Open iso file. ISO disk image: how to open it, purpose of the disk, format, required programs, choosing the best one

An ISO image is often used to create a copy of installation programs such as Windows.

An ISO file is an optical image of a CD or DVD containing the ISO 9660 file system.

The image is a simple file. With the help of specialized programs it can be used instead of a standard CD.

Such a file has less information than the disk itself from which it was copied. The disk may contain information that can protect it from being copied.

Only programs that have this capability can save such information.

You can view ISO file information using archiving programs that can support this format.

Often such a file is used to “pack” as many files and folders as possible into one archive.

This format involves storing and distributing boot and other large files at a faster rate than through removable or other physical media.

Now the ISO format is being used more and more often.

The main difficulty with such files is that Windows Vista and XP cannot initially recognize their format, which is why some inexperienced PC users experience difficulties.

When you try to open it without pre-installed third-party software, older operating systems do not know what to do with this file.

How to open an ISO file?

Read also: 5 easy ways to create a Windows 10 OS image

Rice. 2. Creating a disk image

This format is most often used to transfer information from a CD or DVD via the Internet or media.

All necessary data is saved in the archive, which is then transferred and unpacked on another computer.

Recently, this format has begun to be used often, therefore, every PC user should know how to open it, because not every computer will be able to immediately select the appropriate program.

This format is used for archiving games and operating system data.

This is done so that it can be launched without having a physical disk, but with only its image. In this case, you can do without unpacking.

You can simply launch the file by double clicking the mouse. But if you need to extract information from a virtual disk, you will need a special program.

At the moment, there are several more well-known, free programs that are easy to use and accessible to any user. So, how do you open an ISO file?

1 Alcohol

4 WinRAR

5 7-zip

5 Windows 8-10 (System Explorer)

Read also: TOP 15 programs for cleaning your computer from junk

Daemon Tools is a program for creating CD/DVD images.

The drive is created programmatically, after which it is perceived by the computer as if it contains a disk. This allows you to use images as if they were physical disks located on a CD-ROM.

It is possible to create images in various formats for subsequent use in this and other similar programs.

A virtual disk drive is created to increase the speed of information transfer and reduce wear on media.

One of the most popular utilities for creating images and unpacking them.

Rice. 3. Utility download page

You can find a free version on the developer's official website, but after the update you will have to buy it. Go to the developer's website and click the "Download" button.

In order to open the files you need, the Lite version will be enough. This version is suitable if you do not need to perform any complex manipulations. It is in second place on the developer's website.

After downloading the program, install it and run it. To create an image, click on the button shown in Fig. 4.

Rice. 4. Creating an image in Daemon Tools

After clicking this button, you need to select the file you want to convert.

But it will not start in the program, however, it can be found in “My Computer”, like a disk located in the drive.

You can also open it through “My Computer,” but before that you need to launch it in the program. To do this, press the corresponding button shown in Fig. 5.

Fig.5 Putting the image into operation.

After launching the image, it will be visible in “My Computer”, where it can already be opened.

Fig.6 Added disk image.

Through Daemon Tools the work is quite simple.

Considering the fact that recently ISO files have become quite popular and widespread, you need to have this program on your PC.

Its system requirements are small and the amount of memory it takes is minimal. Additionally, it can be noted that this utility is often installed along with the game, as a required application, if this comes from a disk through a drive.

From reviews:

“An excellent program for virtualizing optical disks, and it’s also free.”

“One of the best programs for working with disk images”

“Excellently and efficiently creates a virtual disk and stores data on it”

Alcohol

Read also: Error “Windows cannot complete formatting”: causes of the error and 5 ways to fix it

Paid application for creating disk images.

With its help, you can create up to 31 drives, as well as burn information to a CD.

There is a version of Alcohol 52%, which is distinguished by the absence of the ability to record information on media, and is also absolutely free and intended for non-commercial use.

You can download this program on the official website of the developer.

But it is provided free of charge only for 30 days. Next, the utility asks you to buy a license.

The full version can, of course, be downloaded from pirated sites, but this is not recommended, as you can download virus software, thereby harming your PC.

By going to the developer’s website, you will be taken to the main page. On it you need to click “Download trial”.

After this, you will automatically be redirected to the download page, where you need to click the “Download” button, after which the installation file will begin downloading.

Once the download is complete, install the program and run it. The main window will open, in which we select the “File” submenu, and then click “Open”.

Fig.9. The main window of the utility.

Further work with the finished image is no different from working in Daemon Tools - Launch “My Computer”, find the desired disk and launch it.

From reviews:

“This program is much better than Daemon Tools, much! It’s very easy to create images, and it’s easy to remove (unlike Daemon Tools again)”;

“Cool program for images”;

“A must-have program for any computer. No comments needed.”;

“Cool program is very necessary for gamers!!!”;

“Damn, the program is absolutely a bomb, and even if you know how to use it, download it without fail!!!”

Read also:Create a bootable USB flash drive with utilities for Windows yourself

The program is designed for Windows OS, the main functions of which are creating, editing and converting CD/DVD images.

Has the ability to emulate and create CD burning.

There are paid and free versions. The difference is that in the free version it is impossible to work with images whose size is more than 300 MB. Multilingual interface. Can use native ISZ format.

UltraISO is not only popular, but also easy to use. Its simplicity is what accounts for its popularity. You can download the program for free on any website where it is available. One of the best is SoftPortal. How to download the program:

1 Go to the above site and look for UltraISO in the search bar. Click on the “Download” button.

Fig. 12. Downloading the utility.

The site will automatically redirect you to another page, where you will need to select the download source - the developer’s site or an alternative to it.

Fig. 14. Open the installation file.

When the installation is complete, open the program. After launching the application, proceed to opening the disk image using the “Open” button, as shown in Fig. 15.

Fig. 15. Opening a file to create an image.

In the window that opens, select the desired ISO file to create an image. The content will open as shown in Figure 16.

Fig. 16. Contents of the image.

Everything that is in the image is displayed in this window. Here you can already select what you need and work with the file.

The program is easy to use, so even the most inexperienced beginner can handle it.

From reviews:

“The program is just super, I recommend it to everyone”;

“The program can be useful in a variety of cases, from creating an image from a physical disk to converting formats. There is a function for burning images to disk. Working with the program is quite easy, it is Russified, which facilitates the rapid development of all functions. The internal file browser allows you to conveniently browse folders and select files for new projects. I recommend it for use!”;

Developed in 1999, it is still popular among users and is open source, which is freely distributed under a license.

The main platform is Windows OS. GUI and command line versions are available.

It is surprising that an ISO file can be opened by a regular 7-zip archiver.

You can download the full free version on the developer's website. On the download page you will need to select the system version.

If your PC has the Windows 7 operating system, then most likely a 64-bit version will do. Having selected the version, click the “Download” button, after which the installation file will begin downloading.

Fig. 10. Utility download page.

Installation has no special features and proceeds in the same way as with any other program.

After the installation is complete, launch the program. If you click on the “Plus” (add) button in the window that opens, another window will open in which you need to select the ISO file to unpack.

The contents of the file will be opened as in a regular folder. To extract what you need, just drag the selected file from the utility onto your desktop using the mouse.

Fig. 11. Adding a file for unpacking.

From reviews:

“It’s a pleasure to work in the program, everything is smooth and hassle-free. Archives can be unpacked both into the current folder and into a folder with a name like the name of the archive itself (which is much more convenient). You can pack the folder (“Add to archive”) and send it by e-mail. You can simply open the archive and view its contents”;

“Very simple, very useful and functional, highly recommend”;

“The program is excellent, I’ve been using it for more than a year. It works well, the developers are great. And most importantly - it's free!!! Place your bet, you won’t regret it.”

This is a very common format. Games or other programs are usually downloaded in the form of ISO files, which are images of a CD or DVD disc. Fortunately, Windows 10 has built-in tools for working with such objects. Let's take a closer look at what tools you can use to easily open a file with this extension or mount a separate virtual disk.

As already mentioned, any version of Microsoft Windows 10 (be it Insider Preview or any other) is capable of opening ISO files on its own.

At the same time, the OS also creates a virtual drive, which can be removed by right-clicking and selecting “Eject”.

The choice of a third-party ISO opening tool directly depends on its content: if any game or application is provided in this form, then the correct decision would be not to open the file itself, but to mount the image. Before starting the procedure, make sure that the file is on an NTFS volume.

In other words, the ISO will open in a specialized program that will create a separate virtual disk. Through such a drive it will be possible to install a utility or game. Let's figure out what programs can be used to do this.

Daemon Tools Lite

This is the most common and popular tool for mounting an ISO image. You can download the utility from the official website, because in the Lite version it is absolutely free. The provided functionality will be more than enough.

This utility is installed in the same way as any other. You need to open the EXE file and follow the instructions. There is only one “BUT” - in the Windows security window that opens, you must activate the “Always trust Disk Soft Ltd software” option. To install, all you have to do is click on the appropriate button.

Before finally launching the program, be sure to check that there is a checkmark in the “ISO” item so that the ISO format is automatically opened through this utility.

The further sequence of actions for opening an ISO using DTL is as follows:

1. We find the downloaded ISO and launch it using the standard method. Due to the fact that it was associated with the program we are describing, the file will be read in it.

1. Activate the option “Always use this application to open .iso” and click “OK”.

1. Click "Open" in the Microsoft Security Alert window.

1. If the procedure was completed successfully, a new disk will appear at the bottom of the program window.

1. We open “This PC” and in Explorer we see in the list of hard drives a new drive with the program that we downloaded as an ISO.

1. The disk is available for opening and use. When you double click on it, automatic installation of the content will begin. Right-clicking on the disk and selecting “Open” will open the contents for further use.

To unmount a drive, you need to open the application, select the appropriate drive, right-click on it and click on the “Unmount” button.

As a result, the disk will be removed from the explorer.

Let's move on to consider the next tool with similar functionality.

Ultra ISO

UltraISO is the simplest tool for working with ISO, which does not take up a lot of disk space, but provides a huge number of possibilities. Only one of them interests us.

We install the program like any other, and then follow the instructions below:

1. Open the ISO object automatically associated with UltraISO.

1. A program window will open, displaying the entire contents of the selected file.

1. To get the necessary files at your disposal, select them, right-click, click on “Extract to...” and indicate the extraction path.

1. The files are extracted to the desired folder and are ready for use. No additional drives were installed.

As you can see, working in this utility does not take much time. Let's move on to the next tool.

Alcohol 120%

Alcohol is a powerful utility for burning discs. In addition, it allows you to connect a large number of virtual drives. Its functionality is truly impressive, but in our case we will only work with a smaller part of it.

Install the application and follow the instructions:

1. Open the program, click on the “File” button and select “Open”.

1. Find the required ISO.

1. Right-click on the added image in the application and click on “Mount to device”.

1. If everything went well, the image data will be displayed in the virtual media status.

1. Go to “This Computer” and check for the presence of a virtual disk. If successful, open it and use the necessary data.

To get rid of the image, go to the utility, right-click on the virtual drive and select the line “Dismount image”. The image will be dismounted, and the virtual drive will be removed and removed from the list of connected hard drives.

Let's move on to consider the last tool in this category.

Nero

Nero is a whole package of utilities containing all the necessary tools for working with multimedia. Projects in the program itself have the NRG extension. Unfortunately, the package no longer includes a utility that supports ISO - Nero Image Drive, however, the previous solutions should be more than enough to solve emerging problems.

All described emulators are provided in Russian, so the user will not have questions about how to translate the interface.

Opening by archivers

Any ISO can be opened not only using specialized applications that mount images, or the OS itself, but also using modern archivers. This method is recommended to be used only if you only need data from the ISO, and there is no need to create a disk image.

Let's look at the two most common archivers and the process of working with ISOs using them.

WinRAR

WinRAR is the most common archiver today. The program is extremely easy to use and has the most intuitive interface.

To open ISO via WinRAR, install the archiver, then:

1. The system automatically builds tools into the context menu. To use them, right-click on the downloaded ISO file and select “Open in WinRAR”. After this action, a separate window will open.

1. In the window, click on the “Extract” button and indicate the path to which you want to move the files. Once extraction is complete, you can begin using them.

You can also open an ISO in WinRAR directly from the archiver window. To do this, you just need to open this utility, open the “File” tab in the top menu, click on “Open archive” and select ISO on your PC. Next, follow the steps described in paragraph 2 of the above instructions.

Let's consider an alternative archiver, no less common among PC users.

7-zip

7-zip is an absolutely free archiver, in no way inferior to the previously described WinRAR. Download the utility from the official website and install it on your computer or laptop.

Pay attention to which OS version is installed - x32 Bit or x64 Bit. Based on this information, you need to download and run the appropriate version of 7-zip.

To expand ISO via 7-zip:

1. Right-click on the file, hover the cursor over “7-zip” and in the expanded add-on, click on “Unpack”.

1. Select the extraction path and click OK. The files will be unpacked into the folder specified by the user, nothing else needs to be done.

As in the previous case, all actions can be performed through the interface of the application itself. For this:

1. We find the required image directly from the utility and open it.

1. Select the existing files and click on the “Extract” button. We indicate the appropriate path and click on “OK”.

That's all, actually. We have finished looking at how to open an ISO file on Windows 10 in just a few clicks.

conclusions

The choice of a specific solution depends on the situation. If a game or program requires a disk, then you should use one of the emulators and create a special virtual media. If you just need to access files stored in ISO, you can do without programs and use any available archiver.

Video instruction

We attach detailed instructions in video format, which describe step by step the process of working with each tool described above.

File iso how to open So what's this. This question may arise for every computer user. In this article I will tell you what the iso format is and how you need to handle it: how to create an iso image and what program to open it with.

The iso file extension is an archived image of a CD or DVD disk that is used by programs to create an exact copy of disks and then burn them. Very often used to store backup exact copies of disks on media. Essentially, this file is simply an archive container in which the file system of the ISO 9660 standard, which describes the standard for CD-ROM disks, is collected. The purpose of creating this format was to ensure full compatibility of the storage medium on different operating systems (such as Unix, Windows, Mac OS).

How to open an iso file using the free 7-zip archiver.

If you have an ISO image and need to burn it to a disc, you can use the free CD BurnerXP disc burning program. You can read how to record.

If you do not need to burn the image to disk and you just want to open the iso file to, for example, view a list of files or open some, you can use the free 7-zip archiver. I will show you how to do this using the example of one of the files, and at the end of the article I recorded a video with step-by-step instructions. You must have the 7-zip archiver installed on your computer.

So, open the folder with the disk image file (iso) and right-click on the file. In the menu list we find 7-zip, click and in the menu that opens select “Open archive”. This operation will open our file to work with the files that are inside. In this case, we will be able, for example, to select only some of all the files present and unzip them to a computer for reading or viewing. If you select the “Unpack” menu, a window will open with a choice of where to unpack the entire iso file. When you select the “Unpack here” menu, the program will unzip the entire contents of the archive into the folder in which the iso archive itself is located. And when you select “Extract to...”, the program will expand all the files contained in the archive into a folder that will have the same name as the name of the iso file. In our case, we select “Open archive” because This is the most universal method of working with it.

After this, the archiver will start with a list of files that the iso image contains. Just like in a regular Explorer, you can select files and open folders. To unzip the necessary files, we select a file, folder or several files and folders and click the “Extract” button. A window will open where you need to specify the folder into which the file will be extracted. In my case, I selected 1 file and extracted it to the same folder where the image itself was located. Click Ok.

As a result, the files that we extracted should appear in the selected folder. There is nothing overly complicated in the iso file and you can work with it in the same way as with a regular archive.

How to open an iso file using winrar archiver

In principle, you can open an iso with any decompressor program that allows you to work with this iso format. As for the most common winrar program, I will show you how to work with it.

If you already have winrar installed, you can extract all files from the iso image directly from the context menu. But as you can see in the image below, you cannot open the file by right-clicking. You will need to first launch winrar and select the required file in the program itself to open and then extract the necessary files. If you often need to open these types of files, it will be more convenient to add the ability to open with an archiver using the context menu.

To do this, launch winrar and open the options menu and then settings. Go to the Integration tab, check the ISO checkbox and click OK.

After this, the right-click context menu on the ISO file will look like this. Also pay attention to the file icon. It took the form of a winrar archive, i.e. When you run such a file, the archiver will automatically start with the contents of the file.

Now you can select the files or folders you need, view the contents, or extract them to your computer. All operations are the same as in the case of the 7-zip archiver.

How to open an iso file with a disk mounting program

In previous examples, we looked at options for how to open and extract the contents of a file. However, in most cases you will be faced with the task of watching a video or installing some program or game on your computer. And in this case, you will need a special program that creates a virtual disk drive on your computer and mounts the iso file, which allows you to use it as an ordinary CD or DVD disk. This is necessary if the installer program, to install programs, needs to work not with files in a folder, but with a full-fledged drive.

The most common and also free program for mounting images is DAEMON Tools Lite. You can download it from the website daemon-tools.cc. Please note that to download you must click on the following link:

After downloading, run the installation file and install the program on your computer. Once the installation is complete, all ISO files will change their icon to daemon tools and, when opened or double-clicked with the left button, will be automatically mounted as a virtual disk and opened as a disk. To do this, the program will create an additional virtual drive during mounting and when unmounting the image, this drive will be deleted as unnecessary.

After opening an iso file in this way, you can perform all operations with it just like those available for files on a regular disk. To unmount the image and hide the virtual drive, right-click on the virtual drive and select "eject" from the context menu.

Video “How to open an iso file”

Have you downloaded a DVD with a movie, a long-awaited game, or a set of automatically installed programs, but don’t know how to open it? There is probably no program installed on your computer to work with files of this format. This article is intended to help newbies solve the problem. We'll look at what the ISO data type is and take a quick look at popular applications for working with such files.

What is hidden in a file with an iso extension?

ISO is a standard format for storing image files. An image file refers to an exact (cluster-to-cluster) copy of an optical disk stored digitally. The iso format preserves the exact file system structure of the optical media, all file and directory attributes, as well as boot code, which is very convenient for duplicating auto-start and boot disks. The content of an iso file can be absolutely any content stored on optical and physical media.

Disk images are created for many reasons, including:

• distribution of data on the network;
• disk emulation for working with it - this way you can run a game that requires physical media in the drive;
• storing a copy of important data, for example, personal photo or video archive, on a computer, etc.

How to open an ISO image file?

There is a lot of software for working with disk images, because they are used by a huge number of users all over the planet. When starting to choose a product that best suits and satisfies all needs, the user is faced with numerous difficulties. Now we will consider not only popular, but also the most functional, easiest to use programs translated into Russian, including free ones. We’ll also find out how to open an ISO image file in each of them.

Archiver 7-zip

The free 7z archiver, which is gaining more and more popularity among users, works perfectly on all versions of Windows OS of any bit level.

To open an image using 7-zip, you need to call the file's context menu. In it, select “7-zip”® “Open archive” and view its contents.

The program can extract the necessary data from iso files to a specified location and unpack image files. To unpack, you need to call the context menu of the image and click “Unpack” in the “7-zip” submenu. Next, specify the target directory and confirm extracting the contents of the image file.

Ultra ISO

The utility is the best product for creating, processing, converting, extracting and editing image files. If the program is installed on the system and associated with iso files, then double-clicking with the left mouse button will automatically open the image in this application.
When it is not a means for opening iso or its portable edition is used, you must perform the following steps:

1. Let's launch the application.
2. Call the file opening dialog – “File” ® “Open”.

3.In the dialog box, set the path to the image we need and press the “Enter” button on the keyboard or “OK”.

Alcohol 120%

Another program for working with the iso format. It, like UltraISO, has wide capabilities that go beyond familiarization with the contents of images. Alcohol 120% is distributed on a paid basis, but has a huge advantage - disk emulation. This means that the utility is capable of creating a virtual disk and placing an image file on it, thereby simulating the presence of a physical disk in a real drive. This technique is widely used by gamers and system administrators.

Let's look at the process of opening an iso file using Alcohol 120%

1. Launch the utility and call the file opening dialog: “File” ® “Open”.

2. Select the desired image in it and click “OK”.

3.Our file will appear in the top frame. Call up its context menu and select “Mount to device”. If there are several drives, you will have to specify which one to mount on.

You can add an image using the “drag & drop” function: drag the image into the program window, and then onto the virtual drive located at the bottom of the interface.

Daemon Tools

One of the best image emulation programs with a free version. As in the case of Alcohol 120%, the utility mounts an image file on a virtual drive, thereby simulating the presence of physical media in the drive. The program is able to bypass most security methods, which is why it is very popular.

How to use Daemon Tools

1. We launch the utility and create a virtual drive. To do this, call the context menu of the “Drive” folder in the left frame of the program and select its type.

2.Call the context menu of the “Images” catalog and click on “Add images...”.

3.In the window that appears, select the desired file.

4. Double-click with the left mouse button on the image icon.

5.After a couple of seconds of mounting, the autorun menu for the selected disk will appear.

Now you know how to view the contents of an ISO file and can independently choose a program that suits your needs for opening image files. In addition to the programs discussed, powerful tools for iso viewing that are worth paying attention to are the paid Nero and the free ISO Master utility.

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How to open an ISO file? Review of programs, the best fast and free solutions for viewing and running ISO images.

When downloading movies and games on the Internet, it’s common to come across .avi, .exe formats. Sometimes you come across similar ones. For example, after downloading the necessary materials, you may stumble upon an .iso file. How to open something like this, and what the significance of this format is, can be found in this article.

What is the ISO format for?

This type of material is very common. Its popularity is due to its practicality and ease of use. Answering the question “what is ISO needed for?”, it’s worth starting with the fact that this format is an image (an archive with the full contents of a disk) of a CD, DVD, as well as BR (an abbreviation for the Blue Ray format).
ISO files are designed to be opened in so-called virtual drives. There are special programs for this. The difference between virtual and classic drives is that the former do not physically exist, but if you connect a file with .ISO resolution to one, the PC will perceive it as a standard CD, BR or DVD.

Important! The ISO format allows you to back up and access discs without having to use the standard disc that came out of the box. This ensures ease of use and extends the life of standard media, which can wear out over time.

Despite all the convenience of working with this format, there is one significant feature - it can be opened using special programs for the so-called burning of discs. We’ll talk further about how to do this and through what tools.

Overview of programs for opening ISO files

So, if an .ISO file has entered your PC, a program that writes data to the disk or cleans it will help you open it. Suitable ones include the following:

• Alcohol 120%
• DAEMON Tools
• Ultra ISO

Important! Even the standard WinRAR archiver will help with the issue of opening ISO materials. Other versions of programs for similar purposes are also suitable, for example, 7z.

Alcohol 120%

A very popular program for working with this kind of materials. It has two important features that need to be taken into account:

• the licensed version is paid
• For beginners, Alcohol 120% may seem a little difficult

If, nevertheless, you plan to use this particular utility, then to open and launch the materials you need to perform the following sequence of actions.

• Download and install the program on your PC
• At the moment when the installation takes place, a proposal to create a virtual drive will appear. It needs to be accepted
• Once the installation is complete, restart your PC. Upon completion of this operation, you will be able to see a new, virtual drive in the general list of available drives.
• Select the desired .ISO file and right-click on it. A context menu will appear in which you need to specify the option “Mount image”
• Next, a dialog box will open. It requires you to specify the required file
• After these manipulations in automatic mode, Alcohol 120% ISO file will open for viewing and launching the content

DAEMON Tools

This utility is no less popular than the previous one. In addition, it is free, and the algorithm for its use is somewhat simpler.

• Open the program. In its main menu, select the “Add image” option
• Select the file we need and click on the button called “Open”
• You need to right-click on the shortcut of the open file, thereby calling up the context menu. In it, select the option “Mount Drive” (Mount image)

After this, it will start automatically.

-

Ultra ISO

The utility is designed specifically for working with materials of this type. UltraISO is a simple and easy-to-use program.

• After installing the utility, run it and in the section called “File” select the “Open” option
• Specify the location of the required file and open it in UltraISO
• The material will appear on the right side of the window. All files contained in the image can be extracted to a PC and run

WinRAR

This utility is built into the standard set of Windows programs. Winrar unpacks ISO files similarly to other archives. Just right-click on the image of interest, click the “Extract” option in the context menu and in the dialog box that appears, specify the location for storing the unzipped materials. All that remains to be done after this is to wait for the process to complete.

Nero

Previously, the familiar utility package from Nero had a special project that supported an ISO image (Nero Image Drive). He is currently inactive. Therefore, this program, unfortunately, is not suitable for launching virtual drive files.

Important! All the described utilities have Russian-language versions. This, combined with a simple and intuitive interface, makes using such programs extremely easy.

The presented list of solutions is quite suitable for choosing one of the most acceptable options for opening ISO images. Working with each of them is simple and does not require special skills. You can clearly see the process of using the utilities in the video review.

How to open an ISO image: video