What is an ISO CD Image?

gcastner — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 23:36:00 GMT

Software downloads sometimes are formatted as ISO image files. An ISO image file is an exact representation of a CD or DVD, including the content and the logical format. ISO files end with either an .ISO or .IMG extension. The extension might need to be changed to work with your CD writing software.

You have a number of options when working with ISO image files:

1. Burn the file to a CD (DVD if its a DVD image). Common utilities for writing an ISO file to recordable media such as CD-R include ISORecorder (free), Nero, and Roxio. Note: you must use the special "copy image to CD" or "burn image" functionality except for ISORecorder whose primary purpose is to burn CD and DVD image files. See your software’s Help for detailed information.

2. The contents of images files can be extracted to your hard drive using utilities such as WinRAR (trial version lasts 40 days), ISObuster or DaemonTools.

3. Image files can be mounted locally using the Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel for Windows XP.

Source: msdn.microsoft.com

My preference is option 2 above - using WinRAR

Duck Bytes : ISO images

What is an ISO CD Image?