Zip, folder into .iso for use in Virtual PC.

[Jiggy]

How to do change a zip, folder into an .iso so I can use it in Virtual PC instead of burning it to cd ?

Ive tried adding .iso to the end of the folder, zip and the Virtual PC "capture iso" window doesnt see them.

[mjc]

Iso isn't really so much of a file type as it is an image of a file system.

Just tacking the extension on to a file doesn't make it one. Just like tacking jpg on to a text file doesn't turn it into a picture. You need to do something to the file to (zip in thise case) to make it an iso.

Since an iso is an image file, you can use WinImage or something similar to inject your zip file into a blank image, but I usually find it easier to do a two step process. The first is to burn it onto a CD-RW and then use my burning software to save the disk as an iso...

[123456]

Get UltraISO. That's amazing software. UltraISO (http://www.ezbsystems.com/ultraiso/)
Buy it for $30, (limit is 300mb per ISO for the demo), if you need it. Open the .zip and extract it to a temporary directory on your desktop. Run UltraISO, add all the files in your temp directory you created to Ultraiso, (drag and drop), and save it with UltraISO as an ISO, anywhere on your hard drive.
Example:

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/9050/bnbvvy1.png

[mjc]

My method is still free...:p.

But, yeah, that is another way to go...

So there are three ways of doing it.

[Jiggy]

Thanks lads,

Sorted it, ive just unticked a setting in the program im using and now it saves the iso its just made to HD.

[forkart]

How to do change a zip, folder into an .iso so I can use it in Virtual PC instead of burning it to cd ?

Ive tried adding .iso to the end of the folder, zip and the Virtual PC "capture iso" window doesnt see them.


Just use winzip extract zip image to temporary folder on your hard disk. After that, just run MagicISO, click menu "new"->"cd/dvd image" and add all files and folder from the temporary folder to magiciso. Click "save as" to save to iso image. now you can use this iso image with virtual pc.
http://www.magiciso.com/

[Paul Komski]

Most of the compressed file archivers can open isos but I cant find one that also packs them (which would make zip to iso a snitch).

As it is Folder2Iso (http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_tools/folder2iso.cfm) is a made for the job and very easy to use free utility that is a GUI of mkisofs (itself so often the underlying engine of iso-generating software) that will convert the contents of a selected folder into an iso.

Only limitation is that it doesnt make bootable isos if these were needed for the virtual machine. For that you can use Nero (just ensure that you choose image recorder as the burner and not your actual optical device) which then makes its own .nrg CDimage files - which most VMs can use directly.

PS
If you want freeware that will generate bootable isos then mkisofs can be used from a command line as long as you also have an image file of a bootable floppy for it to use in its "floppy emulation" part of the creation; (not a project for a non-geek but very satisfying none-the-less). The version included in cdrtools-latest.zip from http://smithii.com/node/9 is the best to use under Windows because it needs no other dependencies.

I have used it in my own package zmakeiso.zip (http://www.iol.ie/~krakowangus/sbm/zmakeiso.zip) which anyone is welcome to try. If you want a bootable iso you must first have a bootable floppy image file (http://www.iol.ie/~krakowangus/flopimgs.htm) specifically renamed to floppy.img (must be in lower case). Unzip my (128k/free) download and place the renamed floppy.img file into the folder named zfiles. Double-click the go.bat file and mybootcd.iso should be created in the same folder that holds go.bat. Any other files/folders needed on the iso can be added (dont exceed 600MB) to the same zfiles folder.