.ISO File

File extension iso is mainly used for binary images of CD, DVD discs. The generic file format for most optical media, including CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, Blu-ray Disc, HD DVD and UMD.

ISO 9660, a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), defines a file system for CD-ROM media. It aims at supporting different computer operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, and systems that follow the Unix specification, so that data may be exchanged.

DVDs may also use the ISO 9660 file system. However, the UDF file system is also commonly used on DVDs.

What is ISO image archive file?

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 is an unattached file format (like RAR and ZIP): it merges a series of files into one single file according to a definite format. ISO image files typically have a file extension of .ISO but Mac OS X (macOS) ISO images often have the extension .CDR.

The name "ISO" is taken from the ISO 9660 file system used with CD-ROM media. ISO 9660 is a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), defines a file system for CD-ROM media. It aims at supporting different computer operating systems such as Windows, classic Mac OS, and Unix-like systems, so that data may be exchanged.

Mime type used for iso image files:
application/x-iso-image

Files with iso extension are generally used for common CD/DVD disk image format. ISOs are used as a standard backup format of physical disks and are widely supported by burning or virtualization software.

How to open:

ISO binary image file is disk image file format, that is widely supported by many applications, which are used to manage disk/CD/DVD image files, such as ISOBuster, Free ISO Burner, NERO, MagicISO, PowerISO, Alcohol 120% and etc.Some compression utilities can open ISO binary image, such as WinRAR or ZipZag.Microsoft Windows 7 and above supports ISO disk image format and can burn ISO disk image file to CD/DVD medium.

How to convert:

Applications, that can open ISO binary image file, have a support of another disk image formats, such as NRG, DAA, BIN, BWI, ISZ, MDF etc... and can convert ISO binary image file in to them. Some compression utilities can open ISO image file. You can extract the contents of ISO image file.