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An ISO image is an archive file of an optical disc, which contains all of the contents of the optical disc it represents. ISO files are useful because you can archive a bootable disc (see examples below) and distribute it to users to burn and use locally.

Examples of useful ISOs:

Burn an ISO in Windows 7 or Newer

To burn an ISO to a disc:

1. Open Windows Explorer (Winkey+E) and browse to the folder with your ISO file

2. Click the file and click Open > Windows Disc Image Burner:

3. Optionally check Verify disc after burning and Click Burn:

Burn an ISO in Windows Vista or XP

To burn an ISO to a disc in Windows Vista or XP:

1. Download ImgBurn

2. Install ImgBurn (Full installation)

3. Open ImgBurn and click Write image file to disc

4. Click the Browse for file icon

5. Locate the ISO file and click Open

6. Select the destination drive and click the Write icon:

Note: I recommend verifying the disc with ImgBurn by checking Verify

7. ImgBurn will now create your disc

Optionally, verify your DVD works before booting from it by going to Computer, double clicking on your optical drive’s icon, and ensuring files are available on the disc

Last Updated: June 19th, 2012

2012/06/19 — Updated ImgBurn screenshots and added native ISO burning details



About Rich

Rich is the owner and creator of Windows Guides; he spends his time breaking things on his PC so he can write how-to guides to fix them.

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Comments

408 thoughts on “Burn an ISO to a CD or DVD [How To] [Updated]”

  1. Shaikh says:

    Hi, I too am very frustrated with burning iso to dvd. I tried various different software (img burger, iso buster, nero, active iso, brasero) but no luck so far. I even tried several diffrent PC and can’t seem to get iso to burn. I keep getting error that media is not ready and so unable to burn iso. I was wondering if you can mail be a copy?

  2. Shaikh says:

    Hi, I too am very frustrated with burning iso to dvd. I tried various different software (img burger, iso buster, nero, active iso, brasero) but no luck so far. I even tried several diffrent PC and can’t seem to get iso to burn. I keep getting error that media is not ready and so unable to burn iso. I was wondering if you can mail be a copy?

  3. Dalan92 says:

    OMG thank you for this i have used a 100 different programs and this was the only one that worked thanks again

  4. Dalan92 says:

    OMG thank you for this i have used a 100 different programs and this was the only one that worked thanks again

  5. Dalan92 says:

    OMG thank you for this i have used a 100 different programs and this was the only one that worked thanks again

  6. Heru Sutanto says:

    Please I need DVD windows 7, my windows 7 cannot bootable its say error cannot boot from DVD error code 5 what the means i live in indonesian, send me your DVD my e-mail :

  7. Heru Sutanto says:

    Please I need DVD windows 7, my windows 7 cannot bootable its say error cannot boot from DVD error code 5 what the means i live in indonesian, send me your DVD my e-mail :

  8. Heru Sutanto says:

    Please I need DVD windows 7, my windows 7 cannot bootable its say error cannot boot from DVD error code 5 what the means i live in indonesian, send me your DVD my e-mail :

  9. Rich says:

    If you are having problems. Please contact me and I will send you a copy of the Windows 7 RC DVD (32 or 64 bit.)

    I am unable to contact everyone who asks for the DVD, but will happily respond to your contact via email.

  10. Ryan Lofkin says:

    Img burn is very good but ive always used magic iso

  11. Ryan Lofkin says:

    Img burn is very good but ive always used magic iso

  12. Ryan Lofkin says:

    Img burn is very good but ive always used magic iso

  13. Steverino says:

    i burnt it with ultra iso and it booted fine but got to the expanding files part and sat there for 3 or 4 minutes at 0% then said some files are missing or corrupt. will that program fix this or do i have a bad iso?

  14. Steverino says:

    i burnt it with ultra iso and it booted fine but got to the expanding files part and sat there for 3 or 4 minutes at 0% then said some files are missing or corrupt. will that program fix this or do i have a bad iso?

  15. Steverino says:

    i burnt it with ultra iso and it booted fine but got to the expanding files part and sat there for 3 or 4 minutes at 0% then said some files are missing or corrupt. will that program fix this or do i have a bad iso?

  16. Rich says:

    Could be either; I’d use the IMG Burn and burn it at 2x. If the disc fails again, you need to re-acquire the ISO.

  17. Rich says:

    Could be either; I’d use the IMG Burn and burn it at 2x. If the disc fails again, you need to re-acquire the ISO.

  18. Rich says:

    Could be either; I’d use the IMG Burn and burn it at 2x. If the disc fails again, you need to re-acquire the ISO.

  19. Steverino says:

    it worked yay!!!

  20. Steverino says:

    it worked yay!!!

  21. Steverino says:

    it worked yay!!!

  22. Dratas says:

    Thank you it usefull gid :)

  23. Dratas says:

    Thank you it usefull gid :)

  24. Dratas says:

    Thank you it usefull gid :)

  25. Matthew Jordan Rose says:

    i was able to burn to the disk and load to the main screen as shown below, but when i click install windows it gives me an error message reading “windows installation encountered an unexpected error. verify that they installation sources are accessible, and restart the installation.” please help :(

  26. Matthew Jordan Rose says:

    i was able to burn to the disk and load to the main screen as shown below, but when i click install windows it gives me an error message reading “windows installation encountered an unexpected error. verify that they installation sources are accessible, and restart the installation.” please help :(

  27. Matthew Jordan Rose says:

    i was able to burn to the disk and load to the main screen as shown below, but when i click install windows it gives me an error message reading “windows installation encountered an unexpected error. verify that they installation sources are accessible, and restart the installation.” please help :(

  28. RSVR85 says:

    That media might be bad. Try re-burning the DVD at the slowest speed possible or use a USB stick to install ;)

  29. RSVR85 says:

    That media might be bad. Try re-burning the DVD at the slowest speed possible or use a USB stick to install ;)

  30. RSVR85 says:

    That media might be bad. Try re-burning the DVD at the slowest speed possible or use a USB stick to install ;)

  31. Frank Cook says:

    worked great – I downloaded the $30 student version and chose to ignore the authentication code the first time and later activated thru computer-properties-link at the bottom of the page — did a custom install from vista 32 to 64 windows 7 – burned the disc at 4x

  32. Frank Cook says:

    worked great – I downloaded the $30 student version and chose to ignore the authentication code the first time and later activated thru computer-properties-link at the bottom of the page — did a custom install from vista 32 to 64 windows 7 – burned the disc at 4x

  33. Frank Cook says:

    worked great – I downloaded the $30 student version and chose to ignore the authentication code the first time and later activated thru computer-properties-link at the bottom of the page — did a custom install from vista 32 to 64 windows 7 – burned the disc at 4x

  34. George Keliny says:

    hey… do u think u could email me the contents of that dvd to

  35. Rich says:

    The file size is far too large.

  36. George Keliny says:

    hey… do u think u could email me the contents of that dvd to

  37. George Keliny says:

    hey… do u think u could email me the contents of that dvd to

  38. Rich says:

    The file size is far too large.

  39. Rich says:

    The file size is far too large.

  40. SHUBHANKAR says:

    i have the ultimate version
    en_windows_7_ultimate_x86_dvd_x15-65921.iso

    i bought this one for INR 15,800(about US$320).

  41. SHUBHANKAR says:

    http://technet.microsoft.com/hi-in/evalcenter/c…

  42. Ezzal Admin says:

    Thanks.it really helped me..im upgrading from windows vista to win 7

  43. pUtOmOkOH says:

    THANK YOU SO SO MUCH SIR FOR THIS HELP IT REALLY WORKS FOR ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!

  44. Texasnoobie says:

    ImgBurn creates two files, one of them the .ISO you refer to, the other a *.MDS file. You sure this works without that second file?

  45. Rich says:

    Yes, you only need the ISO. An MDS file, or Media Descriptor file, is an optional file that contains metadata about the disc. This file is not needed when burning an ISO to a disc.

  46. Liudas Gedgaudas says:

    Do i need to delete old windows before installin g new ones ?

  47. Rich says:

    Yes, it is recommended to only use one operating system at a time unless you want to dual/tri etc. boot.

  48. Tigers7493 says:

    My problem is that I can not get the Windows 64bit ISO to burn correctly onto dvd so I can do custom installation. Right now i have windows xp32bit and my system support 64bit. I have to use the 64bit for my school and work and I already know have to do custom installation. The problem is that the setup.exe tells me it is an invalid winds32 application. I can't install windows 7 64bit even at bootup due to I have no icon or image to install it.

  49. Rich says:

    You cannot install (upgrade) Windows 7 64 bit while running 32-bit Windows. You need to boot from the disk i.e. when your computer first turns on–not after Windows is loaded.

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