How To Burn an ISO Image In Windows 7

Finally Microsoft includes the ability to burn ISO images to Disk in Windows 7.  I have used this feature a few times and it works incredibly well and is easy to use.

For this example I am burning the Office 2007 ISO image to DVD.  Right click on the image and choose Burn disc image.

This will open up the Windows Disc Image Burner dialog box where you choose the CD or DVD drive and I also check Verify disc after burning the click Burn.

While the disc is being created there is a progress bar indicating how long until it is finished.

That’s it!  A successful burn.  They could not have made this feature any easier.  Although I hope for the final release they allow the option to control the burning speed.

Here is a quick how-to video that shows how easy it is to burn an ISO image to disk.  The quality is not the best but you get the idea.

For everyone who does not have Windows 7 beta as your primary operating system, you can still get easy ISO burning in XP and Vista by using ISO Recorder.

Beginner Geek: How to Burn an ISO Image to a Disc

There may be a time when you have an ISO image that you need to burn to a CD or DVD for use in a computer or other device. Today we show you how to do it using ImgBurn, ISO Recorder, and Windows Disc Image Burner in Windows 7.

You might need to burn an ISO of an operating system, software app, CD, DVD…etc. It doesn’t matter what the ISO image is, burning an image is a fairly straight-forward process and here we’ll take a look at three free options to accomplish it.

Using ImgBurn

ImgBurn is an awesome free utility that will create ISO images, allow out burn almost anything, and a lot more. Although there are a lot advanced features available, burning an ISO to disc is easy. Download and install ImgBurn (link below) taking the defaults in the install wizard.



The easiest way to use ImgBurn is to burn an image to disc is pop in a blank disc to the CD/DVD drive, right-click on the ISO file, and select Burn using ImgBurn.

ImgBurn opens up with the source and destination fields already filled in. You can leave the default settings, then click the Write button.

You’ll notice that the ImgBurn Log screen opens, this is by default and is meant to show error messages you may receive during the writing process.

A successful burn! That is all there is to it…click Ok and close out of ImgBurn.

Use ISO Recorder

ISO Recorder (link below) is another great utility for burning ISO images to disc. They have a version for XP, Vista, and Windows 7 (32 & 64-bit Versions). Pop your blank disc into your CD/DVD drive and right-click on the ISO image file and select Copy image to CD from the Context Menu.

In the next screen the image file path is in the Source Image file field. Under Recorder select the drive with your blank disc, select a recording speed and click Next.

You’ll see a progress screen while the data is written to the disc and finalizing…

That’s it! Your disc will pop out and you can click Finish to close out of ISO Recorder.

Use Windows 7

If You’re using Windows 7, use the built in Windows Disc Image Burner feature to burn ISO images to disc.

The process is very straight-forward, and for a full walkthrough on this, check out our article on how to burn an ISO image in Windows 7.

Conclusion

You don’t need an expensive commercial application to burn an ISO image to disc. Using any one of these free utilities will get the job done quite nicely.

Download ImgBurn from Ninite

Download ISO Recorder

How to Boot Your Computer From a Disc or USB Drive

Usually, you boot your computer from its main hard drive, which contains your operating system (like Windows). But occasionally, you may need to boot from a CD, DVD, or USB drive–say, if you’re running a recovery program, or testing out a new operating system like Linux.

In order to do this, you need to tell your computer’s BIOS to load the operating system from a different place than usual. You can do this in two ways: By changing the boot order in the BIOS, or by accessing a boot menu on startup. We’ll show you both methods in this guide. (The first is permanent until you change it again, but should exist on every computer. The latter method is faster, but may not exist on every machine.)

Note: This process will look different on each computer. The instructions here will guide you through the process, but the screenshots won’t look exactly the same.

How to Change Your BIOS’ Boot Order

To access the BIOS, you’ll need to restart your computer and press a specific key at the start of the boot process. This key is generally displayed on-screen during the boot process. For example, you may see a message that says “Press <DEL”> to enter setup” or “Press F2 to access the BIOS.” Press the required key at the correct time and your computer’s BIOS will appear.

While Delete and F2 are probably the most common keys, your computer may require another key, such as F1, Escape, or Ctrl+Alt+Escape. If you don’t see the required key on-screen, consult your computer’s manual or search for your computer’s model name and “bios key” on Google.

(If you built your own computer, consult the motherboard’s manual instead.)

Once you’re in the BIOS, look for some sort of “Boot” option menu. If you’re lucky, there will be a tab at the top of the screen named Boot. If not, this option may be located beneath another tab.

Use the arrow keys to navigate through the BIOS. To select something, press Enter. You’ll generally see a list of the keys you can use at the bottom-right corner of your screen.

Locate the boot order screen that lists the boot devices. This may be on the Boot tab itself or beneath a Boot Order option.

Select an option and press Enter to change it, either to disable it or specify another boot device. You can also use the + and – keys to move devices up or down in the priority list. (These steps may be slightly different on some computers; consult the list of keyboard shortcuts on your screen.)

Note that “USB drive” doesn’t appear as an option in the list, even though our computer has USB ports. If we connected a USB device to the computer before starting our computer and accessing this screen, we’d see the USB drive option in the list. Some computers display the USB drive option even when a drive isn’t connected, while some don’t.

The boot order is a priority list. For example, if “USB drive” is above “hard drive” in your boot order, your computer will try the USB drive and, if it’s not connected or no operating system is present, boot from the hard drive.

To save your settings, locate the Save & Exit screen. Select the Save Changes and Reset or Save Changes and Exit option and press Enter to save your changes and restart your computer.

You may also be able to press a specific key to save your settings and reset the computer. Ensure you select the “save and exit” option, not the “discard changes and exit” option.

Once your computer restarts, it will boot using your new boot order priority.

How to Access Your Computer’s Boot Menu (If It Has One)

To reduce the need to change your boot order, some computers have a Boot Menu option.

Press the appropriate key – often F11 or F12 – to access the boot menu while booting your computer. This allows you to boot from a specific hardware device once without changing your boot order permanently.

Most new computers will soon be using UEFI instead of the traditional BIOS, but PCs with traditional BIOSes will be with us for a long time to come. While different computers use different BIOS keys and have different BIOS layouts, the process is similar on all computers using the traditional BIOS.

Where to Download Windows 10, 8.1, and 7 ISOs Legally

You can reinstall Windows from scratch using the product key that came with your PC, but you’ll have to find installation media yourself. Microsoft offers free ISO files for downloading; you just have to know where to look.

There area  few ways to do this, but they’re all on the straight and narrow–you won’t have to visit a shady BitTorrent site to download ISOs that may be filled with malware. Instead, you get official installation media straight from Microsoft.

NOTE: depending on the OEM version of Windows that you are running, you might run into an issue using the OEM key with a retail version of Windows. If it won’t activate, you can always install and then call Microsoft to get them to straighten it out and allow your copy to activate. The most important thing is that you have a valid license key.

Download the Windows 10 or 8.1 ISO Using the Media Creation Tool

If you’ve got access to a Windows machine, the official method for downloading ISOs for Windows 8.1 and 10 is the Media Creation Tool. The process for using the tool is largely the same for both versions of Windows, so we’ll be using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool for our example. We’ll just note where anything differs.

One caveat you should be aware of up front is that you can no longer download an ISO for Windows 8–just 8.1. And the product keys are different for Windows 8 and 8.1, so if you have a Windows 8 product key, you can’t just use it to install Windows 8.1.  Instead, you’ll have to install Windows 8, then do a free upgrade to 8.1. After you do the upgrade, Windows will assign the new product key to the installation. You can find that product key in a number of different ways and save it for the future. After that, you should be able to do a clean installation of Windows 8.1 using the new product key and won’t have to worry about installing Windows 8 first and going the upgrade route.

Start by downloading either the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool or the Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool. Once the file has downloaded, just double-click it to start the tool and then click “Yes” to give it permission to make changes to your PC. When the tool starts, click “Accept” to accept the license terms. Note that the Windows 8.1 version of the tool does not ask you to accept license terms.

When the tool asks what you want to do, select “Create installation media for another PC” and then click “Next.” The Windows 8.1 version of the tool also does not provide this option; it just defaults to creating installation media for another PC (which is what we want).

The tool will suggest a language, edition, and architecture for Windows based on information about the PC on which the tool is running. If you’re going to use the installation media on that PC, go ahead and just click “Next.” If you’re planning to install it on a different PC, clear the “Use recommended options for this PC” check box, select options that are more appropriate for the license you have, and then click “Next.” Note that if you’re using the 8.1 version of the tool, you actually start with this screen. The tool also won’t recommend options; you have to select them yourself.

Remember, your license will only work with the correct version of Windows–if your license is for 64-bit Windows 10 Pro, you can’t install 32-bit Windows 10 Home with it, so ensure your selections here match what’s listed on your product key.

Next, select whether you want the tool to create a bootable USB flash drive with the installation media, or just create an ISO file that you can use or burn to a DVD later. We’re going with the ISO file in this example, but the process is much the same either way. If you go with the USB option, you’ll need to provide a USB drive with at least 3 GB of space. Also, the USB drive will be formatted during the process, so make sure there’s nothing on it you need. Select the option you want and then click “Next.”

Choose a place to save the finished ISO file (or point the tool toward the right USB drive if that’s the option you chose).

At this point, the Media Creation Tool will begin downloading the files and assembling your ISO, which can take a fair bit of time depending on your internet connection. When it’s finished, you can click “Open DVD Burner” if you want to go ahead and create a disc or just click Finish if you don’t want to make a disc right now.

Now that you have your new ISO saved, you’re ready to make use of it however you see fit. You could go ahead and perform a clean installation of Windows (which technically you don’t even need a product key to do), use the ISO to create a virtual machine, or just save it for when you need it down the road.

Download the Windows 7 SP1 ISO Directly From Microsoft’s Website

Microsoft makes the Windows 7 SP1 ISO available for direct download through their site. The only catch is that you’ll need a valid product key in order to download the file–and OEM keys (like the one that came on a sticker under your laptop) won’t work. If that’s you, proceed to the next section.

If you do have a valid retail key, head to the Windows 7 download page, enter your product key, and click “Verify” to start the download process.

After your product key is verified, select the product language you want to download and then click “Confirm.”

Next, choose whether you want the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 7. When you click whichever version you want, the download will begin. Note that download links generated by the site are only valid for 24 hours. Of course, you could always come back and walk through the verification and selection process again to generate new links.

After downloading the ISO file, you can burn it to a DVD by right-clicking it in Windows Explorer and selecting “Burn disc image” to burn it to a disc. If you want to install Windows 7 from a USB drive, the best way is to use the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool to put that ISO file onto a USB drive.

The downloaded ISO you’ll get from Microsoft includes Windows 7 with Service Pack 1. When you install Windows 7, you can avoid the hassle of downloading and installing the hundreds of updates that came out after SP1 by installing the Windows 7 SP1 Convenience Rollup. Even better, why not take a little extra time and slipstream the Convenience Rollup right into your Windows 7 ISO? That way, whenever you install Windows 7 in the future, you’ll have one ISO with all the updates (at least up through May 2016) already included.

Download Any Windows or Office ISO Using a Free Third-Party Tool

Microsoft used to make all these ISOs available through a site called Digital River, but it doesn’t anymore. Instead, they’re stored on its TechBench site. The ISOs can be hard to find, though, and for versions of Windows other than the most current, the site tries really hard to push you into using the Media Creation Tool instead. Enter the Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool. This free utility provides a simple interface that lets you select the version of Windows you want, then downloads an ISO for that version straight from Microsoft’s download servers. This includes various builds of the Windows 10 Insider Preview. You can also use the tool to download ISOs for certain versions of Microsoft Office.

First, head over to HeiDoc.net and grab the Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool. It’s free and it’s a portable tool, so there’s no installation. Just launch the executable file. In the main window, choose the version of Windows or Office you’d like to download.

Click the “Select Edition” drop-down menu and then choose the edition you want. Note that in addition to the regular editions of the product (such as Home or Professional), you can also download regions specific editions such as Windows N (which is sold to the European market and does not include multimedia apps like Media Player and DVD Maker) and Windows K (which is sold to the Korean market).

After you select the edition you want to download, click “Confirm.”

Next, use the drop-down menu that appears to choose the product language you want to download and then click the “Confirm” button under the language drop-down menu.

Finally, choose whether to download the 32-bit or 64-bit version of the product. Clicking either download button will initiate the download using the ISO download tool, so you’ll need to keep it open until the download finishes. Alternatively, you can use the “Copy Link” buttons to the right to copy the direct download link to your clipboard and then download the file using your browser. Either way, note that most links generated by the tool are only valid for 24 hours, though you can always come back and generate new links.

And that’s all there is to using the Microsoft Windows and Office ISO Download Tool. Yes, you could accomplish some of this by digging around the TechBench site, but using this clever little utility is quicker and saves a lot of hassle. Plus, for some products, like Windows 8.1, finding the direct download on the site is next to impossible.

Microsoft also provides other software via the TechNet Evaluation Center. For example, you could download a trial version of Windows Server 2012 R2 and enter a legitimate product key to get the full version. Just click the “Evaluate Now” header on the site to see what trial versions of software are on offer. You will need to sign in with a Microsoft account before downloading.

Image Credit: bfishadow on Flickr

How to Create a System Image in Windows 7, 8, or 10

The new backup utilities in Windows are actually pretty impressive and creating an image will be possible in all versions. Today we take a look at creating a backup image of your machine without the need for a third party utility like Ghost or True Image.

You just just finished installing a fresh copy of Windows on your computer and have it set up to your liking. One of the first things you should do now is create an image of the disc so in the event of a crash you will be able to restore it to its current state. An image is an exact copy of everything on the drive and will restore it back to its current state. It’s probably best to create an image when everything is clean and organized on your system. This will make the image file smaller and allows you to restore the system with a smooth running set up.

The process of finding the System Image Backup tool is different in Windows 7 and 8 or 10, so we’ll show you both of them, and then explain how to create and use the system image, which is basically the same in either.

Create a System Image Backup the Easy Way

Microsoft might include backup tools in Windows, but they only do the bare minimum and they are confusing. If you want to back up your entire computer the easy way, Acronis True Image 2016 is the way to go.


Acronis True Image 2016 can back up your entire computer, including your operating system, applications, and data, and then restore it to the existing computer, or even a completely separate computer.

And if you upgrade to Acronis True Image Cloud, you can optionally store a complete backup of your entire computer in the cloud as well as on a local drive.

Back Up Your PC or Mac the Easy Way with True Image

Opening System Image Backup in Windows 8.x or 10

For Windows 8.1 or 10 (if you are still on Windows 8 you should really do the upgrade to 8.1, it’s free, and very important), they’ve moved the system image function under the File History section. You can search for it in the Start Screen search.

If you’re using Windows 10 you can search the Start Menu instead, but the same item will show up either way.

Then you can click the System Image Backup in the lower left-hand corner. (Note that it’ll take a bit for this screen to show anything).

Opening System Image Backup in Windows 7

Click on Start go to Getting Started and then select Back up your files.

Next click on the Create a system image hyperlink.

Creating a System Image Backup in Windows 7, 8, or 10

Decide where you want to save the image. You can choose an external drive, burn to multiple DVD’s, or store it on a network location.

You can include other drives if you want as well but remember that will add to the size of the final image.

At the confirmation screen notice the amount of space the image may take. If something doesn’t look right you can still go back from this point and make adjustments.

A progress meter is displayed while the images is created and backed up. In this example a disk of about 15GB in size took under 20 minutes backed up to an external drive. Times will vary depending on your system and where you’re backing it up to.

After the process is complete you get the option to create a system repair disc which you should do and make sure to save it in a secure location.

When it comes time to restore the image, you will be able to use the System Recovery Options to get the system back.

Image in Windows Vista

Vista Ultimate, Business, and Enterprise allow you to create an image, but Vista Home and Home Premium users do not have the option. The process is similar in Vista, type backup into the search bar and click on Backup and Restore Center.

Then click on Back up computer and the wizard will guide you through the process.

Conclusion

This is a extremely handy feature and it actually works well. It is also nice that the feature will be available in each edition of Windows 7 instead of just the higher end versions. This will save you some money in not having to spend $50-80 on a third party utility. You should create an image when everything is fresh on your system so the image is not too large and the essentials of you machine can quickly be restored. For instance I created an image after a fresh install and putting Office 2007 and a few of my most commonly used programs. The entire image came in around 10 GB which is easily stored on an external drive or a few DVD’s.