On the ISO front, Ninite includes tools like InfraRecorder, ImgBurn, and CDBurnerXP. For that, we recommend Ninite as a safe place to grab tools of all sorts. Instead, you'll have to download a third-party app to create an ISO file in Windows. While macOS and Linux both come with software pre-installed that lets you create an ISO from a physical disc, Windows does not. And, of course, you can share that ISO with other people. You can also use the files in the future to burn another copy of your disc. You can then use the files by mounting them on computers that don't have an optical drive. How To Create Your Own ISO File From an Optical DiscĬreating an ISO file from discs gives you to create a digital back up of your physical discs. Most operating systems (and many utilities) also allow you to mount an ISO image as a virtual disc, in which case all your apps treat it as if a real optical disc were inserted. The idea behind ISO images is that you can archive an exact digital copy of a disc, and then later use that image to burn a new disc that's in turn an exact copy of the original. They are a sector-by-sector copy of the disc, and no compression is used. You can think of an ISO image as a complete copy of everything stored on a physical optical disc like CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc - including the file system itself. The name ISO was taken from the name of the file system used by optical media, which is usually ISO 9660.

They are often used for backing up optical discs, or for distributing large file sets that are intended to burned to an optical disc.

ISO images can be mounted as virtual discs, allowing apps to treat them as if a real optical disc were inserted.Īn ISO file (often called an ISO image), is an archive file that contains an identical copy (or image) of data found on an optical disc, like a CD or DVD.

ISO images are often used for backing up optical discs or for distributing large file sets that are intended to be burned to an optical disc.

An ISO file is an archive file that contains an identical copy of data found on an optical disc, like a CD or DVD.

File backup meaning