To open ISO file, your unzipping apps could also be of great help. Change the ISO file extension name from '.iso' to '.zip' manually. The system would pop up a notice 'If you change a file name extension, the file might become unusable. Oct 14, 2018 - How to Open ISO Files. This wikiHow teaches you how to view the contents of a disc image (or 'ISO') file. While you would typically run an ISO. How to open ISO file I have an ISO file and when I click to open it it opens to look at the zip files inside. I would like to install the file and I was told to burn the zips to ISO.
An ISO file, often called an ISO image, is a single file that's a perfect representation of an entire CD, DVD, or BD. The entire contents of a disc can be precisely duplicated in a single ISO file.
- Here are free software to open ISO files on your computer. ISO files cannot be read directly, as you need to first burn them to a CD/DVD, and then play the CD/DVD. However, with the help of these free software to open ISO files, there’s no need of doing all this.
- How to open ISO files. Save the.iso file to the desktop. Launch WinZip from your start menu or Desktop shortcut. Select all the files and folders inside the compressed file. Click 1-click Unzip and choose Unzip to PC or Cloud in the WinZip toolbar under the Unzip/Share tab.
Think of an ISO file like a box that holds all the parts to something that needs built — like a child's toy you might buy that requires assembly. The box that the toy pieces come in does you no good as an actual toy but the contents inside of it, once taken out and put together, become what you're actually wanting to use.
An ISO file works in much the same way. The file itself is no good unless it can be opened, assembled and used.
The .ISO file extension used by ISO images is also used for Arbortext IsoDraw Document files, which are CAD drawings used by PTC Arbortext IsoDraw; they have nothing to do with the ISO format explained on this page.
Where You'll See ISO Files Used
ISO images are often used to distribute large programs over the internet due to the fact that all of the program's files can be neatly contained as a single file.
One example can be seen in the free Ophcrack password recovery tool (which contains an entire operating system and several pieces of software). Everything that makes up the program is wrapped up in one file. The file name for the most recent version of Ophcrack looks like this: ophcrack-vista-livecd-3.6.0.iso.
Ophcrack certainly isn't the only program to use an ISO file — many types of programs are distributed this way. For example, most bootable antivirus programs use ISO, like the bitdefender-rescue-cd.iso ISO file used by Bitdefender Rescue CD.
In all those examples, and the thousands of others out there, every single file required for whatever tool to run is included in the single ISO image. Like I mentioned already, that makes the tool really easy to download, but it also makes it super easy to burn to a disc or other device.
Even Windows 10, and previously Windows 8 and Windows 7, can be purchased directly by Microsoft in the ISO format, ready to be extracted to a device or mounted in a virtual machine.
How to Burn ISO Files
The most common way to make use of an ISO file is to burn it to a CD, DVD, or BD disc. This is a different process than burning music or document files to a disc because your CD/DVD/BD burning software must 'assemble' the contents of the ISO file onto the disc.
Windows 10, 8, and 7 can all burn ISO images to a disc without using any third-party software — just double-tap or double-click the ISO file and then follow the wizard that appears.
If you want to use Windows to open the ISO file but it's already associated with a different program (i.e. Windows doesn't open the ISO file when you double-click or double-tap it), open the file's properties and change the program that should open ISO files to be isoburn.exe (it's stored in the C:Windowssystem32 folder).
The same logic applies when burning an ISO file to a USB device, something that's much more common now that optical drives are becoming much less common.
Burning an ISO image isn't just an option for some programs, it's required. For example, many hard drive diagnostic tools are only usable outside the operating system. This means that you'll have to burn the ISO to some form of removable media (like a disc or a flash drive) that your computer can boot from.
While less common, some programs are distributed in ISO format but aren't designed to be booted from. For example, Microsoft Office is often made available as an ISO file and is designed to be burned or mounted, but since it doesn't need to be run from outside of Windows, there's no need to boot from it (it wouldn't even do anything if you tried).
How to Extract ISO Files
If you don't want to actually burn an ISO file to a disc or USB storage device, most compression/decompression software programs, like the free 7-Zip and PeaZip programs, will extract the contents of an ISO file to a folder.
Extracting an ISO file copies all of the files from the image directly into a folder that you can browse through like any folder you'd find on your computer. Although the newly created folder can't be directly burned to a device like I discussed in the section above, knowing that this is possible might come in handy.
For example, let's say you've downloaded Microsoft Office as an ISO file. Instead of burning the ISO image to a disc, you could extract the installation files from the ISO and then install the program like you normally would any other program.
Every unzip program requires a different set of steps, but here's how you can quickly extract an ISO image using 7-Zip: Right-click the file, choose 7-Zip, and then select the Extract to ' option.
If these steps don't work for you, double-check the file extension to make sure you aren't confusing another file for one in the ISO format. ISZ is one example of a file that can be easily confused for ISO.
How to Create ISO Files
Several programs, many of them free, let you create your own ISO file from a disc or a collection of files you've chosen.
The most common reason to build an ISO image is if you're interested in backing up a software installation disc or even a DVD or Blu-ray movie.
See How to Create an ISO Image File From a CD, DVD, or BD for help doing that.
How to Mount ISO Files
Mounting an ISO file that you've created or downloaded from the internet is sort of like tricking your computer into thinking that the ISO file is a real disc. This way, you can 'use' an ISO file just like it was on a real CD or DVD, only you didn't have to waste a disc, or your time burning one.
One common situation where mounting an ISO file is helpful is when you're playing a video game that requires the original disc be inserted. Instead of actually sticking the disc in your optical drive, you can just mount the ISO image of that game disc that you previously created.
Mounting an ISO file is usually as simple as opening the file with something called a 'disc emulator' and then choosing a drive letter that the ISO file should represent. Even though this drive letter is a virtual drive, Windows sees it as a real one, and you can use it as such, too.
One of my favorite free programs for mounting ISO images is WinCDEmu because of how easy it is to use (plus it comes in this portable version). Another one I feel good recommending is Pismo File Mount Audit Package.
If you're using Windows 10 or Windows 8, you're lucky enough to have ISO mounting built in to your operating system! Just tap-and-hold or right-click the ISO file and choose Mount. Windows will create a virtual drive for you automatically — no extra software required.
Although mounting an ISO file is very useful in some situations, please know that the virtual drive will be unreachable anytime the operating system isn't running. This means it's entirely pointless to mount an ISO file that you want to use outside of Windows (like what's required with some hard drive diagnostic tools and memory testing programs).
An ISO image is a container that stores a replica of the content of a physical disc, which typically can be a CD, DVD, or even Blu-Ray. Software companies also use ISO images as a medium to distribute their software. For example, when downloading a new Windows 10 Insider Preview build ISO to do a clean install of the operating system.
In the past, you needed to install third-party tools to work with images, but if you're running Windows 10 on your computer, you can mount or unmount ISO files natively without the need of extra software.
In this Windows 10 guide, we'll walk you through the easy steps to mount and unmount ISO images using File Explorer and the PowerShell command-line tool.
How to mount or unmount ISO images using File Explorer
There are a number of ways to work with an ISO file using File Explorer. However, the easiest way to mount an ISO image is by double-clicking the file.
You can also right-click the .iso file and click the Mount option.
Alternatively, you can open File Explorer, select the .iso file, and from the Manage tab, click the Mount button.
Once you mounted the file, you'll notice that Windows 10 will create a virtual disc drive that you can use to access its content from the left pane.
It's possible for third-party tools to configure themselves as the default application to open certain files, including ISO images. If this is the case, you won't see an option to mount images on Windows 10. However, you can still right-click, select Open with, and click Windows Explorer to mount the ISO.
Once you're done working with the image, you can quickly unmount the file by right-clicking the virtual drive under This PC in File Explorer and selecting the Eject option.
How to mount or unmount ISO images using PowerShell
If the option to mount an ISO image is not available, or you prefer to use command lines, you can use PowerShell to access the content inside the image.
- Open Start.
- Search for PowerShell and click the result.
- Type the following command to mount a .iso image and press Enter:
Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath 'C:FILE.ISO'
In the command remember to change C:FILE.ISO with the path to your image file. The quotation marks are required, so don't delete them. - Once you're done working with the image, you can quickly unmount the file by using the following command and press Enter:
Dismount-DiskImage -ImagePath 'C:FILE.ISO'
In the command remember to change C:FILE.ISO with the path to your image file. The quotation marks are required, so don't delete them.
How To Download An Iso
Wrapping things up
As you can see the process to work with an ISO image file is pretty straightforward, which will not only come in handy when you need to view its content, but also when you need to extract files, or even to install a piece of software without having to burn the ISO to a physical disc.
While we're focusing this guide on the ISO file format, you can also use these steps to mount or unmount IMG image files on Windows 10.
More Windows 10 resources
How To Download Iso Image
For more help articles, coverage, and answers on Windows 10, you can visit the following resources: