Menu
homeBreakdowns

Download a program that opens iso files. Working with iso files: what is the extension and where is it used?

File iso how to open So what's this. This question may arise for every computer user. In this article I will tell you what the iso format is and how you need to handle it: how to create an iso image and what program to open it with.

The iso file extension is an archived image of a CD or DVD disk that is used by programs to create an exact copy of disks and then burn them. Very often used to store backup exact copies of disks on media. Essentially, this file is simply an archive container in which the file system of the ISO 9660 standard, which describes the standard for CD-ROM disks, is collected. The purpose of creating this format was to ensure full compatibility of the storage medium on different operating systems (such as Unix, Windows, Mac OS).

How to open an iso file using the free 7-zip archiver.

If you have an ISO image and need to burn it to a disc, you can use the free CD BurnerXP disc burning program. You can read how to record.

If you do not need to burn the image to disk and you just want to open the iso file to, for example, view a list of files or open some, you can use the free 7-zip archiver. I will show you how to do this using the example of one of the files, and at the end of the article I recorded a video with step-by-step instructions. You must have the 7-zip archiver installed on your computer.

So, open the folder with the disk image file (iso) and right-click on the file. In the menu list we find 7-zip, click and in the menu that opens select “Open archive”. This operation will open our file to work with the files that are inside. In this case, we will be able, for example, to select only some of all the files present and unzip them to a computer for reading or viewing. If you select the “Unpack” menu, a window will open with a choice of where to unpack the entire iso file. When you select the “Unpack here” menu, the program will unzip the entire contents of the archive into the folder in which the iso archive itself is located. And when you select “Extract to...”, the program will expand all the files contained in the archive into a folder that will have the same name as the name of the iso file. In our case, we select “Open archive” because This is the most universal method of working with it.

After this, the archiver will start with a list of files that the iso image contains. Just like in a regular Explorer, you can select files and open folders. To unzip the necessary files, we select a file, folder or several files and folders and click the “Extract” button. A window will open where you need to specify the folder into which the file will be extracted. In my case, I selected 1 file and extracted it to the same folder where the image itself was located. Click Ok.

As a result, the files that we extracted should appear in the selected folder. There is nothing super complicated in the iso file and you can work with it in the same way as with a regular archive.

How to open an iso file using winrar archiver

In principle, you can open an iso with any decompressor program that allows you to work with this iso format. As for the most common winrar program, I will show you how to work with it.

If you already have winrar installed, you can extract all files from the iso image directly from the context menu. But as you can see in the image below, you cannot open the file by right-clicking. You will need to first launch winrar and select the required file in the program itself to open and then extract the necessary files. If you often need to open these types of files, it will be more convenient to add the ability to open with an archiver using the context menu.

To do this, launch winrar and open the options menu and then settings. Go to the Integration tab, check the ISO checkbox and click OK.

After this, the right-click context menu on the ISO file will look like this. Also pay attention to the file icon. It took the form of a winrar archive, i.e. When you run such a file, the archiver will automatically start with the contents of the file.

Now you can select the files or folders you need, view the contents, or extract them to your computer. All operations are the same as in the case of the 7-zip archiver.

How to open an iso file with a disk mount program

In previous examples, we looked at options for how to open and extract the contents of a file. However, in most cases you will be faced with the task of watching a video or installing some program or game on your computer. And in this case, you will need a special program that creates a virtual disk drive on your computer and mounts the iso file, which allows you to use it as an ordinary CD or DVD disk. This is necessary if the installer program, to install programs, needs to work not with files in a folder, but with a full-fledged drive.

The most common and also free program for mounting images is DAEMON Tools Lite. You can download it from the website daemon-tools.cc. Please note that to download you must click on the following link:

After downloading, run the installation file and install the program on your computer. Once the installation is complete, all ISO files will change their icon to daemon tools and, when opened or double-clicked with the left button, will be automatically mounted as a virtual disk and opened as a disk. To do this, the program will create an additional virtual drive during mounting and when unmounting the image, this drive will be deleted as unnecessary.


After opening an iso file in this way, you can perform all operations with it just like those available for files on a regular disk. To unmount the image and hide the virtual drive, right-click on the virtual drive and select "eject" from the context menu.

Video “How to open an iso file”

The question of how to open an ISO most often arises among novice computer users who, for example, downloaded some game, program or Windows image from the Internet and cannot open the ISO file using standard Windows tools. Let's take a closer look at what to do with such files.

What is an ISO file?

In general terms, a file with the extension .ISO is an image of a CD or DVD. Although not necessarily these particular carriers. Thus, this file contains all the information about the contents of the CD, no matter what information it carries, including music, boot distributions of operating systems, games or programs.

How to open ISO image files

First of all, it should be noted that this in some sense depends on what exactly is in this image. If this is a program or game, then the best way is not to open the file as such, but to mount the ISO image in the operating system - i.e. The .ISO file opens in a special program, which makes it so that a new virtual CD appears in Explorer, with which you can carry out all the necessary operations - install games, etc. ISO mounting is the most common option and usually the most suitable. Below we will discuss how to mount a disk image on the system.

Another possible case is if the .ISO file contains an operating system distribution. In this case, in order, for example, to install Windows on a computer, you need to write this image to a disk or flash drive, after which the computer boots from this media and Windows is installed. How to use an ISO image to create a bootable disk or flash drive is described in detail in these instructions:

And the last possible option is to open the ISO file in an archiver, the feasibility of which and how to do this will be discussed at the end of the article.

How to mount an ISO image

The most commonly used method for opening an ISO image file is the free Daemon Tools Lite program. You can download Daemon Tools from the official website http://www.daemon-tools.cc/rus/downloads. I note that you need to download Daemon Tools Lite - only this option is free for private use, all other options are paid. If after you click the “Download” button, you don’t see where the download link is, then a hint: above the square banner on the right, in small blue letters, is the “Download” link. After you install Daemon Tools, you will have a new virtual drive for reading CDs on your system.

By running Daemon Tools, you can open any .ISO file through this program, and then mount it in a virtual drive. You then use this ISO like a normal CD inserted into a DVD-ROM.

In Windows 8, you don’t need any additional programs to open the .ISO file: You just double-click on this file (or right-click and select “Mount”), after which the disk will be mounted in the system and you can use it .

How to open an ISO file using an archiver and why you might need it

Any disk image file with the .ISO extension can be opened with almost any modern archiver - WinRAR, 7zip and others. How to do it? First of all, you can run the archiver separately, then select a file in the archiver menu - open and specify the path to the ISO file. Another way is to right-click on the ISO file and select “Open with”, then find the archiver in the list of programs.

As a result, you will see a list of all the files contained in this disk image, and you can extract them all or individually to any location on your computer.

Frankly speaking, I don’t see any use for this feature - it’s usually easier and faster to mount an image than to open an ISO in an archiver, and after that you can also extract any files from the mounted disk. The only option that seems justified to me is the lack of programs for mounting ISO images, like Daemon Tools, the lack of need for such programs and the reluctance to install them, but at the same time there is a one-time need to access the files located in the ISO image.

UPD: how to open ISO on Android

Considering that using torrents on Android phones and tablets is not uncommon, you may need to open the ISO image on Android. To do this, you can use the free ISO Extractor program, which you can download from Google Play https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=se.qzx.isoextractor

Perhaps these methods for opening images are quite enough, I hope that the article was useful for you.

A file with an ISO extension usually causes confusion among beginners. What kind of format is this anyway? How to open it? What to do with the ISO file?

Don't panic. Opening ISO files is quite simple. And all you need to do is install a program that reads ISO files. After this, you can easily open any of them by double-clicking.

An ISO file is a virtual disk image created using special software. Simply put, something like an archive. It can store anything: music, movies, etc.

How to open ISO format? There are many programs for extracting ISO files:

  • Alcohol 120%;
  • PowerISO;
  • WinRAR;
  • Nero et al.

In this case, it is necessary to take into account what is inside the image. And based on this, choose the appropriate software.

If this is a Windows distribution, then you do not need to open or install it. In this case, you can copy the licensed image to a bootable USB flash drive, and then reboot and start the PC (or laptop) through the BIOS. After this, the installation of the operating system will begin.

If it is a book divided into chapters, music (for example, all the albums of your favorite artist) or certain documents, then in this case you can open an ISO file in the literal sense of the word.

  • free (Lite version only);
  • takes up little space;
  • simple and easy to use.

How to open an ISO file on Windows 7?

First, let's look at how to open an ISO file on Windows 7 (it also works for XP). About Windows 8 and 10 is written below.

So, Daemon Tools is a free program for reading and extracting ISO files. You can download it from. developers site (link).

This program is very easy to use. When you install it, all ISO files will be automatically opened through it. Double-click on it with the left mouse button, after which the autorun window will immediately appear. Select the “Open folder” item, and then look at the situation.

If such a window does not appear, you may have autorun disabled. In this case, open “My Computer” and manually launch the virtual disk (RMB – Open).

If this is a game, run the installation file setup.exe. If it's a movie, music or something else, then just open it. Or copy to any other folder on your computer (for convenience).

You can also open Daemon Tools and add an image, specifying the path to it. Or simply drag the file into the program window. And after that, double-click on it (or right-click and select “Mount”).

After finishing installing the game or watching the movie, you need to delete the ISO file. Or rather, unmount it. You can do this in 2 ways:


After this, the virtual image will be deleted.

There is also another way to unzip the ISO file without Daemon Tools.

How to extract an ISO file?

Daemon Tools is a specific program that not all users have installed. But everyone probably has WinRAR or 7-Zip. Therefore, if you are too lazy to install another program, you can simply extract the files from the ISO using an archiver.

It's very easy to do this:


Note: if the archiver is not in the list, then click “Select program” and look for it in the extended list.

If it is not there either, then click the “Browse” button, find the archiver folder and select the installation file WinRAR.exe.

This is how you can unpack an ISO file without third-party software.

How to open an ISO file on Windows 10 and 8?

Which program to open an ISO file on Windows 8 or 10? In this case, you won’t have to install anything. After all, you can run it without any third-party software. All you need to do is select the file and double-click on it with the left mouse button. After this, the image will be mounted and the autorun window will open. Don't forget to unmount it at the end. To do this, open “My Computer”, select the virtual disk drive, right-click and select “Eject”.

That's all. Now you know how to run an ISO file on Windows 7, 8 and 10. And if you download movies or games with this extension again, you can easily open them.


Have you downloaded a DVD with a movie, a long-awaited game, or a set of automatically installed programs, but don’t know how to open it? There is probably no program installed on your computer to work with files of this format. This article is intended to help newbies solve the problem. We'll look at what the ISO data type is and take a quick look at popular applications for working with such files.

What is hidden in a file with an iso extension?

ISO is a standard format for storing image files. An image file refers to an exact (cluster-to-cluster) copy of an optical disk stored digitally. The iso format preserves the exact file system structure of the optical media, all file and directory attributes, as well as boot code, which is very convenient for duplicating auto-start and boot disks. The content of an iso file can be absolutely any content stored on optical and physical media.

Disk images are created for many reasons, including:

  • distribution of data on the network;
  • disk emulation for working with it - this way you can run a game that requires physical media in the drive;
  • storing a copy of important data, for example, personal photo or video archive, on a computer, etc.

How to open an ISO image file?

There is a lot of software for working with disk images, because they are used by a huge number of users all over the planet. When starting to choose a product that best suits and satisfies all needs, the user is faced with numerous difficulties. Now we will consider not only popular, but also the most functional, easiest to use programs translated into Russian, including free ones. We’ll also find out how to open an ISO image file in each of them.

Archiver 7-zip

The free 7z archiver, which is gaining more and more popularity among users, works perfectly on all versions of the Windows OS of any bit level.

To open an image using 7-zip, you need to call the file's context menu. In it, select “7-zip”® “Open archive” and view its contents.

The program can extract the necessary data from iso files to a specified location and unpack image files. To unpack, you need to call the context menu of the image and click “Unpack” in the “7-zip” submenu. Next, specify the target directory and confirm extracting the contents of the image file.

Ultra ISO

The utility is the best product for creating, processing, converting, extracting and editing image files. If the program is installed on the system and associated with iso files, then double-clicking with the left mouse button will automatically open the image in this application.
When it is not a means for opening iso or its portable edition is used, you must perform the following steps:

  1. Let's launch the application.
  2. Call the file opening dialog – “File” ® “Open”.

3.In the dialog box, set the path to the image we need and press the “Enter” button on the keyboard or “OK”.

Alcohol 120%

Another program for working with the iso format. It, like UltraISO, has wide capabilities that go beyond familiarization with the contents of images. Alcohol 120% is distributed on a paid basis, but has a huge advantage - disk emulation. This means that the utility is capable of creating a virtual disk and placing an image file on it, thereby simulating the presence of a physical disk in a real drive. This technique is widely used by gamers and system administrators.

Let's look at the process of opening an iso file using Alcohol 120%

  1. Launch the utility and call the file opening dialog: “File” ® “Open”.

2. Select the desired image in it and click “OK”.

3.Our file will appear in the top frame. Call up its context menu and select “Mount to device”. If there are several drives, you will have to specify which one to mount on.

You can add an image using the “drag & drop” function: drag the image into the program window, and then onto the virtual drive located at the bottom of the interface.

Daemon Tools

One of the best image emulation programs with a free version. As in the case of Alcohol 120%, the utility mounts an image file on a virtual drive, thereby simulating the presence of physical media in the drive. The program is able to bypass most protection methods, which is why it is very popular.

How to use Daemon Tools

  1. We launch the utility and create a virtual drive. To do this, call the context menu of the “Drive” folder in the left frame of the program and select its type.

2.Call the context menu of the “Images” catalog and click on “Add images...”.

3.In the window that appears, select the desired file.

4. Double-click with the left mouse button on the image icon.

5.After a couple of seconds of mounting, the autorun menu for the selected disk will appear.


Now you know how to view the contents of an ISO file and can independently choose a program that suits your needs for opening image files. In addition to the programs discussed, powerful tools for iso viewing that are worth paying attention to are the paid Nero and the free ISO Master utility.


if(function_exists("the_ratings")) ( the_ratings(); ) ?>

An ISO file, also called an optical disc image, is an ideal representation of a CD, DVD or BD. It allows you to accurately duplicate the entire contents of a disk in a single container. This article introduces the ISO disk image and the most effective methods for using it.

Purpose and format

An ISO file is like a box containing parts of something that needs to be assembled, like a disassembled children's toy. The box containing the individual pieces is not a real toy, but if you take them out and put them together, they become something you can play with.

An ISO file works much the same way. It itself, if not opened, assembled and used, is unsuitable for anything.

Disk images do not have a special format. They are a sector-by-sector copy of the data on an optical disk, stored in binary format. The file contains an image of the file system, including data saved unchanged.

File extension

Some non-ISO 9660 disc images are marked with a UDF extension.

Images may have other designations. For example, uncompressed IMG files are in ISO format, so their extensions are interchangeable.

You should be aware that the ISO designation is also used for Arbortext IsoDraw Document files, which are CAD drawings created with the PTC Arbortext IsoDraw application. They have nothing to do with the ISO disk image.

Where can I find ISO files?

Disk images are often used to distribute large programs online because all of their components can be written as a single file.

An illustration of this could be the free password recovery tool Ophcrack, which contains an operating system and several software products. Everything the application needs is packaged in one file. The distribution name of one of the Ophcrack versions looks like ophcrack-vista-livecd-3.6.0.iso.

This is of course not the only program that uses ISO files. Many different types of applications are distributed in this way. Most bootable antivirus programs are supplied in ISO format. For example, the Bitdefender Rescue CD looks like bitdefender-rescue-cd.iso.

In all of these examples and many more, all the necessary components of any executable tool are included in the ISO image. This makes it easy to download and burn to a disc or other device.

Even Windows 10, like previously Windows 8 and 7, is distributed directly by Microsoft in ISO format. This allows the operating system to be removed or mounted on a virtual machine.

How to Burn ISO Files

The most common way to use disk images is to burn them to a CD, DVD or BD. This process is different from saving music and documents because the software must "harvest" the contents of the ISO file for a CD, DVD or BD respectively. Experts advise using this method if you need to install an operating system, install software on many different PCs, or run diagnostic applications. Having a physical boot disk provides greater flexibility when installing an OS or testing hardware operation.

Burning an ISO image is not only a way to distribute software. In some cases this is a necessary necessity. For example, many diagnostic tools are used only outside the operating system. This means that before you can open the ISO disk image file, you will have to burn it to some kind of removable media from which the computer can boot.

All of the above also applies to USB devices, which have become much more popular than optical disks.

If you need to perform actions with an ISO file using Windows, but its extension is already associated with another application, you should go to its properties and change the default program for opening an ISO disk image to isoburn.exe, stored in the system folder C:\Windows\system32\ .

Recording software

Windows 10, 8 and 7 allow you to burn ISO images to discs without using third-party software. Just double-click on the file and then follow the wizard's instructions. Owners of other operating systems may need an additional application. Typically, computers with a CD burner will already have this software installed. If it is not there, then, according to experts, the best choices are PowerISO, Active ISO Burner, Free ISO Burner, ImgBurn, ISOBurn, ISO Workshop. All these applications are free, allow you to create intros, menus, sections and provide high-quality and fast image recording.

How to extract ISO files

Some programs are distributed in ISO format but are not intended to be downloaded. For example, Microsoft Office is offered in this form. The image is designed to be written to an optical or virtual disk, but since it doesn't need to be run outside of Windows, it won't boot from it.

How to open an ISO disk image if there is no physical copy of it? Most archivers, such as the free programs 7-Zip or WinRAR, can handle this task. They are capable of extracting the contents of the ISO file into a separate folder. It can be viewed like any other directory on your computer. Although this folder cannot be captured as an image, being able to access its contents can be useful. For example, if you downloaded Microsoft Office as an ISO disk image, instead of transferring it to physical media, you can extract the installation files and then install the program as usual.

Each archiver requires a different sequence of actions. You can quickly get to the contents of a disk image using 7-Zip. To do this, right-click on the ISO file name and select 7-Zip and the “Extract to” option from the context menu.

How to create a disk image

There are programs (many of which are free) that allow the user to create an image of a CD, DVD, BD from physical media or a set of selected files.

The most common reason for this is to back up your installation disc or movie to DVD or Blu-ray.

One of the best programs that allows you to do this is BurnAware Free. The application is free and can create disk images of all types. After installing and launching the program, you need to select Copy to ISO and the disk drive. By clicking the Browse button located in the center of the screen, you must select the location where the image will be recorded, enter its name and click the Save button. Then, insert the disk to be copied into the previously specified drive and press the Copy button. The progress of the process will be displayed on the screen. It will complete after a message appears indicating that the file was saved successfully.

Alternative applications are ISO Recorder, ISODisk, ImgBurn and InfraRecorder.

macOS and Linux operating systems allow you to create a disk image using built-in tools. In the first case, the disk utility copies the data to a CDR file, which can be converted to ISO using the terminal command hdiutil convert img.cdr -format UDTO -o img.iso.

In Linux OS, just run the command sudo dd if=/dev/dvd of=/path/img.iso, where /dev/dvd is the path to the optical disk and /path/img is the path and name of the disk image file.

If using the command line is inconvenient, you can use the Brasero (for Linux) and Roxio Toast (for Mac) applications.

How to open an ISO image without a disk

Mounting an ISO file that you created yourself or downloaded from the Internet involves the application used to mount it, forcing the computer to mistake it for a real disk. Therefore it can be used as if it were recorded on a real CD, DVD or BD.

But how to open a disk image can be done using an emulator. This will require you to select the drive letter that will represent the ISO file. Despite the fact that this letter represents a virtual disk, Windows considers it real, which allows it to be used as such.

Mounting Applications

One of the popular free programs for opening an ISO disk image file is WinCDEmu. The application is easy to use and comes in a portable version. Experts also consider Pismo File Mount and Daemon Tools programs to be the best software of this type.

And users of Windows 10 or 8 will not need to think about how to open an ISO disk image, since mounting it is integrated into the operating system. Just right-click on the image name and select the “Mount” option. The OS will automatically create the virtual disk and no additional software is required.

Although installing an ISO file is very useful in some situations, you should be aware that opening an ISO disk image is not possible if the operating system is not running. This means that it is completely pointless to mount an ISO file that needs to be used outside of Windows (for example, to run some hard drive diagnostic tools and memory testing programs).

When you are finished working with the virtual disk, you can delete it. To do this, click on it and in the “Management” tab select the “Extract” option. As a result, the disk containing the contents of the ISO image file will be removed from the list of available devices.