How to create an ISO image of Windows 7 using various programs

ISO - the standard, designed to bring to a single standard the structure of CDs. ISO-image in general terms has now become a virtual version of the real media with the operating system on board. The OS on it can be in a state ready for installation, or run directly from it, the so-called Live version.

One of the popular operating systems is Windows 7. Therefore, for installation very often use the way to create its image for later installation. It can then be written to a CD or USB flash drive. About how to create an ISO image of Windows 7, and will be discussed in this article.

Why use the ISO image of the operating system

The first images appeared in the era of global development of compact discs. And many wanted to have a copy of any game or operating system, in order to be able to use it in the future. For this purpose, special grabbers and programs that completely copied the structure and data of the CD were used. These data could be written to another CD-carrier or deployed on a flash drive, making it thus bootable.

The image can also be used as an installation disk for the virtual machine, in which the operating system will be tested.

How to create an ISO image of Windows 7 from Windows itself

In order to create an image, you need some source, such as a folder with Windows files or a real CD. The original ISO image of Windows 7 can be downloaded from the official Microsoft website. True, you will need an activation key, which will help to use it in a legitimate way. But on the web you can find a lot of different assemblies, which are downloaded completely free.

So, there are two types of sources - a real CD and a folder with files on your computer's hard drive. It is worthwhile to list several options with which you can create an image.

UltraISO - the most popular program for working with images

The program is shareware, i.e. in Free-version all functionality will be unavailable.

The main window of the UltraISO program is divided into several small zones. The top left window shows the structure of the current image. In the right window is its contents. The lower left reflects the structure of the contents of the computer on which the program is running. And on the right is what's inside the selected folder on the left.

By default, the image is created with a date in the name. It is necessary to fix it and rename it as it will be more convenient, because this record will be displayed when it is downloaded.

To add files to the project, you need to select the folder or media in the lower left window, and in the right - which files are of interest. You can simply drag them into the upper window.

When the desired set of files is typed, you need to go to the file and select "Save As". A dialog box opens, prompting you to specify the file name, its future location and format. In the list of available file types, an ISO file is selected. Clicking the "Save" button will show a progress window, after which the ISO image file of Windows 7 will be ready.

We turn to other options.

How to create an ISO image of Windows 7 in Linux

This operation in the OS Linux family is slightly different from this procedure in Windows. In Windows, it was necessary to install the program and create an ISO image, in Linux everything is ready-made from the box. Just insert the existing media into the CD-ROM drive and enter several lines in the terminal:

Dd if = / dev / cdrom of = ~ / image_name.iso

This command will read the data from the disk inserted into the reader and create its full copy on the hard disk with the specified name.

List of programs with the function of creating images

The following is a list of common software tools with which you can create and manage images:

• Ashampoo Burning Studio Free. Free program with a good set of settings and functions. Pleasant and simple interface. Can both create images and write them to disk

• CDBurnerXP is a compact application that comes with built-in advertising. But if you look a little on the developer's site, you can find the Portable version. It is able to record, erase, create copies of disks.

• ImgBurn - is distributed free of charge and has quite a powerful functionality. Writes, erases and creates images.

• PowerISO - a powerful combine, able to cope with almost any task associated with images and disks. The only drawback is that you have to pay for the full version, and free has limited capabilities.

• IsoDisk is a small utility that can quickly create a disk image from a medium in a CD drive. It weighs a little, is delivered free of charge and performs only its task, without overloading the user with various settings and settings.

Conclusion

In this article, we briefly looked at a couple of ways how to create an ISO image of Windows 7. This can come in handy for those who do this for the first time or have forgotten a few simple steps.

Operations are more complicated, for example, creating a bootable USB flash drive, are described in a much larger volume and go beyond the scope of this article. In addition, you need to have at least basic computer skills. It's worth noting that manually creating a boot image allows you to run several systems for installation, or even from a disk in the Live version.