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I have downloaded ISO files recently.

How do I burn it to a CD or DVD or mount it?

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migrated from meta.askubuntu.com Sep 22 '11 at 10:33


marked as duplicate by Braiam, guntbert, Luis Alvarado Feb 7 at 20:19


An *.iso file is generally a Disk Image that you would burn to a CD or DVD using CD Recording software such as Brasero or K3b. From where did you download the files, and what are you trying to install? –  Jayson Rowe Sep 22 '11 at 10:36
@aking1012 that question is specific to burning an ISO using Ubuntu, and this question is asking about buring the Ubuntu ISO using Windows. Despite the fact that Windows is being used, I disagree with those voting to close this as off-topic -- this is a critical first step in installing Ubuntu. –  michaelms Apr 27 '12 at 11:52
@michaelms I added a very specific to windows answer here and voted to close as dupe, so we only have one how to burn an ISO question. It helps keep the site clean. –  hbdgaf Apr 27 '12 at 12:11
fair point, i just didn't think another paragraph that was identical to the windows 7 paragraph was warranted –  hbdgaf Aug 7 '12 at 19:22
This questions doesn't have enough elements to determine if it's on Windows, Ubuntu or Mac. Thus the answers will widely vary depending on the situation, and should be closed as unclear. –  Braiam Feb 6 at 13:20

14 Answers 14

how-to using ubuntu

Brasero (Included by default)


K3B (Available in the software center)


If you use GNOME see this to make it look native

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how-to using windows

It was brought to my attention that this was answered quite well here.
I top-posted the edit since I think it's a better answer.
I leave the original because it is my personal answer/preference.

First, if you're a Windows user trying out Ubuntu for the first time - Welcome

Windows 8
Windows 8 natively supports burning ISOs at this time.

Windows 7
Windows 7 natively supports burning ISOs. There's a copyright notice logo at the bottom, so I can't repost all the prettiness on the link.

It is available in the right-click menu, regardless of whether you have Nero or some other third party ISO burning software installed. Just right click the ISO and select burn disc image. It will take a little longer, but it is a good idea to check the verify disc after burning option.

Previous to Windows 7
Before Windows 7 you needed third party software to burn ISO images. Many of these were available in trial form for a limited time or with certain limitations. I personally prefer MagicISO for some of the advanced options.

To burn an image in MagicISO:
Click the icon burn

Choose you disc drive
Click the icon enter image description here and browse to your ISO
For stability purposes, select a low writing speed, or you may wind up with a shiny coaster.
Click "Burn it!"

ImgBurn is also available for free, as Naveen noted.

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how-to using ubuntu

Or you could mount the iso file directly in ubuntu.

sudo mkdir /media/iso
sudo mount -o loop myIsoFile.iso /media/iso

Unmount with:

sudo umount /media/iso/
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I believe that right-clicking on an .iso file will give you the option to burn the disc image:

enter image description here

It is called Windows Disc Image Burner, and it's a default feature available in Windows 7 and the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

If not just install a .iso burning tool in Windows 8. I believe Isoburn does work on Windows 8.

WinIso is also suppost to work in Windows 8

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You answered my question! –  George Aug 7 '12 at 0:33
If the answer is correct don't forget to upvote and accept it. –  LnxSlck Aug 7 '12 at 0:34

Just use the pendrive installer, no need to extract the image.

Why does the Ubuntu image seem to be a WinRAR file? WinRAR has an option to show the contents of an ISO file. When you install WinRAR it associates itself with ISO files as well, so can easily open them. To create the bootable USB drive you don't have to open the image though and therefore don't need WinRAR at all.

Just for your satisfaction. Click on Computer -> Organise -> Folder and layout options -> Uncheck 'Hide extensions for known file types.

Now, you'll see '.iso' written after the file name and be able to verify that the file you downloaded is actually an ISO.

Good luck!

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how-to using windows

Here's a complete guide on how to burn a CD/DVD on Windows How to burn a CD on Windows
You can use Nero to burn but keep the burning speed to 8x or below.

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can i burn the image with this option : " burn image with nero " ?? –  harikrishnan Apr 27 '12 at 11:39
i prefer you open up nero and manually select burn and select burn options as 8x speed and verify after burning or follow the link provided that should also be fine –  Ashu Apr 27 '12 at 11:47

how-to using windows

When you right click on the image file, you should see a menu call 'Windows image burn'. Just click it. You can also easily use ImgBurn software.

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but it is also possible to burn it with nero right ? –  harikrishnan Apr 27 '12 at 11:50

how-to using ubuntu

Like others have said it contains an image which is a disk image of a dvd or cd. Instead of burning it you can also mount it, this saves a cd and is a lot faster:

Move to the directory using the file browser (nautilus), right click the file and choose open with archive mounter. You will now have an extra drive under 'Places' from which you can proceed to open the files like you would on a cd/dvd.

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how-to using ubuntu

An .iso file is a disk image, which represents the layout of files and (possibly) other data on a disk, such as a CD, DVD, USB flash drive, or hard disk.

The way you would install software contained in a .iso file depends on the software, and usually there are official instructions. If you are trying to install Ubuntu itself, please see the instructions in Step 2 at http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download.

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how-to using ubuntu

acetoneiso Install acetoneiso

makes it possible to easily use various kinds of CD and DVD images on your computer as if they were burned to real CDs. You can use the application to mount and manage CD and DVD images. Supported disc-image formats are ISO, BIN, NRG, MDF and IMG. These are AcetoneISO's Features:

  • Mount automatically ISO, MDF, NRG, BIN, NRG without the need to insert admin password! Only single-track images are supported for the moment.
  • burn ISO/TOC/CUE to CD-R/RW optical discs
  • burn ISO images to DVD-+R/RW (including DL)
  • a native utility to blank your CD-RW, DVD-RW and DVD-RW discs
  • A nice display which shows current images mounted and possibility to click on it to quickly reopen mounted image
  • Convert 2 ISO all image types: *.bin *.mdf *.nrg *.img *.daa *.dmg *.cdi *.b5i *.bwi *.pdi and much more
  • Extract images content to a folder: *.bin *.mdf *.nrg *.img *.daa *.dmg *.cdi *.b5i *.bwi *.pdi and much more
  • Play a DVD Movie Image with Kaffeine / VLC / SMplayer with auto-cover download from Amazon
  • Generate an ISO from a Folder or CD/DVD
  • Check MD5 file of an image and/or generate it to a text file
  • Calculate ShaSums of images in 128, 256 and 384 bit
  • Encrypt / Decrypt an image
  • Split / Merge image in X megabyte
  • Compress with High Ratio an image in 7z format
  • Rip a PSX cd to *.bin to make it work with epsxe/psx emulators
  • Restore a lost CUE file of *.bin *.img
  • Convert Mac OS *.dmg to a mountable image
  • Mount an image in a specified folder from the user
  • Create a database of images to manage big collections
  • Extract the Boot Image file of a CD/DVD or ISO
  • Backup a CD-Audio to a *.bin image (can also be burnt once made)
  • Complete localization for English, Italian, French, Spanish, Polish and much more!
  • Quick and simple utility to Rip a DVD to Xvid AVI
  • Quick and simple utility to convert a generic video (avi, mpeg, mov, wmv, asf) to Xvid AVI
  • Quick and simple utility to convert a FLV video to AVI
  • Utility to download videos from Youtube and Metacafe!
  • Extract Audio from a video file
  • Extract a *.rar archive that has a password
  • Quick and simple utility to convert any video for Sony PSP Playstation Portable
  • Display History that shows all images you mount in time

Project Page

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Unetbootin is the easiest way to make an Ubuntu or Linux in general, boot USB. You can get Unetbootin here: http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/ Just follow the on screen instructions, select 'ISO' when asked and direct Unetbootin to the ISO file on your hard drive. When using the USB, don't forget to set your BIOS to boot from USB first, then your good to go. Hope this helps.

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First make sure you are downloading the original ISO file, from Ubuntu's official site.

Ubuntu 12.04 Desktop i386 ISO.

After downloading the image, format you USB pen drive, right-clicking the Drive on My Computer and selecting format. Or using any other software to accomplish this. (FAT32 is the necessary filesystem).

Then download Unetbootin, open it and select the USB drive you want to put the downloaded Ubuntu ISO in.

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IF it has .isoand you see that in properties it says is a Disc Image then it's a Disc image, WinRAR takes over file extensions when you install it, actually it asks you choose what extensions is WinRAR associated with, ISO is one of them.

So do as the other people say just burn to CD or use Unetbootin.

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In Ubuntu, just right-click

Strange that nobody has mentioned it yet, but in a recent distribution, you may be able to just right-click the .iso file and see the option "Write to disc", as described in the BurningIsoHowto.

As for mounting it directly, the answer is already on this page

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