How to Use ISO Files in Windows XP

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40 Responses

  1. Jen says:

    Thanks! Been meaning to learn about iso files for a couple of years..

    finally an article that works—with clear and concise instructions

    Thank you again

  2. emilie says:

    thanks for this step-by-step ~ very helpful!

  3. Mac Guy says:

    Thanks for your help – very clear and useful!!

  4. Smoky Akash says:

    Thanks for the useful piece of information.. Helped a lot..

  5. TERRY says:

    if they so much trouble why have or use them at all trust some geek to come up with a way of complicating life , and trust Microsoft for not having a solution to it ,

  6. Kyle says:

    @Dev – You can try using MagicDisc or Deamon Tools, but it is possible the .iso file is corrupt. If it is a downloaded .ios file, try downloading it again.

  7. Dev says:

    when i mount the ISO file it says mount failed….wat to do???

  8. Kyle says:

    @pandu – If a program uses multiple installed CDs, you will need to mount both of them at the same time, or change the mount from the 1st to the 2nd when the installer asks for it.
    So when the 2nd CD is requested, try and repeat the steps, and select the 2nd .iso file (with the installer still open!).

  9. pandu says:

    @kyle:——-followed ur above method of creating a virtual drive to access an .iso file.but,as it is a huge content of two cd icons.when directly installing through virtual drive , half part of it is successful. afterwards its asking second cd or path which is not accepted even after giving it correct.can u plz plz help me

  10. Kyle says:

    @Jay G. – You could use a virtual CD/DVD program like MagicISO or Deamon Tools.

    @jamie.b – 7-zip is indeed a decompression program. You need to extract the full .iso content in order to run things (if you start something from within 7-zip it will first extract the file as well).

  11. jamie.b says:

    i also found that when i try use 7 zip it just opens what ive downloaded, i can’t get it to run anything

  12. Jay G. says:

    Kyle, I am having the same issue that Kevin was/is having, and this was after multiple re-downloads – might you have any other solutions?

  13. Kyle says:

    @jon-luc – No, Win Rar does not support .iso files. You can use 7-Zip though.

  14. jon-luc says:

    hey ya can you use win rar for isos ?

  15. Kyle says:

    @matt – You should select the image format, an .iso file is an image of a DVD or CD.

  16. matt says:

    i have windows in iso file how to make it run in dvd . when i select nero . wich one i should select . image ? data ? or some thing els
    helpe please

  17. Kyle says:

    @tom – With the Virtual CD-Rom control panel you can just delete the drives that are linked to an ISO file. If you mean partitions on disk, you need to use the Windows Disk Management console (right-click My Computer and select Manage, then select the Disk Management module).
    Be sure to move or backup your data before you change or re-partition your hard disk!

  18. tom says:

    Accidentally created too many drives, how do i easily get rid of them to unclutter my my computer file?

  19. Kyle says:

    @Kevin – Try downloading the EXE file again, it seems to me that you might have a corrupt download. Once extracted, you should be able to copy the mentioned files to the Windows\System32\Drivers folder, and select it from there in the program.

  20. Kevin says:

    i tried to use it but every time i selected the file it would only show up inside the folder i copied it from. when i ope the sys file, it reads “handle is invalid.” what’s going on?

  21. @Kyle, I’ve been using 7-Zip, a freeware solution for Windows (both 32 & 64-bit flavors), w/o issues for a coupla years.

  22. Kyle says:

    @Sam – Indeed, that would be great. The current Explorer allows you to browse ZIP compressed files, but not ISO files. WinRAR does support ISO files, but that again is a (commercial) third party product.

    One more free option is MagicDisc.

    I know Windows 7 has the ability to burn ISO files directly, but I do not think you can open them in the Explorer (yet).

  23. Thankx so much! I hope windows develops some type of ISO reader so you dont have to burn it onto a DVD or CD! Thanx 4 da info!

  24. Tien says:

    Thanks very much for the article.

  25. Joe says:

    The Virtual CD Control Panel only supports 32 bit Windows XP. For Windows Vista, Windows 2008, and Windows XP/2003 64 bit, the freeware Pismo File Mount Audit Package can be used to mount ISO, ZIP, and PFO files.

    http://www.pismotechnic.com/pfm/ap/

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