Programs for opening images. What are ISO files - How to open and use them. Programs for opening iso files

If you are confused about ISO files, here is all about them.

ISO files are simply a way to package many files and folders together into one file with an ISO extension. They are usually used to create a CD or DVD image. Having just one file containing everything is convenient for downloading or storing on your computer. This is becoming a common way to replace physical media. Because the fewer devices comes with optical drives, you'll likely encounter ISO files more and more often.

The main reason that many average PC users have difficulty with ISO files is that Windows XP and Vista do not recognize them initially. When you try to open an ISO file on these older versions of Windows, they don't know what to do with it unless you have installed some third party software(you can read more about it) to manage ISO files. However, Windows 7 does have a feature to burn ISO files to CD or DVD. Windows 8 finally provided its own Windows tool to mount ISO files.

Burn ISO files to CD/DVD

One way to use ISO files is to burn the file to a physical CD or DVD disc, using a process that extracts everything separate folders and files from the ISO file and places them on physical media. Windows 7 comes with a built-in Windows Disc Image Burner (unlike more earlier versions Windows). Insert a blank CD or DVD into your optical drive and double click on the ISO file. Once the disc is burned, you can use the files and folders as usual.

Many PCs also come with third-party disc burning software. If one of them opens, when double click ISO file, select "Burn Disc Image" or similar command. There is also free programs for burning CD or DVD. Main choice from Gizmo - ImgBurn.

Mounting an ISO file for disk emulation

Often there is no need to actually write to a physical disk. It is more common to use ISO files directly. Some older programs only recognize external drive, in this case you can mount the ISO file so that it appears to be on separate disk. See Best Free DVD CD Emulation Software.

In Windows 8.x as well as Windows 10, mounting an ISO file is very easy. Right-click on the ISO file and select "Mount" from the context menu.

Reading the contents of an ISO file without extracting it

Some applications may treat the ISO file as if it were a disc. For example, virtual machines can install operating rooms Windows systems straight from the ISO without unpacking it. It is also possible to treat the contents of an ISO file as an archive program such as 7-zip. This is similar to reading the contents of a zip file.

Extract the ISO file directly to HDD or usb flash drive
It is also possible to use 7-zip to extract all files and folders from an ISO file and place them in a folder on your hard drive or memory card. Just use 7-zip the same way you would with regular archive files.

Now ISO files don't have to be a mystery anymore.

How to open a file with ISO format? Review of programs, the best fast and free solutions to view and run ISO images.

When downloading movies and games on the Internet, it’s common to come across .avi, .exe formats. Sometimes you come across similar ones. For example, by downloading necessary materials, you may stumble upon an .iso file. How to open something like this, and what is the significance? this format, you can find out from this article.

What is the ISO format for?

This type of material is very common. Its popularity is due to its practicality and ease of use. Answering the question “what is ISO needed for?”, it’s worth starting with the fact that this format is an image (an archive with the full contents of a disk) of a CD, DVD, as well as BR (an abbreviation for the Blue Ray format).
ISO files are designed to be opened in so-called virtual drives. There are special programs for this. The difference between virtual and classic drives is that the former do not physically exist, but if you connect a file with .ISO resolution to one, the PC will perceive it as a standard CD, BR or DVD.

Important! The ISO format allows you to create backups disks, as well as access them without the need to use standard disk from the box. This ensures ease of use and extends service life. standard media which may wear out over time.

Despite all the convenience of working with this format, there is one significant feature - you can open it using special programs for the so-called burning of discs. We’ll talk further about how to do this and through what tools.

Overview of programs for opening ISO files

So, if an .ISO file has entered your PC, a program that writes data to the disk or cleans it will help you open it. Suitable ones include the following:

Alcohol 120%
DAEMON Tools
Ultra ISO

Important! Even standard WinRAR archiver will help in the matter of opening materials.ISO. Other versions of programs for similar purposes are also suitable, for example, 7z.

Alcohol 120%

Very popular program to work with this kind materials. She has two important features that need to be taken into account:

the licensed version is paid
For beginners, Alcohol 120% may seem a little difficult

If, nevertheless, you plan to use this particular utility, then to open and launch the materials you need to make the following sequence actions.

Download and install the program on your PC
At the moment when the installation takes place, a proposal to create a virtual drive will appear. It needs to be accepted
Once the installation is complete, restart your PC. Upon completion of this operation in general list available drives you can see a new, virtual
Select the desired .ISO file and right-click on it. A context menu will appear in which you need to select the “Mount image” option.
Next, a dialog box will open. It requires you to specify the required file
After these manipulations in automatic mode Alcohol 120% ISO file will open to view and run the content

DAEMON Tools

This utility is no less popular than the previous one. In addition, it is free, and the algorithm for its use is somewhat simpler.

Open the program. In its main menu, select the “Add image” option
Select the file we need and click on the button called “Open”
By label open file you need to right-click, thereby calling up the context menu. In it, select the option “Mount Drive” (Mount image)

After this, it will start automatically.

-

Ultra ISO

The utility is designed specifically for working with materials of this type. UltraISO is a simple and easy-to-use program.

After installing the utility, run it and in the section called “File” select the “Open” option
Specify the location required file and open it in UltraISO
The material will appear on the right side of the window. All files contained in the image can be extracted to a PC and run

WinRAR

This utility is built into standard set Windows programs. Winrar ISO files unpacks similarly to other archives. Just right-click on the image of interest, click the “Extract” option in context menu and in the dialog box that appears, specify the location for storing the unzipped materials. All that remains to be done after this is to wait for the process to complete.

Nero

Previously, the familiar utility package from Nero had a special project that supported an ISO image (Nero Image Drive). He is not active now. Therefore, this program, unfortunately, is not suitable for launching virtual drive files.

Important! All the described utilities have Russian-language versions. This combined with simple and intuitive clear interface makes application similar programs extremely light.

The presented list of solutions is quite suitable for choosing one of the most acceptable options for opening ISO images. Working with each of them is simple and does not require special skills. You can clearly see the process of using the utilities in the video review.

How to open an ISO image: video

Sometimes there is a need to extract files from an ISO image. Do it through standard tools operating system is not very convenient - it is more advisable to use products third party developers. Therefore, in this article we will tell you in detail which software to use to open an ISO image and provide the correct sequence of actions shown in the screenshots. But first, let's explain why ISO images are needed. These files store a variety of contents, so every computer user should know how to properly handle them. Indeed, in certain cases it is necessary to open such an image and perform the necessary manipulations with its contents. For example, install a program or simply look at the list of files located inside.

What is an ISO image?

Let's figure out together what an ISO image is.

You may encounter this problem when downloading software from the Internet. ISO is also used to distribute movies via torrents in high quality.

Having a disk image, the user can connect it like a regular optical drive. As already mentioned, ISO is often used to distribute software and computer games. This format also has an additional purpose - for duplicating valuable data from regular disks. After all, the latter are not very reliable and can fail due to minor mechanical damage.

How to open an ISO file using UltraISO

Most convenient way ISO discovery is to use . If you wish, you can purchase licensed version on the official website by entering search engine corresponding request. And also download it from open sources, where you don’t need to pay. After UltraISO installations follow the instructions below.

To open an ISO file, you need to run UltraISO and select the “Open” item located on the toolbar with the cursor.

Then you need to specify the path to the disk image. After doing this, you will see a tree list of the information stored in the ISO file.

To extract specific file from the image, you need to hover over it, right-click and select “Extract to...”.

After this, you need to specify the path to save the extracted file and wait a little while the program performs the desired action.

How to open an ISO file using DAEMON Tools

This is a very advanced program for ISO mount images, but extracting files through it is not very convenient. Although this method still worthy of consideration. You may not have any other software on your computer other than DAEMON Tools, and you will need to extract information from the optical disk image immediately. It is enough to complete the task.

DAEMON Tools must be launched and in the window that opens, find the icon with the “disk” icon. You should click on it with the cursor.

Then you need to specify the path to the optical disk image and add it to the directory.

The program will automatically add the new drive to the My Computer folder. You can work with it like a regular optical drive.

How to Open an ISO File with 7-Zip

A fairly simple way to extract data from an ISO image is to use the 7-Zip program. It is a very common archiver that is installed on almost every personal computer. However, not many users know that 7-Zip is capable of working with images optical disks. Therefore, we will tell you how to unpack an ISO container using it.

To do this you need to launch it. Explorer will appear on the screen with additional tools.

To open an optical disc image, you need to find it on your computer and double-click on it. The ISO will open as a normal folder.

To extract a file from an ISO, you need to hover over it and right-click. Then select “Extract” from the menu that opens.

Most computer games that gamers download from the Internet in order to avoid paying for licensed versions are distributed in special images. These images emulate the contents of the game disc. The images were especially relevant at a time when they were very popular physical media. Let's figure out how to install a game from an ISO file, since this knowledge can be useful to every gamer who wants to try old game at the present time.

What it is?

First, let's figure out what ISO files are. This extension is a CD image that contains all the contents of the physical media. For the ISO image to work you need virtual drive on the computer. The system perceives ISO as regular disk inserted into a DVD or CD drive. For correct operation with images we need third party software. Opening ISO files is possible through:

Daemon Tools.
Alcohol.
UltraISO and others.

You can find a whole list of similar programs, but their functionality is extremely similar, so we will look at the example of basic and popular utilities. So, let's look at the instructions on how to install the game from an ISO file.

What will you need?

For the image to work correctly, you will need the drive itself and a virtual drive. You download the image from the Internet (usually games in ISO can be found in huge quantities on torrent trackers and similar resources). The program is installed from the official website of the developers, and through it a virtual drive is created.

Daemon Tools

In your browser, open the link to the official website of the program developers. On the page, click the "Download" button. You can choose one of the options - advanced, simple and professional. To mount files into a virtual drive, you can also use regular version software Loading DAEMON Tools Lite. If you like the functionality of the program, you can purchase it or activate it using a pirated crack.

Run the executive file and select " Free license" Next, follow the installation instructions. Wait for the download and installation to complete. After launching the program, a corresponding icon will appear in the tray on the desktop. Right-click on it to open a menu with drives. Click one of virtual disks and select the folder on your hard drive that contains the ISO image. After the file is mounted, go to “My Computer” and open the drive with the appropriate name. If the image has autorun, then you will immediately proceed to installing the game.

Another option for reading ISO files in DAEMON Tools. Open the program using the desktop shortcut and click on "File" - "Open". In the window, find the folder with the ISO and click on the "Open" button again. Next, you will see the contents of the image in the main window. At the bottom of the program, select the virtual drive and click on the “Mount” button.

Now you know how to install a game from an ISO file with using DAEMON Tools. Let's move on.

Alcohol 120%

On the developers website you can download trial version software After installation, you must complete the following steps:

On the left side, find the “Search for images” button and click on it. The program will automatically add all ISO and other supported formats to the list, which is very convenient and saves time searching through hard drive directories.
At the bottom, select the desired virtual drive and double-click on it with the left mouse button.
Ready! Now all that remains is to open the contents of the drive and install the game from the ISO file.

In addition to installing games, with using Alcohol you can also perform many other operations. For example, create your own images, record them on physical media, create bootable flash drives and so on. We recommend using this utility in daily activities when working with disks and flash drives. You can also purchase a licensed version. However, to install games will do and a cracked copy or trial version.

Ultra ISO

The most simple program of all of the above. Let's figure out how to launch the game from an ISO file using this utility:

Download and install the application from the website.
In the main window, click "File" - "Open".
Select a game image.
Press F6 to open the menu.
In the window, select the required virtual drive and click “Mount”.

With the help of all the programs described, you can easily install games from ISO files on your computer. Choose the utility that you like best in terms of functionality and management to mount images as conveniently and quickly as possible!

Yesterday I urgently needed to extract several files from the ISO image, but there was no time to install any programs, so I asked myself the question - how to open an ISO file quickly and without unnecessary movements.

Distributed as ISO images great amount software and operating systems, so you just need to know how to work with this format.

There are several ways opening iso file, but not everyone knew that it could be opened even by a program that is installed on everyone’s computer. What kind of program is this and what are there alternative ways, read in this article.

What is an ISO image?

So, what is an ISO file and what does it come with? If in simple words, then the ISO image is electronic version optical disk, which is a file with its own file system and, in fact, the contents of the disk.

Having a disk image, you can connect it in the operating system as a regular optical disk. There are a lot of options for using disk images! Starting from installing games and programs, ending with the work of special programs that work exclusively from an optical disc. Beta versions of operating systems are also posted in image format, for example in an ISO image you can

How to open an ISO file using UltraISO

The first, and once the most convenient way for me to open ISO files, is using the UltraISO program. I won’t give a link to the program, you can buy it on the official website paid version, and in open sources there are versions for which you don’t need to pay;).

To open an ISO file, you need to run UltraISO program, select “ Open”

and specify the path to your ISO image. Then in the program window you will see the contents of the disk image

To extract a file from the image, click on the required file right-click and select the menu item “ Extract to...”

How to open an ISO file using DAEMON Tools

Very cool program for mounting optical disk images. Not the most convenient way if you just need to extract a file from a disk image, but I’ll still describe it as an option.

For us, the version of the program is quite enough DAEMON Tools Lite. You can download it from the official website absolutely free of charge.

After downloading the program, install it and run it. An image catalog window will open, add your image

Now you only need to select the added image and click the “ Mount“,

after which you will have a drive in your system (in my case, drive D)

Working with a mounted disk is no different from working with regular ones. optical disks inserted into the DVD drive.

How to Open an ISO File with 7-Zip

My favorite and, in principle, the most convenient way to open ISO disk images. I found out about it relatively recently, and was pleasantly surprised. After all, today almost every computer has a 7-Zip archiver installed. It's free and easy to use.

You can download it from the official website using a direct link:

After installation, open 7-Zip File Manager, it is a regular explorer with archiver tools