.ISO File Extension

An ISO file is a common CD or DVD disc image format based on the ISO-9660 standard. It contains an exact duplicate of data from the original disc, which includes the data saved on the disc as well as the filesystem information, such as directory structures, file attributes, and boot code. ISO files are often used for making copies of CDs and DVDs.

ISO files are useful for duplicating or backing up CDs and DVDs because they copy every bit of data exactly from the disc. This is different than copying all files from a disc because the disc header information is lost in the copy process. An ISO file can be used to restore a disc exactly to the original version.

Windows 7 includes a utility called Windows Disc Image Burner that can burn ISO images to CDs and DVDs. The utility is located in the WindowsSystem32 directory and has the filename isoburn.exe.

NOTE: Some ISO files can be loaded by a Sony PSP using the Fast Loader utility.

CAD drawing created by Arbortext IsoDraw, a program used for creating 2D technical illustrations; often used for saving drawings for part catalogs, service manuals, and assembly instructions; can be used for flattening imported 3D drawings into a 2D format for printing and publishing.

Arbortext IsoDraw illustrations may also be saved to the .ISOZ compressed format to reduce the document size for sharing over email.

ROM file that contains a complete copy of data extracted from a PlayStation 2 game; often used for making backup copies of PS2 games; can be opened with a PlayStation 2 (PS2) emulator such as PCSX2.

To open an ISO file with PCSX2, you can simply drag and drop the file to the application without mounting the disk image. You can also select CDVD → Iso Selector → Browse, navigate to your file, and click Open. In order to use PCSX2, you must "dump" the Basic Input Output System (BIOS) files from your PS2 console. It is illegal to use BIOS data from other PS2 consoles.

NOTE: Because of their large file size, PS2 ISO game files may be compressed. Compressed ISO files may have a different file extension, such as .7Z, which indicates the type of compression used to reduce the file size.