Utility for creating iso images. Programs for ISO
In this article we will tell you how to correctly create an ISO disk image. Major difficulties usually do not arise during this process, although many people do not have the slightest idea what an ISO image is and how to create it correctly. In addition, they are afraid of doing something wrong and damaging their computer. It is these reasons that prompted us to write detailed instructions for actions that will help you create an ISO disk image quickly and without problems.
It is worth saying that an ISO image is much more convenient to use in your work than interacting with files and folders copied from an optical disc. Moreover, thanks to the creation of an image, the necessary operating systems and diagnostic programs contained on the original optical disk will always be stored on your PC. You just need to write all the information onto a blank medium or mount it using a virtual drive. But about everything in detail.
Create an ISO image using the CDBurnerXP program
Let's first define what is meant by ISO image?
ISO image is a slang, even "jargon" term for an optical disc image. It stores the entire file system (ISO 9660 standard), and therefore this term can be applied to absolutely any such image. In other words, it is a simple file, just like the usual Word file, only it has a more complex structure and is mounted using special programs.
Imagine: you have a disk with program files written on it. However, you cannot simply copy information from it to your computer and then write it to another disk. Or rather, this can be done, but most likely this program will not be able to work without failures or will not start at all, especially since some files in it are protected from emulation. The created ISO image will exactly repeat the structure of the desired disk.
Or imagine another situation: you borrowed a disc with a game from a friend for a while, but the hour of “reckoning” has come: you need to give the game back, but you haven’t opened all the locations yet. What to do? I can't copy the game to my computer because after transferring it from the disk it doesn't want to start. The computer urgently requires you to provide “optics”, which must be inserted into the drive. This is where a program that helps you create a virtual CD/DVD/BD drive will come to your aid. You play for fun and don’t worry about anything!
You are also familiar with the situation in which optical discs, to the great regret of PC users, cannot be stored for a long time. Creating an exact copy of the disk in the form of an ISO image helps to extend their life and insure yourself against unexpected loss of all data. To do this, you will need a special program designed to create an ISO image. We have already written to you about one of them, which is called Daemon Tools Lite. It not only records the image, but also helps you protect it with a password later.
Such programs are both paid and free. Now we will look at the most affordable option - the multifunctional free program CDBurnerXP, which creates and burns ISO files. It can burn bootable disks and check all folders after creation, if necessary, converts nrg and bin files into iso, and can independently separate data from disks into parts and “scatter” them across several media. In addition, with CDBurnerXP you can burn both CD and DVD discs, even if they are dual-layer. For a program that is provided to the user free of charge, it has rich functionality and dozens of well-deserved awards.
The latest version of this program is available for download on the official website of the developer: http://cdburnerxp.se
First, we need to take a closer look at how you can create an ISO image from files and folders in this program.
When the program starts, select the first menu item that appears on the screen: Data disk. Click OK.
Find and then add all the necessary files to the created project. This is necessary in order to mount the ISO image.
Select a team by clicking the button File from the top menu. Then click along the chain Save project as ISO image. All that remains is to name the ISO image and then click on the button Save. As we promised, there are no difficulties in this process.
Let us consider in detail how the program we have chosen copes with this process.
Launch the program, then select a function Copy disc and press OK.
To create an ISO disk image in the desired format, you need to select the settings necessary for this in a new window. If your PC has multiple drives, mark the one where the optical drive was installed.
In Read Attempts, the optimal number of them is selected by default, so there is no need to change anything here. The checkboxes located below, or scientifically called “checkboxes” - Ignore unreadable data, Disable hardware error correction - are not currently activated. Do not change this condition because otherwise the resulting image will not work. It is necessary to activate checkboxes only when absolutely necessary, when it is impossible to create an image without their participation.
Decide for yourself where exactly you want to burn a copy of the disc: on another optical device or on your hard drive as an ISO image. If your computer has only one disk drive, you can select it as Source, and in quality Receiver. When these conditions are met, CDBurnerXP creates a temporary image file directly on your hard drive. When the original media is created, it will eject from the drive automatically. Simply insert a blank disc into the drive to write information to it.
As an example, let's try to create an ISO image of a disk by saving it on the hard drive. Just switch it to Hard Drive, then select a folder and name your file, simply checking the type you want. In our case, it is worth noting the ISO type.
Click: Copy disc.
As soon as the computer completes the received task, an ISO image of the disk will appear on the PC’s hard drive in the specified folder. If necessary, you can burn it to disk using the CDBurnerXP program.
Unfortunately, despite all the advantages of CDBurnerXP, it is not able to equip an ISO image into a virtual drive. However, even this small drawback cannot overshadow the rich functionality of this free application, especially considering that there are a large number of such programs on the Internet.
Create an ISO image using the UltraISO program
In order to be honest in our “investigation”, let’s look at paid utilities that allow you to create ISO images. UltraISO in this regard will be an excellent choice, since it can work with other types of files, edits their “internals” (both from CD and DVD images), creates a virtual drive and even writes these images to real media.
This miracle utility understands and identifies images created in other programs, such as: Alcohol 120% or; It independently emulates disks for loading information, edits files and folders contained within the images, and also creates images from both USB drives and hard and optical drives.
You can download the latest version of the program on its official website.
If you doubt the versatility of this program or are afraid to buy it, just work with it in the test version. Decide whether UltraISO is suitable for your computer and whether it is convenient for you to work with it. The only limitation for the trial period is the inability to create an image larger than 300 MB.
After downloading the program, you will need to install it on your PC. Then click on the shortcut created on the computer desktop, after which the working application will “show” you its welcome window.
The screenshot shows that now manufacturers are offering you to buy this program by entering a registration code. You can also, as mentioned above, run the utility in a trial period.
We suggest for starters create ISO image from files. It's simple: find, select and add the necessary files to your project using the button Add(or by dragging and dropping the desired files and folders).
Save the process as an ISO image: select File located in the top menu, and then in the list that appears, click on the line Save as...Name the project, specify the ISO type, and then save it.
When the computer completes the process, the desired ISO image created from files and folders will be saved on your PC.
You can also create an ISO image from a laser disc. To begin, insert into the drive the disk from which you want to make it. Click Create CD Image. In the window that appears, select the area in which it will be saved. By the way, in the same window you can select the extension you need (.NRG, .MDF/.MDS, .IMG/.CCD/.SUB)
Press the button Do, thereby starting the workflow.
At the end of its work, the UltraISO utility will offer to open the file that you just created.
That's all, dear PC users. The technology for creating an ISO image is not as scary as frightened users say it is. We hope that this article was able to debunk the myths and overcome your fears associated with programs that help create virtual images of optical disks. Good luck with your work!
A disc image is a complete, “photographic” copy of an optical disc (such as a CD or DVD). Unlike a simple copy of a disk, its image is not just a set of folders, but a file that contains information about the disk format, boot data, its structure and the data itself.
Disk image files very often have the extension .iso. Typically, images of boot disks or computer games circulate on the Internet in this format. Let's look at how you can create an iso disk image.
To create an iso disk image, emulator programs are used that create virtual disk drives on the user's machine, which, however, are perceived by the computer's operating system as completely real. There are several such programs, but we will look at how to create an iso disk image using two of them: Daemon Tools and UltraISO.
How to create an iso disk image, Daemon Tools
The program is a simple and free version that allows you to create an iso disk image from any optical disc placed in the drive of your computer.
After installing the program on your computer, the Daemon Tools program icon will appear in the lower right corner of the Desktop. By right-clicking on it, we will see the following picture:
Using the tooltip, look for the “Image Creation” icon (second from the left). After clicking on this icon, a window with the same name will open:
In this window, after we insert the disk into the computer drive, we will mark the save folder and the format of the future disk image file (iso), decide whether we will compress it or not, and whether we will use or refuse to protect the iso file with a password.
Click “Start” and at the end of the processing operation we find the created ISO disk image in the specified folder.
How to create an iso disk image, UltraISO
The UltraISO program is more functional than the free version of Daemon Tools and allows you to create an iso disk image from files stored in computer folders.
The UltraISO interface window consists of two parts, each of which has a conductor structure.
We find in the lower part the file or folder from which we want to create an iso disk image and drag it to the upper part.
Then open the “Properties” window by clicking on the button next to the “Image” field, set in this window the type-size of the desired disk image and the file name format to “standard”. Click OK in the “Properties” window, and “Save As” in the main program window.
In the window that opens, select the file format (ISO file), give it a name, specify the save folder and click “Save”. That’s it, after the processing operation we find the created iso disk image in the specified folder.
Today, many are interested in how to create an ISO disk image of the Windows 10 operating system. Let us immediately say that this is quite simple to do, but to create an image you will need a special utility developed by Microsoft. Moreover, this program allows you not only to update the current system, but also to burn it to removable media (CD or).
You should start by preparing a removable drive - it is important that its volume is at least 8 gigabytes; creating such a drive is available for the following versions of the described OS:
- Windows 10 Pro;
- Windows 10 Home.
Now let's proceed directly to the process. Below is an algorithm of the required actions.
Step-by-step guide to creating an ISO disc in Windows 10 using the installer
First, connect a disk (obviously, it should be a DVD-R) or a removable drive to the computer, and then check whether the storage medium has the required amount of memory. Then follow the instructions.
Step one. Click on the "Windows 10 Setup" icon. Then a window will appear in which you need to select the second option (“Create installation media...”) as shown in the image below. After that, click the “Next” button.
Step two. In the next window, this utility will prompt you to set the required parameters, including architecture, language, etc. Having selected everything you need, click the “Next” button again.
Note! It is extremely important that the selected ISO image architecture matches the parameters of the computer itself where it is planned to be installed. Typically, the program allows you to select not only a 32/64-core system, but also both options at once.
If you chose the first option, then you will have two options:
- burn to DVD;
- first create a disk.
In the second option, accordingly, recording is possible exclusively directly to a removable storage device.
Step four. When you select the appropriate item, click “Next”. If recording occurs directly to a flash drive, the operating system will demonstrate the available media.
Note! For those who don’t know, during recording, all information on the flash drive will be deleted.
Step five. When you click Next again, the installation or recording will continue.
Step six. In the first option, that is, when it comes to selecting the “ISO file” item, several folders will be attached at once where the image or drive will be saved. It is quite obvious that there should already be a DVD-R disc containing the required amount of memory. Once saved, you can subsequently record it on any convenient medium.
Note! Such operations are possible only on computers running Windows 7 or higher.
Features of installing Windows 10 from an image
Installing the operating system is quite simple; it does not require any special skills or knowledge. To begin the installation, insert a flash drive or disk, and then, when the computer restarts, press any button after the corresponding message appears (“Press any button to boot...” or something similar, it all depends on the specific type of system). Before this, you need to click boot from disk or flash drive in the BIOS settings.
The next step is that the system will ask you to enter your product key. You will find this key on the package or, if you are just updating the OS, select the “I don’t have a key” option.
Accept the user agreement and decide on the installation type. If you are not an “advanced” user, then it is better not to use a custom installation.
Then you will find yourself in a window for selecting a partition where the operating system will be installed.
When all the required actions are completed, the system will install, after which it will ask you to configure it “for yourself.” More specifically, these settings include:
- installation/configuration of standard programs;
- creating your account.
Here you can decide for yourself whether to leave the basic settings or configure the settings again. That's all, now you know how to create an ISO image of Windows 10. For more detailed information, we recommend watching the thematic video below. Good luck!
Video - Create a Windows 10 boot disk
Any operating system is not one hundred percent protected from unexpected crashes, breakdowns, or malfunctions. Windows 7 is no exception. In order not to lose valuable system settings that you have been customizing for a long time, it is recommended to create a disk image with the iso extension at least once every six months. In this way, you will protect yourself from long and tedious recovery after failures or failure of the operating system. You can burn the resulting file to a DVD disc, memory card, or any other digital media. And at the right time, just download it back. If you decide to do this, follow the instructions in this article.
Creating an ISO image for Windows 7 through the official Microsoft website
Not long ago, a software developer company made it possible for users to independently generate image files directly through the official website. To do this, follow the link: https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/software
Before you start, make sure that your storage device has more than 4 GB of memory, as well as a stable Internet connection:
- follow the link above and check out a number of tips and instructions,
- scroll down the page and you will see the input field for your Windows 7 product key,
- now minimize the browser and go to the control panel,
- select the "System and Security" tab,
- in the window that appears, click on the “System” section,
- you will be immediately redirected to a page where at the very bottom is the activation key for your product. Carefully rewrite it in the browser line and click “Check”
- wait until the system checks your Windows 7 and the relevance of its license. The process will take from a minute to five. If everything is in order with the key, then the utility in the browser will immediately begin creating an ISO image of your entire system. If there is something wrong with the key or this method does not suit you for other reasons, proceed to the second step of the instructions.
Creating an ISO image of Windows 7 without third-party programs
- You can create an image inside your computer without installing unnecessary software. To do this, go to the control panel again and find the “Backup and Restore” section.
- In the window that appears on the left, find the “Create a system image” link. Click on it.
- Wait a few minutes while Windows finds all the ways to create and burn the image.
- The system will automatically open before you all possible options for recording the image on media. Most likely, you will have three options: “hard drive”, “DVD media” and “network storage”. If you have a DVD, insert it and select the second method.
- If your computer only has one disk, as in the screenshot below, then you won’t have to select it. If there are several disks, then you can select one of them or all of them. Click on the “Archive” button to start burning the ISO image to disk.
- If you chose the third option: online hosting, then the process will be slightly different. Please note that the file may not be protected in a network location.
- Enter the network location address.
After pressing the “ok” button, copying will begin. It is also possible to manually record the image through programs such as Daemon Tools. The process is very similar, but takes a little longer. To do this, you need to download the program, mount the image in it and burn it to a digital medium.
If you were unable to create an image of Windows 7 after all the above points, then perhaps it will be easier for you to download ready-made ISO images from the Internet.
You can learn a few interesting words about Windows 7 images from the video below:
A disk image is a file containing full copy structure and content of data located on the disk. It stores all the information that duplicates the location and contents of a specific data storage device. The order of data sectors is repeated on the image, but the structure built on it is ignored.
The original purpose of creation was backup disk data, where the exact original structure was preserved. Nowadays, due to the spread of optical media, images in as ISO files, which can be used instead of CDs. ISO has less data - no service information.
Using archive programs that support opening this type of data, you can extract and view the contents of this file. How and with what tools you can reproduce a disk image will be discussed further.
Creating an image using ultraISO
One of the most accessible methods for creating an ISO is to use the UltraISO utility. The program is paid, but you can use the trial version, which you download from the official website.
The essence of use is as follows: yes two main fields– the directory tree of the mounted image on the left and the data stored in them on the right. Below are the directories and files stored on the computer.
Set the name future copy, for which we left-click on it, property – Rename. Introducing a new name.
Then we drag folders and files from the storage area on the computer to the image file area. To find the ones you need, use the directory explorer presented below.
Please note that at the top it is displayed overall size documents.
Actually, to complete the operation, all that remains is to save: File – Save as.
From the proposed formats we take ISO and save.
The saving process will appear, after which you will find a copy in the location you specified.
Hello!
It's no secret that most disk images over the network are distributed in ISO format. Firstly, it is convenient - it is more convenient to transfer many small files (for example, pictures) with one file (besides, the speed of transferring one file will be higher). Secondly, the ISO image saves all file paths with folders. Thirdly, the programs contained in the image file are practically not susceptible to viruses!
And lastly, an ISO image can be easily written to a disk or flash drive - as a result, you will get almost a copy of the original disk (about burning images:)!
In this article I wanted to look at several programs in which you can create an ISO image from files and folders. And so, perhaps, let's get started...
I mgBurn
Official website: imgburn.com
An excellent utility for working with ISO images. Allows you to create such images (from a disk or from folders with files), burn such images to real disks, and test the quality of the disk/image. By the way, it fully supports the Russian language!
And so, let's create an image in it.
1) After launching the utility, go and click on the “Create an image from files/folders” button.
3) Then simply drag and drop those files and folders to the bottom of the window that you want to add to the ISO image. By the way, depending on the disc you select (CD, DVD, etc.), the program will show you the percentage of the disk fullness. See the bottom arrow in the screenshot below.
When you have added all the files, simply close the disk layout editor.
4) And the last step is to select a location on the hard drive where the created ISO image will be saved. After choosing a location, simply start creating the image.
5) Operation completed successfully!
U ltraISO
Website: ezbsystems.com
Probably the most famous program for creating and working with file images (and not only ISO). Allows you to both create images and burn them to disk. Plus, you can edit images by simply opening them and deleting (adding) necessary and unnecessary files and folders. In a word - if you often work with images, this program is indispensable!
1) To create an ISO image, just run UltraISO. Then you can immediately transfer the necessary files and folders. Also pay attention to the upper corner of the program window - there you can select the type of disk you are creating an image of.
2) After the files have been added, go to the menu " File/Save As...«.
3) Then all that remains is to select the location to save and the type of image (in this case ISO, although others are available: ISZ, BIN, CUE, NRG, IMG, CCD).
PowerISO
Official website: poweriso.com
The program allows you not only to create images, but also to convert them from one format to another, edit, encrypt, compress to save space, and also emulate them using the built-in drive emulator.
PowerISO has built-in active compression-decompression technology that allows you to work in real time with the DAA format (thanks to this format, your images can take up less disk space than standard ISOs).
To create an image, you need:
1) Launch the programs and click the ADD button (add files).
2) When all files have been added, click the Save button. By the way, pay attention to the disk type at the bottom of the window. It can be changed from a CD, which is silent, to, say, a DVD...
3) Then simply select the location to save and the image format: ISO, BIN or DAA.
With DBurnerXP
Official website: cdburnerxp.se
A small and free program that will help not only create images, but also burn them to real discs and convert them from one format to another. In addition, the program is quite unpretentious, works in all Windows operating systems, and has support for the Russian language. In general, it is not surprising why it gained wide popularity...
1) When you start, the CDBurnerXP program will offer you several actions to choose from: in our case, select “Create ISO images, burn data discs, MP3 discs and videos...”
2) Then you need to edit the data project. Just transfer the necessary files to the lower window of the program (this is our future ISO image). You can select the image disk format yourself by right-clicking on the bar showing how full the disk is.
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I think that the programs presented in the article will be sufficient for most to create and edit ISO images. By the way, please note that if you are going to burn a bootable ISO image, there are a few things to consider. More details about them here:
That's all, good luck everyone!
UltraISO is an indispensable program for working with images on Windows computers.
ISO images are images of CD/DVD discs. To work with the .ISO format you need to download UltraISO for Windows. Your OS can only write data to disk if you have a disk drive, but it won't be able to work with images unless you have additional software. The program's developers are not the inventors of the format, but they are the developers of the product that has become the most popular tool for working with this format. The software needs to be downloaded not only by those who have a disk drive, but also by those who do not have a disk drive, but need to create an image or work with virtual disks, as well as interact with boot disks/flash drives.
A convenient tool for working with images.ISO
You can download a disk image with some program, or create this image yourself. To interact with this format you need to download the software. These programs are distributed free of charge, but you can not only download the software for free, but also continue to use it. There is also a paid version of this utility (costs 1,400 rubles), but for everyday purposes you will definitely have enough free options. They are limited only by file size, but the free version is definitely enough to create a bootable USB flash drive.
The program interface is very similar to the standard Explorer interface in Windows, so you should not have any difficulties in working. In addition to this, UltraISO is in Russian, which means everything is as simple and clear as possible without any translation. The latest version of Ultra ISO allows you to work with the structure of the disk image to save space both on the HDD, when storing the ISO disk, and to reduce the size on optical media. This is not the only advantage of the latest version, here are several innovations and improvements:
- Working with boot sectors of hard drives;
- Interaction with Daemon Tools;
- Ability to create a boot floppy disk;
Boot sectors of hard drives and floppy disks are the lot of not only computer professionals, but also ordinary users who use UltraISO. You can configure the HDD the way it suits you. This feature appeared only in the latest version of the utility. You can also work with boot sectors of optical disks and floppy disks.
Floppy disk support is not a relic of the past. For example, this support will allow you to write a bootable floppy disk with legacy operating systems, for example, you can create a bootable floppy disk for DOS OS. Of course, there is support for bootable disks and even bootable flash drives. You can create a bootable USB flash drive in standard mode or with dual mode – USB-HDD and USB-ZIP. You will learn more about creating such flash drives from the video:
For those who want to use software to create virtual disks or floppy drives, we recommend using this utility in conjunction with or. And although these utilities have different developers, the software supports both utilities for working with virtual disks. You can use a tandem of these utilities to bypass disk protection.
UltraISO in Russian runs not only on Windows 32 bit, but also on the x64 version; in our archive you will find an installer for both versions of the OS. To run the utility, just install it. You will not need activation and an activation code until you decide to burn a large disc or flash drive. Reviews show that the free version is sufficient to handle 99% of the tasks of the average user.