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Create an iso from your installed system. Creating ISO images. Creating an operating system image, storing and deploying it

Any operating system is not one hundred percent protected from unexpected crashes, breakdowns, or malfunctions. Windows 7 is no exception. In order not to lose valuable system settings that you have been customizing for a long time, it is recommended to create a disk image with the iso extension at least once every six months. In this way, you will protect yourself from long and tedious recovery after failures or failure of the operating system. You can burn the resulting file to a DVD disc, memory card, or any other digital media. And at the right time, just download it back. If you still decide to do this, follow the instructions in this article.

Creating an ISO image for Windows 7 through the official Microsoft website

Not long ago, a software developer company made it possible for users to independently generate image files directly through the official website. To do this, follow the link: https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/software

Before you start, make sure that your storage device has more than 4 GB of memory, as well as a stable Internet connection:

  • follow the link above and check out a number of tips and instructions,
  • scroll down the page and you will see the input field for your Windows 7 product key,
  • now minimize the browser and go to the control panel,
  • select the “System and Security” tab,


  • in the window that appears, click on the “System” section,


  • you will be immediately redirected to a page where at the very bottom is the activation key for your product. Carefully rewrite it in the browser line and click “Check”,


  • wait until the system checks your Windows 7 and the relevance of its license. The process will take from a minute to five. If everything is in order with the key, then the utility in the browser will immediately begin creating an ISO image of your entire system. If there is something wrong with the key or this method does not suit you for other reasons, proceed to the second step of the instructions.


Creating an ISO image of Windows 7 without third-party programs

  • You can create an image inside your computer without installing unnecessary software. To do this, go to the control panel again and find the “Backup and Restore” section.


  • In the window that appears on the left, find the “Create a system image” link. Click on it.


  • Wait a few minutes while Windows finds all the ways to create and burn the image.


  • The system will automatically open all possible options for recording the image to media. Most likely, you will have three options: “hard drive”, “DVD media” and “network storage”. If you have a DVD, insert it and select the second method.


  • If your computer has only one disk, as in the screenshot below, then you won’t have to select it. If there are several disks, then you can select one of them or all of them. Click on the “Archive” button to start burning the ISO image to disk.


  • If you chose the third option: online hosting, then the process will be slightly different. Please note that the file may not be protected in a network location.


  • Enter the network location address.


After pressing the “ok” button, copying will begin. It is also possible to manually record the image through programs such as Daemon Tools. The process is very similar, but takes a little longer. To do this, you need to download the program, mount the image in it and burn it to a digital medium.

If you were unable to create an image of Windows 7 after all the above points, then perhaps it will be easier for you to download ready-made ISO images from the Internet.

You can learn a few interesting words about Windows 7 images from the video below:

Almost every advanced computer user knows what an ISO image is, but does not know how to create one correctly.

Let's look at the topic of how to create ISO images from files and folders and how to create ISO images from disk. We will use several programs that are still used on the Internet today. Creating an iso image is not as complicated a process as it seems. Just a couple of clicks and the image is ready.

List of programs:

  • Ultra ISO
  • Poweriso
  • BurnAware Free
  • imgBurn

These programs are divided into paid and free categories. Paid programs have the opportunity to trial use, but with a limit of 300mv. But free ones are also not inferior to paid ones and even lead. Let's look at these programs.

How to create ISO images from files using the ultra ISO program.

First, go to the developer’s website and download this program. The installation process is the usual: install and run.

The program has a paid license and you can try it for free. In trial use, the ultra ISO program is limited to 300 mV. The program has a function to convert an image for similar utilities, for example:

  • CloneCD
  • Nero (.NRG)
  • It also fits the .CUE and compressed ISO (.ISZ) formats

Creating an image from files and folders

If you decide to create an iso image, then you will need the files that you want to write to the image. In particular, these files are reinstallation disk or files for recording on a boot disk or startup disk

Open the utility. The program is divided into two windows. In the first top one it finds files prepared for recording, and in the bottom one there are files located on our computer.

To create an iso image, at the bottom of the program, open the files that we want to burn, select them all and click “add”.

Or you can also open the section on the computer where the files are located, select and drag them to the top window of the program.

In my case, I am creating an image for Windows 7.

Using this program and simple steps, we created an image for further recording on a disk or flash drive.

Creating an ISO image from files and folders from an optical disc

This method is mainly used to copy several copies of a disk you like, for example: an excellent build of an operating system. Let's consider this method. First, we need a disk from which we want to create an iso image.

On the top menu, go to “tools” and click “create CD image” or simply press the F8 key

  1. This window opens, if you have several drives on your computer, select the desired DVD drive.

  2. And the last section is the format output.

We look at the list and make a choice over the formats, the format in our case is “iso”, if you plan to use this image in the future in the programs listed in the section, select the appropriate option.

Create ISO image with PowerIso program

This program is just as paid as Ultra ISO and has the same recording limit above 300mV. The program also has the ability to convert the image into formats

  • BIN/CUE

Create iso images from files and folders using Poweriso

Similar to the previous program, download the program, install it and launch it. To create an iso image, you need to load into the program all the files from which we will create the image. To do this, there is an “add” button on the top toolbar; click it.

Or drag and drop from the computer where these files are located onto the program window.

Select all the necessary files and add them.

Create iso image from optical disc with Poweriso program

To create an iso from a disk, go to “tools” on the top panel and click “create CD/DVD-ROM image file”

Create an iso image with BurnAware Free

We download this software, it is completely free and is a leader among competitors, and you yourself know why. Install and launch. A window with great opportunities will open.

Create an iso image from files with the BurnAware Free program

In this section, to record an ISO image, click “create iso”. Then this window will open

Select the file system “iso 9660” and click “ok”.

On the top panel, click on the “add files” icon, select all the necessary files, click “add” and after adding, click “close”

Now go to “file”, hover the mouse over “compilation” and click “create”. Next, as always, write the name, indicate the saving location and click “save”.

Create an ISO image from an optical disk with BurnAware Free

In this program, the window is divided into 4 masonry

Multimedia

In the window that opens, select the DVD drive as usual and specify the iso or bin format, then click copy, then wait for the process to complete.

Create iso using imgBurn utility

The first thing you need to do is download, install and run the imgBurn utility. The program is distributed free of charge. imgBurn has an English interface, but it can also be Russified. To do this, go to the website of the program developer. Let's go to the download section.

Which is located in the folder where you installed the imgBurn program

Create an iso image from files using the imgBurn utility

Open the program and to create an iso, select the section “Create an image from files/folders”

Select all the necessary files and click open. After completing these steps to create, you need to click on this icon

We write the name, indicate the location and save the image.

Create an iso image from a disk using the utility imgBurn

In order to create an iso image from a disk, open the imgBurn program and in the window that opens, go to the “create an image from disk” section

And now the final stage is to click on this button

Software to create ISO image from disc only

Creating an iso image from a disk with ISODisk program

ISODisk software is used to create an image from a disk. With support from the ISODisk utility, it is possible to create an ISO image from any disk in two clicks.

First, download the program from the official website, install and launch. The program has a simple appearance and will be understandable even to a teapot. The interface of this program is in English. ISODisk includes two partitions:

Mounting an ISO Image as a Virtual Disk

Create an image from an optical disk

Select the section “create an image from an optical disk”

In the window that opens, select the DVD drive and click on this icon

Creating an iso image from a disk using Ashampoo Burning Studio 14

Download and open the program. This utility, in my opinion, has a very beautiful interface that is simply pleasing to the eye. The program has many functions for different works and disks.

In our case, we need the “image creation” section. Hover your mouse over this section and select “create image”

Select your DVD drive and wait for the program to load the disc.

In the next window, indicate the location to save the image, write a name, select the iso format and click “next”

Creating an iso image from a disk using DAEMON Tools Lite

This program is easy to use and has a simple interface that everyone can understand. Open the program.

On the toolbar located in the center of the window, click on the “create disk image” icon

As in all of the above programs, select the drive, indicate the storage path, and press start

Creating an iso image from a disk with the Alcohol 120% utility

Download, install and launch the Alcohol 120% program. Like some, this utility is paid.

But despite this, you can use the program by waiting for about 8 seconds to start. In the window that opens, on the left toolbar, select “image creation”

Here we indicate the name, path, format of the created iso image and click “start”

Creating an iso image from a disk using Nero 2015

To create an iso image from an optical disk using this program, insert the disk from which you want to create the image into the drive and launch the Nero 2015 program.

Now select the path, specify the drive and write a name for this iso. Next, click on the “copy” button

Creating an iso image from a disk using CDBurnerXP

The installation process is the same as in all cases. Open the CDBurnerXP program, then select the “copy disk” section, click “ok”.

A window will open there, just like in all cases, select the drive, indicate the path, write the name. Next, check the “hard drive” box and click “copy disk”.

Conclusion

In this article, I talked about the most well-known methods of creating an iso image from files and folders and from an optical disc.

In my opinion, recording with an iso image is much more convenient and efficient than simply copying a disk, since when recording with an iso image we get a 100% copy of the original.

As everyone already knows, optical discs do not last very long if they are used more often.

Therefore, in order not to take risks, it is better to make a copy of your disk using the recommendations in this article and sleep peacefully.

This is where I end the article. I hope this information was useful. If you have any questions, write in the comments. Bye!

You might be interested

Hello! In this tutorial I will teach you how to create ISO disk images. This feature can be useful in cases where a game or program will not start without a DVD or CD disc inserted into the drive.

I will also show how you can create an ISO disk image from various files that are just lying on your computer. We can pack music, films, programs and much more into the image.

In general, if you find yourself on this page, then most likely you know for what purposes you need create a disk image, so let's get straight to it. To create the image we will use UltraISO program, which can be downloaded from the official website.

And run it. Don't forget to insert the disc into your computer. Now we need to select the Tools menu in UltraISO and select “Create CD image”. You can also use the hotkey F8.

A window opens where we need to configure something. First of all, in the CD/DVD drive section you need select drive letter, which you can find out by going to the section Computer. If you have only one drive installed, then the desired letter will be selected by default.

Just below you need to indicate the location on your computer where you want to save the ISO image, and also give it a name.

A little lower is the section for selecting the format. Except ISO there are MDF, BIN and some other less popular formats. Perhaps in some cases they will be useful to you.

To start creating the image, all we have to do is click the Make button.

This is how the process goes:

Here we once again see where the image will be saved, as well as the approximate time remaining until the process is completed. When finished, we can open the folder and check the result.

Now this ISO image can be opened in special programs, for example, . After opening the image, in the section Computer this file will be displayed as a disk, and we can work with it like regular CD and DVD disks.

Creating an image from various files
(movies, music, programs, etc.)

Now I've shown how create ISO image from an actual CD that is inserted into an optical drive. But besides this, the UltraISO program can pack absolutely any files into a disk image. This is done very simply.

Creating and burning an image of Windows 10 to a disk or flash drive is the key to quickly restoring the system in the event of a crash or incorrect settings that could not be canceled using standard Windows tools.

Why do you need a Windows 10 system image?

The Windows 10 image is needed to burn the installation flash drive. With its help, it is possible to reinstall the system “from scratch” when the user is not satisfied with the update using standard means. A Windows image may also be required to correct problems when starting the OS, to reset it to its original settings, resulting in the removal of all programs and unnecessary devices installed after creating the system recovery image.

The system image is created using the following applications:

  • using the Windows Backup Wizard;
  • third-party applications: Alcohol 120%, Daemon Tools, Nero, UltraISO, etc.

    • To burn an installation flash drive, you need a ready-made image. That is, you first need to prepare the ISO file itself with a copy of Windows 10.

    Working on creating a Windows 10 image

    All methods are quite easy and reliable. Completing any of them is unlikely to take you more than half an hour, especially if the PC or tablet on which you are creating the OS image is powerful enough.

    It doesn't matter which of the latest versions of Windows you are burning - 7, 8, 8.1 or 10. They are all easily created in ISO format.

    Creating a Windows image using the Backup Wizard

    If you are creating not just a system image, but an image of drive C (a Windows system with installed PC hardware drivers), the following preliminary preparation is required:

  • reinstalling Windows “from scratch” from a ready-made installation flash drive or licensed DVD;
  • installation of chipset drivers and built-in peripherals (network adapters, video cards, tuners, printers, scanners, sound cards and other devices you use);
  • installation (optional) of useful programs, for example, Microsoft Office, WinRAR, etc.

    • You should not install any unnecessary applications. Otherwise, you will end up with an OS image that freezes due to dozens or even hundreds of installed applications, as a result of which the point of creating the image is lost. Such builds (for example, ZverDVD for the XP version) do exist, but they are rare.

    Modern versions of Windows, particularly 8.1 and 10, already contain most drivers. Thus, network adapters and sound are integrated into the “ten”, and there is no need to install outdated drivers. This way you will only disrupt the operation of modules and devices that Microsoft has already taken care of.

    The Backup Wizard is not much different in Windows 7/8/8.1/10.

  • Find Windows Backup Tool in the Start menu and launch it.
    Backup and Restore Wizard lets you create a Windows disk image
  • Select create a system image.
    The System Image Creator tool will help you copy system and program files to an ISO image
  • Specify the disk or its partition where the image file will be saved.
    Drive C may not be suitable for saving a Windows archive
  • Select the drives whose contents will be archived. At a minimum, this is a hidden (reserved) partition and system drive C.
    For archiving, drive C is set by default
  • Click the start archiving button.

    • Saving the contents of the system and program folders on drive C will take from 20 to 40 minutes. After this, you will have a ready-made ISO image that can be burned to an external drive or flash drive using applications such as Media Creation Tool, Rufus, WinSetupFromUSB, Universal USB Installer, etc.

    Video: How to create a Windows 10 image using the Backup Wizard

    Burning a Windows 10 image using third-party utilities

    Third-party utilities, such as Nero, Daemon Tools and Alcohol, were actively used to create an image of Windows 10 from a licensed DVD. However, you can burn a Windows 10 image to a USB flash drive or to an external HDD/SSD drive. For this, both a ready-made build of Windows 10 in ISO format, downloaded from a torrent tracker, and your personal ISO archive created using the Archiving Wizard (see instructions above) are suitable. The latter method eliminates the need to reinstall hardware drivers and applications you need for work along with the system.

    Burning an image to DVD is becoming obsolete: modern ultrabooks, netbooks and tablets come without a CD drive. All actions - data recovery after a Windows crash and system reinstallation, fixing startup problems - are performed from a flash drive, memory card or SSD drive. Therefore, you should not focus on burning a Windows image to DVD.

    DAEMON Tools

    To record an image using DAEMON Tools, do the following:

  • Launch DAEMON Tools and go to “Tools” - “Burn bootable image to USB”.
    Pay due attention to the settings before burning the image
  • Connect an external drive or flash drive and use the “Browse” button to select your media.
  • Check the "Overwrite MBR" option. This will allow you to create a boot record, without which the media will not be recognized by the computer or tablet as bootable.
  • Before formatting the media, save all your valuable files to other drives. Select the NTFS file system and assign a name for the installation disk.
  • Check that your disk or flash drive has a capacity of more than 4 GB. So, Windows 10 will not be written to a flash drive with a smaller amount of memory - its image takes up at least 3 GB, depending on the build, not counting the rest copied from drive C (if not a “clean” image was used, but an archive of drive C).
  • Click the "Start" button.

    • That's it, the DAEMON Tools application will begin burning the installation disk or flash drive. Creating a boot record takes up to several seconds, its volume does not exceed several megabytes, but you will have to wait at least 20 minutes for the image to be written.


    Copying a Windows image may take 20 minutes or more

    Upon completion of recording a copy of Windows, DAEMON Tools will report the success of the process.


    All steps for copying a Windows image are described in detail by the program

    The recording speed via the USB 2.0 interface, used in all PCs and gadgets for 15 years, reaches 21 MB/s. Most modern PCs and laptops are equipped with USB 3.0, and using more modern media will almost double the speed of USB 2.0. If a flash drive or external drive has been actively used for several years in a row and is worn out, the final write speed may drop several times. The newer the media, the faster all files will be written and the fewer problems there will be when updating/reinstalling Windows from it - take this seriously. Another reason why you should not use CDs is that the read/write speed here is several times lower (several megabytes per second) than the speed of flash memory used on modern media.

    Video: how to burn a system image to disk using DAEMON Tools

    Alcohol 120% (57%)

    Everything that has been said about the advisability of recording Windows 10 on a flash drive does not work with Alcohol brand software, which was created and updated mainly to work with “blanks” - CD/DVD/BD, and not with flash drives and memory cards. Therefore, alas, it is better to forget about flash drives here. For this reason, the Alcohol utility is actively being replaced by competitors - WinSetupFromUSB, Rufus and other applications that work with electronic rather than optical media.

    To create a system image using Alcohol 120%, follow these steps:

  • Download, install and run the latest version of Alcohol 120%.
    The Alcohol application is 120% paid, but you can also use the lite version
  • Go to the “Burn images to discs” submenu.
    Select the image recording functionality in Alcohol 120%
  • Select the pre-downloaded Windows 10 image file using the browse button.
    The Windows 10 image must be downloaded in advance to burn to disk
  • Select your DVD-RW drive and disc writing speed. It is recommended to choose a lower speed, make sure that the PC has backup power before you start recording, and do not skimp on disks - disks that are too cheap can fail prematurely.
    Recording at 1x speed is ideal - this will reduce recording errors to zero

    • Write speed affects errors when writing a Windows disc. Do not forget that it is not a selection of music or photos that is being recorded, but an image of the operating system. The requirements for the quality and error-free installation disks are very high: if a system error occurs during the installation of Windows and the OS freezes in the same place, start recording again. The best solution would be to use a 1x-12x speed drive from a long-standing company such as Verbatim, Sony, TDK or SKC.

    Video: how to burn a system image to disk using Alcohol 120%

    Alcohol 52%

    The capabilities of the “junior” program Alcohol 52% are even more limited: it does not burn images to DVD, although it is free compared to Alcohol 120%.

    Mounting images onto a virtual DVD will do nothing. The image is recorded on a separate object, information about which is stored on the built-in (local) disk of the PC, and not on external media. And flash drives and memory cards are identified by Windows as external, and not as local drives.

    It is unlikely that you will be able to write a Windows image to external media, be it a DVD or a flash drive, since Alcohol 52% simply does not know how to write images to external drives, as stated in the application description. Running Windows 10 from virtual media - unless it's a LiveDVD/USB version taken from any disk - makes no sense. It’s easier to set the BIOS/EFI to boot from this disk and start from it. It’s better to use more modern analogues that allow you to write images to disk and flash drive, for example, UltraISO.

    Nero

    As with Alcohol, Nero's ability to record to media other than CDs of various formats is limited.

  • Download, install and run the latest version of Nero (Burning ROM). Click the use trial button.
    Click the continue trial button
  • Go to the “New” - “DVD-ROM” path, select the “No multisession” option and click the “New” button.
    Select the type of data disk to burn the Windows image to
  • Click on the “Recorder” tab and select “Record Image”.
    You must have a Windows 10 ISO image in advance.
  • Find the ISO image in the Windows dialog box and click the Open button.
  • In the image burning window, select "DVD Image", set the speed and click the "Burn" button.
    After clicking the start recording button, Nero will begin copying the Windows image

    • Burning the disc can take up to an hour (depending on speed) before the disc is ready to install Windows 10.

    Video: How to Burn a System Image to Disk Using Nero

    Other Windows Image Burning Applications

    You can write Windows to a flash drive using:

  • WinSetupFromUSB;
  • Universal USB Installer;
  • Rufus (works with writing EFI-compatible installation flash drives);
  • Sardu;
  • Easy2Boot;
  • Bootler;
  • XBoot;
  • Win2USB Free and several others.

    • Some of them are suitable not only for recording images of Windows, but also of other operating systems, as well as multiboot disks.

    For burning to DVD, in addition to some of the above applications, the Windows USB/DVD Download Tool created by Microsoft is suitable.

    Problems encountered when recording a Windows image

    The following problems may occur when burning Windows images:

  • The recorded disc or flash drive does not work, the bootloader of the disc or flash drive reports an error when starting the installation. This is due to an error in the ISO file when it was created by a previous user. Replace the ISO image and rewrite the disk or flash drive again;
  • The disk or flash drive is very worn out and cannot be read. They may not be read before the Windows image is written, or they may fail during the recording process. Replace the disk or flash drive and start the process again;
  • The DVD drive or USB port is faulty. Insert the flash drive into another port, or the disk into another drive, or try to start recording on another PC;
  • The drive and/or USB controller cables were not reconnected when servicing the computer or laptop. Turn off the PC and check if these cables are in place, then start Windows again and repeat all the steps in the application in which you are going to burn the installation disk or flash drive;
  • Burning a Windows image to your preferred media does not work in one of the applications. There may be an error in the application itself, for example, the Alcohol 120% program does not work. Update it to the latest version or use another application, such as UltraISO;
  • Internet problems on PC. Thus, the Media Creation Tool requires a continuous connection - this program downloads a Windows image from the Microsoft website and then writes it. Troubleshoot network access problems and run the application again;
  • Communication with the DVD drive was lost and the application reported an error. If the disk is rewritable (DVD-RW), you can try to clean it and start recording the Windows image again, the same applies to the loss of the USB connection to the flash drive, although “cutting off” the recording leads to the appearance of problem sectors on it. But disposable DVD-R discs simply fail, because such a disc cannot be written a second time. Do not use unreliable, worn-out drives and USB ports that often fall off at the most inopportune moment - replace them.

    • The choice of media for creating and recording a Windows image - a disk or flash drive - is yours. Both methods are good, but they directly depend on what kind of PC you have and whether it has a disk drive or USB ports.

    A disk image is an ISO file that stores all the contents of the original media. There are other formats, but this is the most popular.

    The computer recognizes the virtual image in the same way as a physical disk. Even if related files were stored on the original media, they will work correctly as an image. Therefore, most often they create disk images with installation files for games, programs and operating systems.

    Modern operating systems read ISO files without additional programs. On older operating systems, you can use utilities like Daemon Tools for this. You can also open the image and view its contents using a regular archiver.

    Why create disk images?

    Let's say you bought a DVD/Blu-ray with a game or movie. Over time, scratches appear on it, which is why you can lose the recorded information. And the disk itself is easy to lose. In addition, it makes noise as it rotates in the drive, and the speed of reading data from it is lower than from computer memory. All these problems can be solved by creating a virtual disk image.

    If the disk is copy protected, most likely it will not be possible to create an image of it.

    Another example: you have a Windows distribution disk. It can be used for or OS, but a flash drive is much better suited for these purposes. Moreover, many modern computers do not have disk drives at all. But you can create a disk image and make a .

    How to create a disk image in Windows

    Ashampoo Burning Studio FREE is one of the most convenient utilities for creating disk images. Its interface has been translated into Russian, it takes up little space and is also free. During installation, the program requests a license key, but you can receive it by email after quickly registering an account.

    Immediately after launching the utility, select “Disk Image” → “Create Image”. Then insert a physical disk into the drive and wait until the program recognizes it, then click “Next”. Then specify the folder in which the image will be created and select the ISO format. Click “Next” again and wait for the copying to complete.




    The disk image will appear in the location you specified in your computer's memory.

    If for some reason you are not satisfied with this utility, you can use similar free programs like BurnAware Free or CDBurnerXP.

    On a Mac, this can be done in the standard Disk Utility, available under Finder → Programs → Utilities. After launching it, insert the desired disk into the drive and click “File” → “New image” → “Image from [name of your disk]” in the top menu.

    In the next window, enter the short name of the future image in Latin. Specify the desktop as the destination and select the “DVD/CD Master” format. After that, click “Save” and wait until the copying is completed.

    The created image will appear on the desktop and will have a CDR extension. If you plan to use it only on , then you can leave this format. But for Windows computers to read it, you need to convert the CDR file to ISO.

    To change the image format, run the Terminal utility. Type cd desktop and press Enter. Then enter the second command hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o [name 1].iso [name 2].cdr, after replacing [name 1] and [name 2] with the names of the future ISO file and the already created CDR file, respectively. Then press Enter again - after a while the ISO image will appear on the desktop.

    Let's say we first created a CDR file called olddisk. Then we choose, for example, the name newdisk for the future ISO image. As a result, the commands for our case will look like this: