What Is a Disk Image? ISO, IMG, DMG, and Others Explained
The disk image is a convenient way to duplicate any physical storage volume. Disk images come in several formats that use specific file extensions such as ISO, IMG, and DMG. You can create and mount some of them without downloading extra apps.
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What Is a Disk Image? How Do You Use It?
A disk image encodes the contents and physical structure of a CD, DVD, Blu-ray, HDD, SSD, USB drive, etc. Retaining both the data and the underlying file system makes disk images the perfect choice for online software distribution.
Double-click the downloaded ISO file on macOS, Windows, or Linux to mount the volume.
DMGs work in macOS out of the box, but third-party software may be required for other disk image file types. Generally, you can create ISO files from CDs/DVDs without paid apps like DAEMON Tools or one of the manyfree alternatives to DAEMON Tools.
The Most Common Types of Disk Images
How to Create Disk Images From Legacy Media
To create an ISO file from a CD/DVD:
You canclone and restore Linux disk images with the dd command. On macOS, you cancreate Windows-compatible ISO disk images with Disk Utility.
To burn a disk image back onto physical media on macOS, insert a blank disk into the drive and drag files and folders to it using the Finder, then chooseFile > Burn [disc]. On Windows, right-click an ISO file in File Explorer and clickBurn disc image.
Add Disk Images to Your Backup Routine
ISO, IMG, and DMG files are indispensable for backups, sharing, and preserving copies of your favorite music CDs and DVD/Blu-ray movies on a hard drive, SSD, or cloud.
As such, disk imaging is a great technique to preserve legacy media that deteriorates over time without losing detailed insights into the file system metadata.
Need to back up and restore Windows without backup tools? Learn how to make an ISO image of your Windows PC.
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