infoTECH Feature

November 10, 2010

How to Manage ISO Files

Increasingly, large software programs are being made available not on a physical CD or DVD, but as ISO image files downloadable through the Internet. It’s then up to you to write those files to a disc or install the programs directly from their files. For example, the applications available through a Microsoft TechNet subscription come as ISO files. So, how do you work with these files? Below is a list of handy utilities that can help you manage ISO files.

Windows Disc Image Burner

This built-in tool comes with Windows 7 and lets you write an ISO file to a disc. To run the tool, simply right-click on the ISO file. Move to the Open With command in the popup menu, and you should see the option for Windows Disc Image Burner. Select that and then click on the Burn button to write your ISO file to a recordable disc.

ISO Recorder

Those of you not running Windows 7 can find other useful ISO writing tools as alternatives to Windows Disc Image Burner. One of my favorites is ISO Recorder. Beyond writing ISO files to CDs and DVDs, this free tool will let you make backup ISO images from existing discs or from a folder of files. To burn an ISO image to disc with ISO Recorder, right-click on the ISO file and select the command to “copy image to CD/DVD.” The author, Alex Feinman, offers different flavors of ISO Recorder for almost all the current versions of Windows, including XP, Vista, 7, and Server 2003. DVD writing and now Blu ray writing are supported in the Vista and Windows 7 editions. There’s even a command-line version to use in batch files.

Virtual CloneDrive

Don’t want to waste a disc? With the free Virtual CloneDrive utility, you can install a program directly from its ISO file without having to write it to disc. By mounting an ISO file and assigning it a drive letter, you essentially trick Windows into believing that the ISO image is a physical CD/DVD drive. You can even easily install programs that come on multiple ISO files by simply unmounting one and then mounting the next. Virtual CloneDrive works in all desktop versions of Windows from 98 to 7, including 64-bit versions. I’ve used this tool several times in 64-bit Windows 7, and it works quite well. I’ve tried other similar virtual ISO utilities, but I find Virtual Clone Drive one of the quickest and simplest.


Lance Whitney is a journalist, IT consultant, and Web Developer with almost 20 years of experience in the IT world. To read more of Lance's articles, please visit his columnist page

Edited by Jaclyn Allard
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