The common internet user, at some point in his life will be in need of testing configurations or programs without damaging his base operating system. You could say that at that time the .ISO files were created, which are very useful in that specific task .
One of the scenarios in which you may need an .ISO file is after formatting your operating system. At this time there will be nothing on the hard drive, which means there is no way to start it. For that you will need an image of this type of operating system that you want to install, to copy the files from it and download the additional drivers .
If you don’t understand this, don’t worry. In this article we are going to show you everything you need to know about the .ISO format and all the times it could save your life.
Index:
What is it and what are files with extension used for? ISO?
An .ISO file (Operating System Image) is a document that stores an exact (although limited) copy of an operating system or any file system. This contains all the metadata and the base structure of the system, and although it is a read-only file , it can be modified with external applications to make substantial changes to the code.
The peculiar thing about this is that it can be executed from an external disk to the hard disk of the computer. That is, you can run it from a CD or USB memory , which also means that what you do from it will not affect any of the files on your PC or the operating system that is installed on it.
.ISO files are widely used by programmers to test changes in a basic structure of an OS, or to test tools. They can also be used to install operating systems on newly formatted computers, as well as to run diagnostic applications of the different hardware that make up the same , and even to make backups and other backups.
The reality is that the utility of these will depend basically on the user’s knowledge, since the simple fact of being able to run programs without the hard disk of the computer or its OS being compromised, and being able to save data without being corrupted, it opens a world of possibilities .
How to open and mount image files .ISO on smartphones or computers?
To open and mount data in an .ISO image on most operating systems, the help of external software is necessary, since this data cannot normally be edited as it is a read-only file.
Here we show you how to do this and what application to use in the main OS:
On Windows PC
Windows 10 is one of the few systems that has support for reading and mounting ISO images . This means that once it is inside the computer, you will not need any other program to run or mount it.
What you have to do in this case is to locate the .ISO file and right click on it and then click on «Mount». Once you do this you will see that on « Equipment » a new optical drive appears that by double clicking on it you can see all the content inside.
In the case of a CD or DVD with audiovisual content, you just have to right click on it and then play it all with the player of your choice.
On Mac computers
Apple never wants to be left behind, so it also has support for ISO images on its MacOS computers . In this sense it works almost like Windows.
What you have to do is simply locate the file and double click on it. The system will automatically recognize and mount it so that you can access it from the optical drive that will appear in the entityEquipment given.
Another way to do this is with the right click and follow the path “Open with”> “DiskImageMounter” , which is the driver for mounting images of this type.
On Android mobile phones
Android for its part, does not have native support for ISO, so you will have to use an external app that allows you to mount and open these files. In the Google Play Store there are many of them, but we will teach you how to do it using ISO Extactor , which is very good.
What you should do is the following:
- Download and install ISO Extractor on your mobile.
- Open the app and browse through your browser to find the ISO you want to mount.
- Once inside it you must select the file or files you want to extract.
- Now, touch “Extract Into” and select the path where you want them to be stored.
Later this simply you will have to look for the files in the selected path to be able to see them normally. As you may have noticed, it is a fairly simple process to perform.
On iPhone devices with iOS
iOS is another system that does not have support for ISO in its functions , so you will have to use an external program to perform a backup with guarantees.
iMazing is a software to manage the content of your mobile device and to make backup copies. We leave you the download link:
Download iMazing for Mac
Download iMazing for Windows
and List of best programs for opening alternatives .Iso extension without using Daemon Tools
Daemon Tools is one of the most popular software to open and mount ISO images on the main operating systems both mobile and desktop. However, this is not so easy to get in its full version completely free, so it is recommended that you know other alternatives.
Here are 4 programs that will fall like a ring to your finger:
WinX DVD Copy Pro
A completely free software that is very easy to use , with an interface similar to that of NERO. With it you can burn all kinds of files to DVD or CD, and do the same with these to convert them into an ISO image to rip, burn or play. In addition, with this you can also create bootable discs with ISO of any operating system you need.
Nero
Nero is one of the most popular CD and DVD content burning programs in the world. This, among its many functions, offers you the possibility of creating an ISO image in any optical drive in a very simple way . In addition, with this you can also open and modify certain files of the file system stored in the image.
Microsoft Virtual CDRom Control Panel
This is a simple program in every way, but the most powerful you can use to open and mount ISO images of any type of files. What you have to do is start the program, and once this is done you have to locate the files you want to convert to ISO , or select the ISO file you want to open to view its content.
Rufus
Rufus is a program that allows you to open and mount ISO images on a bootable USB or CD so you can perform tests on a version of this type of your operating system. This is a completely free program that is constantly updated to provide you with the best possible service.
How to mount and burn ISO file images on Windows and MacOS ?
We already show you how to mount and open an ISO, and now it’s time to teach you how to burn them to USB sticks or CD or DVD drives on MacOS and Windows 10 operating systems.
Here we show you how the process is in each one of them :
In Windows
Recording an ISO image in Windows is a fairly simple program, since this operating system already has native support for this type of files, which means that it has a driver capable of recording them. However, we will teach you how to do it from Windows Tools.
What you should do is the following:
- Download and install the Windows Tools program.
- Insert the CD into the appropriate optical drive or the pendrive on the USB port.
- Open the Windows Tools program and click on “Explore” to locate the ISO you wish to record. li>
- Now click on “Record” and select the drive to which it will be recorded.
- After this you will have to wait for the recording process to finish.
On MacOS
MacOS has support for recording ISO images. Next we will show you how to do this task from the operating system’s command terminal.
Follow these steps:
- Open the terminal using the path “Apps”> “Utilities”> “Terminal”.
- Now you have to enter your USB stick, which must be formatted , in one of the available drives.
- The following is to enter the code “diskutil list” and click “Enter.”
- You will have to locate the port of the inserted USB, which is usually / dev / disk1. You must enter the code «diskutil unmountdisk / dev / disk1» and press «Enter». After that you will have to write the code represented sudo dd if = » and press againEnterly.
- The next step is to select the ISO image you want to record and drag it to the terminal for it to recognize. In case everything goes well, you should see the extension “if =” appear, followed by the path with the location where the file is saved.
- Finally, you must type the command «Of = / dev / disk1 bs = 1m» and press « Enter «. This will ask us for our MacOS user password.
After this your ISO image should be recorded on the USB you inserted. You just have to extract it and use it at pleasure.