium, you need to follow a few simple steps:
Let's figure out what to do with the downloaded or created iso file. In order to see the entire structure of the disk, you need to mount the image using software, then your computer will consider the virtual disk to be a real device.
If your operating system version is lower than version 8, you will need to use one of the image reading programs. The most convenient and easy to understand will be Daemon Tools.
When you start, the software itself will offer to mount one or more disks of your choice. The program itself will also try to find all the images stored on your computer. If it doesn’t work, or you are mounting from a flash drive, you can always specify the path.
If you don't yet know how many virtual disks you need, don't worry. You can always replace one image with another, or connect another one.
To do this, right-click on the tray icon (next to the clock) and select the item in the menu called Mount image (in the Russian version - mount).
This format is very popular, and there is a large list of software from different developers to work with it. Software can be divided into three types according to purpose.
let's consider best programs opening iso:
You can also use Total Commander. Each of these programs is good in its own way and works with a large number of formats. But I would like to especially highlight two of them as the most convenient and practical.
When choosing software for working with ISO files, you need to pay attention to simplicity and ease of use.
However, the number of useful options is also important, and UltraISO has quite a lot of them:
The DAEMON Tools program is designed more for opening and managing virtual drives within the system.
In terms of convenience and speed of mounting and unmounting disks, it can be safely put in first place. It is possible to create up to four drives and control the replacement with a single button.
Among the advantages of this program, compared to others, I would like to highlight:
To Work with virtual copies disks are much faster and more convenient than using physical media, and here's why:
Choosing software to work with disk images, pay attention to programs on your computer such as UltraISO and DAEMON Tools. Thanks to their functionality, quality of work and high data processing speed, they are the best among their analogues.
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