An ISO file, also called a disc image file, contains all the files, folders and the structure of a CD or DVD. ISO file is just a container like a ZIP file but it is not compressed. The most common use of an ISO file is to burn CDs and DVDs with all the data included in the ISO file at once.
Windows 8 comes with a handy Windows Disc Image Burner. Windows Disc Image Burner is a command line tool which can create ISO files from CDs and DVDs. And it can also convert CD and DVD data into an ISO file.
There are two modes of Windows Disc Image Burner, visual mode and command line mode. You can use both at the same time.
To use the program visually, you just have to insert the CD/DVD in the CD/DVD drive. Then you can open the drive like the hard disk drives, use copy and paste to add or remove files from the drive. When you are done, you can right click the drive and burn the CD/DVD with the content which you have already added.
If you want to create an ISO file from the CD or DVD disc, you will need to use the command line version of the tool. Follow the steps below in order to create an ISO file from the inserted CD/DVD.
- Go to Run (WinKey + R) –> isoburn
- This will show you a dialog with the correct syntax of the Windows Disc Image Burner.
- Now that we know the syntax, let’s start by assuming the following:
Our CD/DVD drive letter is H:
We want to save the ISO file to D:\ISOFiles - Issuing the following command in the Run dialog will start creating the ISO file from the CD/DVD drive data.
ISOBURN /Q D:\ISOFiles\isofile.iso
- A new window will open where you can select the Disc burner and click on the Burn button in order to start creating the ISO file.
Although I use a third party ISO management tool, Windows Disc Image Burner comes in handy for quickly creating backups of the CDs and DVDs without installing any third party app.
Which burning utility do you use in your Windows machine?
