Whether you want to install a new piece of software, a game, or an operating system on your PC, you will require an ISO image file. Many Softwares and Drivers ship with an ISO file to install a particular application. An ISO file consists of all the necessary data for the software.
Moreover, Operating systems like Windows and Linux are also available as ISO image files, because iso file is flashable, i.e., we can burn it to a USB stick or a disc.
If you have a game as an ISO file, you would like to burn it on a CD. Therefore, this article has discussed a few ways to use an iso file, such as using an iso file to install software or flash it onto a USB stick.
Mount the ISO File
For Windows PC, it is very straightforward to access the contents of an iso file. Windows Explorer has an inbuilt feature to open ISO files. To do so, locate the iso file folder and right-click on the iso file.
From the menu, select the Mount option. Windows File Explorer should mount the iso file shortly, and you can access the contents of the iso file.
However, due to third-party applications, the Mount option may be disabled on your Windows. Therefore, you could reset all apps on your Windows PC to fix the issue. To do so,
- firstly, press Windows Key + I to bring the windows Settings.
- There go to the Apps section, and on the right column of the Window, select the Default apps options.
- On the right, click on the Set defaults by app option.
- Select the Windows Dic Image Burner app from the list and click on the Manage button.
- Select the third-party disc burner application installed on your PC from the menu, and change the default app to open the iso image file to Windows Explorer.
- Once Windows Explorer is set as a default app to open iso image files, head over to the iso file that you want to open.
- Right-click on the file, the mount option should be available now, click on it, and the file explorer will mount the iso file on your drive.
- Click on the newly mounted DVD Drive on the left column of file explorer. There you will find a setup.exe executable file; double-click on it to install the application onto your PC.
- Once you have installed the software from the iso file, you would want to remove the iso file from your drive.
- To unmount the iso file, click on the This PC folder in the file explorer from the left column.
- There right-click on the mounted DVD Drive and click on the Eject option.
Extract the ISO File to a Disc
If you want to store programs or other digital content to a CD or DVD, you want to burn the iso image file to the disc. It's a very reliable way to store digital data.
Windows has an inbuilt functionality that allows users to extract the content of an iso file to a CD, DVD, and even a USB-Stick. To do so:
- Firstly, head over to the iso file that you want to save on a Cd, DVD, or USB.
- Right-click on it and select the Burn disc image option from the menu.
- Insert a USB-Stick, DVD, or a CD onto your PC. A prompt will appear on your screen.
- There click on the drop-down menu beside the Disc burner label.
- Select the appropriate device you want to burn the iso file from the menu and click on the Burn button to start the process.
Flash the ISO File
While installing an operating system, you have to flash an iso file of the OS onto your USB to create a bootable USB. You can utilize the Burn disc image feature to flash an Operating system onto your USB.
However, it might not work as you intend to. Therefore, you would want the help of third-party applications such as Etcher or Rufus. For flashing a windows operating system iso file, you would want to use Microsoft's Windows Media Creation Tool.
Both Etcher and Rufus are fairly simple to use.
- Download the iso file of the operating system.
- Launch either Etcher or Rufus, insert the USB-Stick, and select the iso file and the appropriate USB device on the app.
- Lastly, click on the Flash or start button to start the process. It will be done shortly, depending on the size of the OS.
Etcher is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux devices have a straightforward UI and very little configuration to do. However, Rufus gives you more options, such as Partition Scheme, File system, and Target system.
Also, there are many more advanced configuring options such as Quick Format and check devices for bad blocks. For flashing, Windows OS iso, Rufus gives users the ability to create a bootable disk using iso file of and standard windows installation orWindows to go. Rufus is available for Windows and Mac devices.
Conclusion
Overall, we can use an ISO file in three ways. We could access the contents of the iso file by mounting it, or we can extract the contents of the iso file to a CD, DVD, or a USB via burning the iso file.
Moreover, we can flash iso files onto a DVD, CD, or USB to create a bootable device that will help install an operating system onto your PC.
Lastly, we can create our iso file that will package all the contents according to you. However, that is not something that we would often want to do.
