ISO image
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2006) |
| Filename extension | .iso |
|---|---|
| Internet media type | application/x-iso9660-image |
| Uniform Type Identifier | public.iso-image |
| Type of format | Disk image |
| Standard(s) | ISO 9660 |
An ISO image is an archive file (also known as a disc image) of an optical disc in a format defined by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). This format is supported by many software vendors. ISO image files typically have a file extension of .iso. The name ISO is taken from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media, but an ISO image can also contain a UDF file system since UDF is backward-compatible with ISO 9660.
Contents |
[edit] Format
As with any other archive, an ISO image includes all the data of files contained on the archived CD/DVD, or any other disc format. They are stored in an uncompressed format. In addition to data of the files it also contains all the file system metadata, including boot code, structures, and attributes. ISO images do not support multi-track, thus they cannot be used for audio CDs, VCD, and hybrid audio CDs, which are usually ripped as audio files. However, for disks that contain a single track of data followed by tracks of audio, such as video game disks, the first track can be ripped as an ISO, and the rest as audio files.
These properties make it an attractive alternative to physical media for the distribution of software as it is simple to transfer over the Internet or via a LAN connection.
A valid ISO image is an uncompressed collection of various files merged into one single resulting file, according to definite and standard formatting.
The most important feature of an ISO image is that it can be easily rendered or "burned" to a DVD or CD by using media "authoring" or disc "burning" software. It can also be opened using archival applications such as 7-Zip file manager or the WinRAR shareware archiver. ISO burning is now typically a native feature of modern home and business computer operating systems.
Hybrid formats include the ability to be read by different devices, operating systems, or hardware. In the past, one example of this was a disc that supported both Windows and Macintosh from one image. One recent example is the release of hybrid ISO files which can be "booted" or started from both CD/DVD and USB flash drive devices when the image is written to either of these storage devices.
[edit] Examples of ISO "Burning" Software
(see also Comparison of ISO image software for a more complete listing and itemized characteristics).
ISO Specific:
General Disc Authoring:
ISO Recovery:
ISO View-only software
- WinRAR automatically associate itself with .iso files, but may describe the newer "bluray" ISO files as "corrupted" when in fact it is a valid archive that the above software can open.
- 7-zip is a free software for Windows that can view .iso files for CD and DVD formats.
- Winzip
[edit] See also
[edit] References
|
||||||||||||||
