TechTips for Opening an ISO File Using 7-zip

One of the most popular file formats now is the ISO file format, but a lot of people don't know how to open an ISO file or don't have the software or knowhow to burn one to a CD/DVD. Well, don't worry there is an easy way to open your ISO files without having to burn them to CD/DVD. You could just use a free software program like Virtual CloneDrive or you can use another free program (7-zip) that is just as easy to use.

First you will want to download 7-zip from the link I just provided. Just find the version for your type of Windows (64-bit or 32-bit), if you aren't sure your version just right click on My Computer and choose Properties. Under the system property in the middle of the page you will see System Type - (your version, mine is 64-bit).

Download the installer package; it will be via SourceForge (a trusted open source software provider) in case you are worried about the link taking you to a new page. Once you have the installed downloaded just run it and stick with the defaults when installing 7-zip. Once installed you are ready to get that ISO file opened up.

Find your ISO file and right click it, you will find a new option in your drop down list called 7-zip. You will want to choose the Extract Files... option. This will open a new window that will be asking for the directory where you want to save the files to. I choose my desktop and created a folder called TEST ISO, just so I could test using 7-zip to extract all of the files in my test.ISO file. You can really change this to any directory you feel comfortable with, just make sure you know where to find your files after you extract them. You can set the Path Mode and Overwrite mode to suit your needs but I left them at their default values. You can also add a password to protect your files once they are extracted, if you do choose this then when you go to open the directory you will need to know and remember this password.

Click the OK button and 7-zip will start extracting the ISO contents into the directory you selected. Once the program is done running you can go to the directory and you should find all of the files that were in the ISO are now in the directory as well. If your program has an installer, go ahead and double click it and make sure it's going to run properly.

Well that is all there is to opening an ISO file using the free 7-zip utility. I find it is easier sometimes to just use 7-zip than to burn an ISO to CD/DVD; you can just save the files to your hard drive and run it from your hard drive. It is also a lot faster to unzip the ISO with 7-zip instead of burning a CD/DVD. I tested the time difference with my TEST ISO which was 600MB, burning took 18 minutes (I have a slower burner) and using 7-zip took just over a minute. So not only do I have the files on my hard drive for later use but it was significantly faster to use 7-zip as opposed to burning then files to CD/DVD and then running the install from the disk, which would have also been slightly slower, than running them from my hard drive.

You can do a lot of other things with 7-zip, unzipping ISO's isn't even its main function, I just like the function! I also prefer 7-zip over WinZip and WinRAR due to its ease of use and how well it works with so many different file types. Anyway you should be able to get your ISO files without having to burn them now. I hope this guide helps you out.