You Won’t Believe How Easy It Is To Mount And Unmount An Iso File In Windows!
If you have ever downloaded an ISO file, you might have wondered how to access the contents within the file. Mounting an ISO image file can be a tricky task for those who have never done it before. But it is actually a very simple process in Windows, and in this article, we will show you how.
An ISO file is an image file that contains all the files and folders that an optical disc would contain. It is a common format used for software distribution, game installation, and even operating systems. For instance, if you download the latest version of Windows or Linux, you will most likely find it delivered in ISO format.
Once you’ve downloaded the ISO file, you can extract the contents inside it using third-party software like 7-zip or WinRAR. However, if you want to use the file without extracting it, you can also mount it as a virtual drive.
How to mount an ISO File in Windows
To mount an ISO file, follow these simple steps:
Locate the ISO file you want to mount.
Right-click on the file and select “Mount” from the context menu.
After that, the ISO file will be mounted as a virtual drive and appear under This PC in File Explorer.
That’s it! You have successfully mounted the ISO file as a virtual drive. Now you can use the file and access all the files inside it as if it were an actual disc.
How to unmount an ISO file in Windows
Unmounting an ISO file is even easier than mounting it. To unmount the ISO file, follow these simple steps:
In File Explorer, right-click on the virtual drive where the ISO file is mounted.
Select “Eject” from the context menu.
That’s it! The virtual drive will be removed from the system, and the ISO file will be unmounted.
Conclusion
Mounting and unmounting an ISO file is a simple and important task that you might need to perform frequently. Whether you want to install a game, software, or an operating system, you can easily access the contents of an ISO file by mounting it to a virtual drive. With the steps mentioned above, you can successfully mount and unmount an ISO file in just a few clicks.
ISOs aren’t talked about as much today as they were five or ten years ago, but they continue to have their uses. An ISO is a disc image file, storing all the data you’d find on a CD, DVD or (more often these days) USB stick, and behaving just like it would on disc – with autoplay features and all.
Mounting is the process of creating a virtual CD/DVD drive on your computer so that it can run ISO files just like a disk drive would. Unmounting, meanwhile, is like hitting the “Eject” button on your disk drive.
In this article we’ll show you how to do both of these things by simply using the tools contained within Windows.
How to Mount an ISO File
We’re assuming that you’ve already created the ISO file you want to mount, or that you at least have the ISO file in question on your computer and ready for use. (If not, check out our list of the best ISO mounting software to get the tools for creating your own ISOs.)
So you have your ISO file – DVD, software disc image, game, whatever – and you want to run it. While in the past you’d need dedicated software for this, now all you need to do is the following.
Right-click the ISO file and click “Mount.”
When you do this, the contents of that ISO should immediately open and appear in Windows Explorer like they would in any old folder. In the meantime the pane on the left of Windows Explorer under the “This PC” dropdown should show a DVD/CD drive icon with the ISO name next to it.
This means your file has now mounted.
If, for example, the ISO has an “autoplay” function, then you can right-click the DVD drive icon and “Autoplay” should appear. Likewise, if the image is a direct DVD/movie image, then you can right-click it, and you’ll get the option to play it with your DVD software of choice. You’re not restricted to just browsing the ISO’s files.
How to Unmount an ISO File
For every mount there needs to be an unmount … or something to that effect. As we mentioned earlier, unmounting is basically the same thing as ejecting your disc from the drive with the added difference that the entire drive disappears from your PC when you eject. Doing this is simple.
Right-click the DVD drive icon and click “Eject.”
That’s it. Your mounted ISO file will now disappear along with the virtual DVD drive.
Conclusion
The beauty of this process is that you can mount in excess of 10 ISO files at the same time on your Windows PC, although your “This PC” section will inevitably get cluttered as a result. In the interest of keeping things neat, don’t get too carried away. If, however, you don’t mind things getting messy, then mount away!
This article was first published in May 2009 and was updated in Nov 2017.
Content Manager at Make Tech Easier. Enjoys Android, Windows, and tinkering with retro console emulation to breaking point.
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