This MedLibrary.org supplementary page on ISO image is provided directly from the open source Wikipedia as a service to our readers. Please see the note below on authorship of this content, as well as the Wikipedia usage guidelines. To search for other content from our encyclopedia supplement, please use the form below:
Related Sponsors
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (November 2006) |
| Filename extension | .iso |
|---|---|
| Uniform Type Identifier | public.iso-image |
| Type of format | Disk image |
| Standard(s) | ISO 9660 |
An ISO image is an archive file (a.k.a. disk image) of an optical disc using a conventional ISO (International Organization for Standardization) format that is supported by many software vendors. ISO image files typically have a file extension of .ISO but Mac OS X ISO images often have the extension .CDR. The name "ISO" is taken from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media, but an ISO image can also contain UDF file system because UDF is backward-compatible to ISO 9660.
Contents |
Format
As with any other archive, an ISO image includes all the data of files contained on the archived CD/DVD. They are stored in an uncompressed format. In addition to data of the files it also contains all the filesystem metadata, including boot code, structures, and attributes. ISO image does not support multi-track, thus cannot be used for audio CDs, VCD, and hybrid audio CDs.
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.
ISO image is an unattached file format (like RAR and ZIP): it merges a series of files into one single file according to a definite format. The most important feature of ISO is that it can be burned to DVD/VCD/CD with a special ISO tool, such as ISO burner, ISO Maker and so on.
Typical uses
Some of the common uses include:
- Distribution of software
- Mount "virtual drives" which emulate physical CDs or DVDs, such as Virtual Computers. Better performance is achieved by running an ISO image since hard drive I/O is many times faster than CD/DVD drive I/O.
- To use software titles that are written in such a way that they require a physical disk to be present in order to run. Games are commonly in this category.
See also
Related topics
- Most optical disc authoring software (CD/DVD burning software) can write ISO files to disc.
- See list of ISO image software for a list of software programs that can read and/or write ISO image files.
Related file formats
- BIN/CUE
- BWT, BWI, BWS, BWA
- CCD
- CIF from Adaptec Easy CD Creator
- CDI from DiscJuggler
- CSO (.cso)
- DAA (.daa)
- LCD from CDSpace
- MDF/MDS (.mdf)
- NRG (.nrg)
- DMG (Apple disk image) (.dmg)
- UIF (Universal Image Format) (.uif)
- IMA (.ima)
- IMG (.img)
- .dk (.dk)
- .isc (.ISC) MF Digital's Image Script virtual image file format
- WIM (.wim)
References
|
|||||||||||||||||
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 28 November 2008, at 10:57.
Wikipedia Authorship and Review
Wikipedia content provided here is not reviewed directly by MedLibrary.org. Wikipedia content is authored by an open community of volunteers and is not produced by or in any way affiliated with MedLibrary.org.
Wikipedia Usage Guidelines
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article on "ISO image".
The URL for this specific entry is:
All Wikipedia text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details). Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.