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I'm looking for a freely available utility I can run on Windows 7 to create CD/DVD ISO images from actual CDs and DVDs.

Any suggestions?

3
  • By 'create', do you really mean you want to extract an ISO image from an existing CD/DVD? 'create' implies 'author' (from scratch) for some. Aug 16, 2009 at 12:34
  • i meant 'extract' then Aug 18, 2009 at 5:48
  • @ChrisW.Rea Create is the correct word. A CD/DVD does not contain an ISO file. Yes, you can create an ISO from a folder too, and that is essentially the same process--taking a snapshot of the filesystem.
    – jiggunjer
    Dec 31, 2015 at 5:48

7 Answers 7

42

The program you could be looking for is ImgBurn.

From their home page:

ImgBurn is a lightweight CD / DVD / HD DVD / Blu-ray burning application that everyone should have in their toolkit!

It has several 'Modes', each one for performing a different task:

  • Read - Read a disc to an image file
  • Build - Create an image file from files on your computer or network - or you can write the files directly to a disc
  • Write - Write an image file to a disc
  • Verify - Check a disc is 100% readable. Optionally, you can also have ImgBurn compare it against a given image file to ensure the actual data is correct
  • Discovery - Put your drive / media to the test! Used in combination with DVDInfoPro, you can check the quality of the burns your drive is producing

enter image description here

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  • 11
    Beware, the ImgBurn installer currently installs crap like "Search Protect" and "TuneUp utilities" by default, be sure to uncheck them during install...
    – Motsel
    Apr 17, 2014 at 12:49
  • Their website is a disaster. Can't work out how to download the thing. Apr 3, 2015 at 9:09
  • +1 because this is the only mentioned software that can create an ISO from a folder source too. Apart from perhaps dd.
    – jiggunjer
    Dec 31, 2015 at 7:50
  • Google Chrome now blocks www.imgburn.com, someone should report this to them. I could not find their email address on the website.
    – Rosdi
    Jun 1, 2016 at 6:20
  • Beware: the downloaded installer Setup_ImgBurn_2.5.8.0_dlm.exe contains a virus 'PUA/InstallCore (Cloud)'. Detected by Avira. Sep 18, 2017 at 18:23
32

Infrarecorder is fantastic. Does all that and then some, it's free, and works great.

enter image description here

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  • 8
    And its GPL, which is nice.
    – codeulike
    Jul 16, 2011 at 17:28
  • 7
    +1 For an open source tool. That we we can be confident there is no maleware tacked on.
    – jpierson
    Oct 16, 2011 at 22:46
8

CDBurnerXP is also an excellent ISO creator as well as a complete CD/DVD burning application.

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.

enter image description here

7

I just checked out InfraRecorder which worked out great for me but then I also needed to mount the ISO I created on a netbook and ran into WinCDEmu to do so. As it turns out WinCDEmu seems also to have ISO creation capability too so I may begin to ditch trusty daemontools in favor of this simplistic open-source and all inclusive tool.

If you haven't checked WinCDEmu out you should give it a try. Below is a feature list from their web page.

Features:

  • One-click mounting of ISO, CUE, NRG, MDS/MDF, CCD, IMG images.
  • Supports unlimited amount of virtual drives.
  • Runs on 32-bit and 64-bit Windows versions from XP to Windows 7.
  • Allows creating ISO images through a context menu in Explorer.
  • Small installer size - less than 1MB!
  • Does not require rebooting after installation.
  • A special portable version is available.
  • Translated to more than 20 languages.
  • Does not occupy drive letters when not used.
  • Supports data, DVD-video and BD-video images.
  • WinCDEmu is free for any kind of use - it is licensed under LGPL
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  • I just tried the portable version and it worked nicely. Pity the portable version doesn't seem to be able to create ISO images though. Jan 2, 2012 at 2:11
  • And where is the source? Aug 31, 2016 at 19:15
2

I would recommend you LC ISO Creator, as I've also done in these related questions:

How to make an image of a bootable dvd What is the best way to make an ISO file out of a DVD?

It's very small, lightweight, free and portable.

enter image description here

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I think the Unix tools for Windows contains mkisofs

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  • if it doesn't it probably contains dd.
    – user1931
    Aug 16, 2009 at 13:20
  • FYI: gnuwin32.sourceforge.net is better and maintained in recent times.
    – Gareth
    Sep 13, 2011 at 1:52
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ISO Recorder is simple choice that allows you to do this from the Explorer context menu.

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