Home Hardware

How to Create an ISO File

This wikiHow teaches you how to create a disc image file (ISO) from a CD or DVD on your Windows or Mac computer, as well as how to create your own disc image from files on your computer. ISOs can be mounted and run like a CD without having...

Method 1 of 4:

Creating an ISO from a Disc on Windows

  1. images 1 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 1 of How to Create an ISO File
    Open the Ninite website. Go to https://ninite.com/.
  2. images 2 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 2 of How to Create an ISO File
    Scroll down to the "Utilities" section. It's near the bottom-right side of the page.
  3. images 3 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 3 of How to Create an ISO File
    Check the "InfraRecorder" option. This option is near the middle of the list below the "Utilities" heading. Checking the box to the left of InfraRecorder will allow you to download and install this program.
  4. images 4 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 4 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Get Your Ninite. It's a purple button in the middle of the page. Doing so will prompt the InfraRecorder installer to download onto your computer.
    1. Depending on your browser's settings, you may first have to click Yes or OK to verify the download, or select a download location.
  5. images 5 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 5 of How to Create an ISO File
    Install InfraRecorder. Double click the Ninite InfraRecorder Installer setup file, click Yes when prompted, and wait for InfraRecorder to finish installing on your computer.
  6. images 6 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 6 of How to Create an ISO File
    Open InfraRecorder. Double-click the CD-shaped InfraRecorder icon on your desktop to do so.
  7. images 7 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 7 of How to Create an ISO File
    Insert your CD into your computer. Make sure the label is facing up when you do this.
    1. If Windows displays an Autoplay window, close it.
  8. images 8 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 8 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Read Disk. It's in the lower-right side of the InfraRecorder window. A new window will pop up.[1]
  9. images 9 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 9 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select your computer's disc drive if necessary. Click the drop-down box next to "Source", then click the CD drive in which your CD is located.
    1. You shouldn't need to do this unless your computer has more than one CD drive.
  10. images 10 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 10 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click ⋯. It's to the right of the "Image File" field.
  11. images 11 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 11 of How to Create an ISO File
    Enter a name for your ISO. Type the name that you want to use for the ISO into the "File name" field.
  12. images 12 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 12 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select a storage location. Click a folder on the left side of the window (e.g., Desktop) to set it as your file's storage location.
  13. images 13 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 13 of How to Create an ISO File
    Make sure that ISO is the file type. Check the box to the right of the "File type" heading to make sure that it says Disc Images (*.iso). If it doesn't, click the box and then select this option from the drop-down menu.
  14. images 14 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 14 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Save. It's in the bottom-right corner of the window.
  15. images 15 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 15 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click OK. This option is at the bottom of the window. Doing so will prompt InfraRecorder to begin creating an ISO image of your disc.
  16. images 16 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 16 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click OK when prompted. You'll see it at the bottom of the window. Your ISO has successfully been created in your selected location.
Method 2 of 4:

Creating an ISO from a Disc on Mac

  1. images 17 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 17 of How to Create an ISO File
    Insert the disc into your Mac's CD reader. Most Macs don't have built-in CD readers, so you'll need an external disc reader that's plugged into your Mac to do this.
  2. images 18 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 18 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Go. It's a menu item in the upper-left side of the Mac's screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
    1. If you don't see Go in the menu bar, click the Finder or the desktop to force it to appear.
  3. images 19 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 19 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Utilities. This option is near the bottom of the Go drop-down menu.
  4. images 20 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 20 of How to Create an ISO File
    Open Disk Utility. Double-click the Disk Utility app, which resembles a grey hard drive with a stethoscope on it.
  5. images 21 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 21 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click File. It's in the top-left side of your Mac's screen. A drop-down menu will appear.
  6. images 22 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 22 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select New. This option is near the top of the drop-down menu.
  7. images 23 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 23 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Disk Image from [Disc]…. It's in the New pop-out menu. Clicking this prompts a window to open.
  8. images 24 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 24 of How to Create an ISO File
    Enter a name for your ISO. Type the name that you want to use into the "Name" field at the top of the window.
  9. images 25 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 25 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select a storage location. Click the drop-down box to the right of the "Where" heading, then click Desktop. This will make the file easier to convert later.
  10. images 26 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 26 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click the "Image Format" drop-down box. A menu will appear.
  11. images 27 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 27 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click DVD/CD master. It's in the menu.
  12. images 28 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 28 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Save. It's at the bottom of the window. Doing so will gather the information on your CD and turn it into a CDR file on your desktop.
  13. images 29 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 29 of How to Create an ISO File
    Convert the completed file into an ISO file. While unnecessary if you're going to use this file on your Mac, the created CDR file won't work for a Windows computer. To convert the CDR file into an ISO file:
    1. Open Spotlight
      images 30 of How to Create an ISO File
      Images 30 of How to Create an ISO File
      and type in terminal
    2. Click Terminal
    3. Type in cd ~/Desktop and press ⏎ Return.
    4. Type in hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o [name].iso [name].cdr, making sure to replace both [name] sections with the CDR file's name.
    5. Press ⏎ Return.
  14. images 31 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 31 of How to Create an ISO File
    Close Terminal. Your ISO file has now been created.
Method 3 of 4:

Creating an ISO with Files on Windows

  1. images 32 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 32 of How to Create an ISO File
    Open Start
    images 33 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 33 of How to Create an ISO File
    . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. images 34 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 34 of How to Create an ISO File
    Open File Explorer
    images 35 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 35 of How to Create an ISO File
    . Click the folder-shaped icon in the bottom-left side of the Start window.
  3. images 36 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 36 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click the Desktop folder. It's on the left side of the File Explorer window.
    1. If you don't see this option, scroll up or down on the left-hand column to find it.
  4. images 37 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 37 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Home. It's a tab in the top-left corner of the File Explorer window. A toolbar will appear below Home.
  5. images 38 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 38 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click New item. It's in the "New" section of the toolbar. A drop-down menu will appear.
  6. images 39 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 39 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Folder. This option is in the drop-down menu. Doing so will create a new, empty folder on the desktop.
  7. images 40 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 40 of How to Create an ISO File
    Enter a name for your folder. Type in the name that you want to use for your folder, then press ↵ Enter.
    1. You can also just press ↵ Enter to use the folder's default name.
  8. images 41 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 41 of How to Create an ISO File
    Add files to your folder. Any files that you want to add to the ISO file must go into this folder.
  9. images 42 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 42 of How to Create an ISO File
    Open the Ninite website. Go to https://ninite.com/. You can download an app called "InfraRecorder" from here to create your ISO file.
  10. images 43 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 43 of How to Create an ISO File
    Scroll down to the "Utilities" section. It's near the bottom-right side of the page.
  11. images 44 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 44 of How to Create an ISO File
    Check the "InfraRecorder" option. This option is near the middle of the list below the "Utilities" heading.
  12. images 45 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 45 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Get Your Ninite. It's a purple button in the middle of the page. Doing so will prompt the InfraRecorder installer to download onto your computer.
    1. Depending on your browser's settings, you may first have to click Yes or OK to verify the download, or select a download location.
  13. images 46 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 46 of How to Create an ISO File
    Install InfraRecorder. Double click the Ninite InfraRecorder Installer setup file, click Yes when prompted, and wait for InfraRecorder to finish installing on your computer.
  14. images 47 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 47 of How to Create an ISO File
    Open InfraRecorder. Double-click the CD-shaped InfraRecorder icon on your desktop to do so.
  15. images 48 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 48 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click the Actions tab. It's at the top of the window. A drop-down menu will appear.
  16. images 49 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 49 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select Burn Compilation…. This option is at the top of the drop-down menu. You'll see a window pop out.
  17. images 50 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 50 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click to a Disc Image…. It's at the top of the Burn Compilation pop-out menu.
  18. images 51 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 51 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Yes when prompted. Doing so will open a new window.
  19. images 52 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 52 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Desktop. It's on the left side of the window.
  20. images 53 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 53 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select your folder. Click the folder in which you stored your ISO's files.
  21. images 54 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 54 of How to Create an ISO File
    Enter a name for the ISO file. Do so in the "File name" field.
  22. images 55 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 55 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Save. It's at the bottom of the window. This will prompt InfraRecorder to begin creating an ISO file from the selected folder.
  23. images 56 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 56 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click OK when prompted. This signifies that your ISO file has been created.
Method 4 of 4:

Creating an ISO with Files on Mac

  1. images 57 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 57 of How to Create an ISO File
    Go to your Mac's desktop. This is where you'll store the files for your ISO file.
  2. images 58 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 58 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click File. It's a menu item in the upper-left corner of the Mac's screen.
  3. images 59 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 59 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click New Folder. This option is near the top of the drop-down menu. A new, empty folder will appear on your Mac's desktop.
    1. You can also just press ⇧ Shift+⌘ Command+N to do this while on the desktop.
  4. images 60 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 60 of How to Create an ISO File
    Enter a name for your folder. Type in the name that you want to use for your folder, then press ⏎ Return.
    1. If you don't want to name your folder anything in particular, just press ⏎ Return.
  5. images 61 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 61 of How to Create an ISO File
    Add files to your folder. You must copy each file that you want on your ISO into the folder.[2]
  6. images 62 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 62 of How to Create an ISO File
    Open Disk Utility. Click Go at the top of the screen, click Utilities in the drop-down menu, and double-click Disk Utility.
  7. images 63 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 63 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click File. A drop-down menu will appear.
  8. images 64 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 64 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select New. This is near the top of the drop-down menu.
  9. images 65 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 65 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Disk Image from Folder…. It's in the New pop-out window. A window will pop up.
  10. images 66 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 66 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select the created folder. Click Desktop on the left side of the window, then click the folder in which your ISO's files are located.
  11. images 67 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 67 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Image. It's at the bottom of the window. A new window will appear.
  12. images 68 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 68 of How to Create an ISO File
    Enter your file's name. Type the name that you want to use for your ISO file into the "Name" field.
  13. images 69 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 69 of How to Create an ISO File
    Select the desktop as the save location. Click the drop-down box to the right of the "Where" heading, then click Desktop. This will make the file easier to convert later.
  14. images 70 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 70 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click the "Image Format" drop-down box. Doing so prompts a drop-down menu.
  15. images 71 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 71 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click CD/DVD master. It's in the drop-down menu.
  16. images 72 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 72 of How to Create an ISO File
    Click Save. You'll find this at the bottom of the window. Doing so will take all of the files in your specified folder and turn them into a CDR disk image file.
    1. This process may take several minutes to complete.
  17. images 73 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 73 of How to Create an ISO File
    Convert the completed file into an ISO file. While unnecessary if you're going to use this file on your Mac, the created CDR file won't work for a Windows computer. To convert the CDR file into an ISO file:
    1. Open Spotlight
      images 74 of How to Create an ISO File
      Images 74 of How to Create an ISO File
      and type in terminal
    2. Click Terminal
    3. Type in cd ~/Desktop and press ⏎ Return.
    4. Type in hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o [name].iso [name].cdr, making sure to replace both [name] sections with the CDR file's name.
    5. Press ⏎ Return.
  18. images 75 of How to Create an ISO File
    Images 75 of How to Create an ISO File
    Close Terminal. Your ISO file has now been created.
3.5 ★ | 2 Vote
« PREV : How to Clean a Dirty...
How to Format DVD RW... : NEXT »
Read More
Maybe you are interested