Creating ISO® Files Using Windows® XP Professional

Do you want to know what an ISO® is and how you can take advantage of it on Windows® XP Professional?

An ISO® image is an archive file or a disc image of a CD or a DVD fused together into one file and stored in an uncompressed format. The name ISO® comes from International Organization for Standardization (ISO), as the ISO® format is defined by the organization. Thus, the ISO® files usually come with an ‘.iso’ file extension name. These files can be burned to a CD or a DVD, which helps in recovering the files as well as the file structure from the original disc. However, these ISO® files only support single tracks and, therefore, cannot be used for multi-track data, such as audio CDs, VCDs, and hybrid audio CDs. However, these can be used if the single track data is followed by another track of audio, which could then be burned as audio files, with the first track being burned as an ISO® file.

If you want to burn ISO® files using Windows® XP Professional and also reverse the process by creating an ISO® from a DVD, read the following points:

• The different burning programs
• Burning ISO® files using Windows® XP Professional
• Creating an ISO® from a DVD

The different burning programs

ISO® files can be written on a CD or a DVD. It happens when all the files including the file structure on the original disc are recovered. All the ISO® files can be burned to a CD or a DVD using any of the available burning software – Nero Burning ROM, Roxio Creator™, etc. Also, these files can be burned using standard burning tools as well, found inside the ‘New Compilation’
selection menu.

Burning ISO® files using Windows® XP Professional

Although Windows® XP Professional cannot burn an ISO® file automatically to a CD or a DVD, you can download a CD or DVD burning software from the Internet. There are many such programs freely available on the Internet. Once you get the software, burning an ISO® image file onto a CD or a DVD is easy and quick. Apart from a software program, you also need a CD or a DVD burner, depending on the format that you want to burn the files to. The first step is to get hold of an ISO® file. As mentioned earlier, the file names usually end with an ‘.iso’ extension and, therefore, are easy to identify. You must already have a burning software program, thus, after getting an ISO® file, a blank disc (CD or a DVD) need to be inserted into the correct drive. A screen message flashes an ‘Autoplay’ box, which you are required to exit. After that, you just need to get into your burning software and choose any of these options from the menu – ‘Burn’, ‘Create’, Copy Image’, or anything else indicating this action. Select the ISO® file you want to burn through the ‘Browser’ option. Simply click ‘Start’ while also checking the ‘Disk at Once’ and ‘Finalize’ options. Now, you can sit back while the software burns your desired ISO® file onto a CD or a DVD.

Making CD or DVDs out of an ISO® file is not the only option; a user can also easily create a copy of a CD or a DVD in the ISO® format. You require the same programs which are used to burn an ISO® file to a CD or a DVD. Open the CD or DVD burning software program and double-click the ‘.exe’ file. From there, you need to click on the ‘Create Image File From Disc’ or similar options, according to the software you are using. Select the source DVD or CD by browsing, and then pick a destination where you want the copy to be stored. You can also select the option for writing or creating the file after the software finishes reading it. This enables the software to read the file and then create a copy without waiting for your manual command.