ISO?
An ISO Image is an archive file of an optical disc in a format following a standard set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The format generally has a file extension of .ISO (Windows) but can have an extension of .CDR (for MAC). An ISO image is an entire CD or DVD, which typically has many files, all rolled-up into a single file. ISO Images are useful if you need to work with virtual machines (you can mount the ISO image as if it were a physical CD), or need to ensure that you are making an exact copy of CD/DVD every time.
Creating ISO Images
There are lots of free software tools that you can use to create ISO images. The basic premis is that you put in a CD/DVD and then "create" the ISO image of that disc. You can then burn additional discs faster (especially if you only have a single burner). If you need to create an ISO image you can use any of the following free tools:
An ISO Image is an archive file of an optical disc in a format following a standard set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The format generally has a file extension of .ISO (Windows) but can have an extension of .CDR (for MAC). An ISO image is an entire CD or DVD, which typically has many files, all rolled-up into a single file. ISO Images are useful if you need to work with virtual machines (you can mount the ISO image as if it were a physical CD), or need to ensure that you are making an exact copy of CD/DVD every time.
Creating ISO Images
There are lots of free software tools that you can use to create ISO images. The basic premis is that you put in a CD/DVD and then "create" the ISO image of that disc. You can then burn additional discs faster (especially if you only have a single burner). If you need to create an ISO image you can use any of the following free tools:
- Free DVD to ISO. This is a small application that is installed and gives you menus and icons and an easy "wizard" for creating your ISO Images. You can create both CD and DVD ISO images. Supery easy to use.
- ISO Recorder. This very small application basically hooks into your right-click menu and makes it easy to create an ISO image. There are no programs to work with. Just open Windows Explorer and right-click on the CD/DVD Drive and select "Create CD". Give it a filename and in a few minutes you have your ISO. No limitations on ISO image size. Truly freeware.
- Magic Disc. This is an application that is installed. It provides more than just ISO creation. You can manage ISO images, create "virtual" CD drives and mount ISO images to them. It shows up as a "system tray" item that you can right-click on. Although it has lots of features - it is not as user friendly as it could be. But, it has lots of features!
- MagicISO. Although it is free - it has limitations - you can only burn up to 300MB in size. They also have nag screens asking you to upgrade by purchasing.
- Active ISO File Manager 2. Although Active Data Recovery provides a great free ISO burner, their ISO creation tool is free to try, ~$50 to buy.
Burning ISO Images
There are some great free tools that you can use to turn an ISO image into a CD/DVD. Here are some free tools:
- Free ISO Burner by Minidvdsoft.
- Active ISO Burner by Active Data Recovery.
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