How do I create a ISO file on my Mac?

June 17, 2006 6:39 PM

On My Windows XP: I have been using LC ISO Creator to create ISOs from CD/DVD-ROMs. Once I have a ISO I can mount it using Microsoft's Virtual CD-ROM Control Panel. On My Mac: How do I create ISO files from CD/DVD-ROMs on my Mac (for free?) I have a MacBook Pro running Mac OS X (Tiger). I want my ISO file to work on Windows, Macs, Linux (maybe ISO 9660?).
posted by honorguy7 to computers & internet (6 comments total)

Disk Utility should do it; select the disk, click New Image, tell it to create a CD/DVD image and it'll create a .cdr file that is really just an .iso file.

Alternatively do it the Unix way; drop into Terminal and run "dd if=/dev/disk1 of=image.iso". The resulting file is an exact copy of the disk structure. The source device (if=, for "in file") may be different; Disk Utility or the "mount" command should tell you what to use.
posted by Freaky at 7:34 PM on June 17, 2006

I haven't tried either of these freeware programs but they may fit what you are looking for.

Firestarter FX
'FireStarter is a pure Cocoa, Mac OS X only burning application which will allow you to duplicate all kind of CDs (even those that other Mac OS X applications won't), burn VCDs and SVCDs, and have access to unique features such as overburning and CDDB access. It's also a very easy way of burning disc images from the PC world: It handles perfectly well cue/bin files, which are so common on Windows, and which were very hard to burn with other tools.'

ImageBurner
'ImageBurner is a front-end for the MacOS X "hdiutil" command-line tool. It allows you to easily burn disk images (such as ISOs) to CD-ROM or DVD-ROM using drag-and-drop, without messing with the command line or having to purchase Toast. There's nothing you can do in ImageBurner that you can't do in Apple's Disk Utility, but ImageBurner provides a simpler interface.'
posted by concourse at 7:55 PM on June 17, 2006

I second what Freaky said. I just did this with a dvd on my MacBook Pro using Disk Utility. I haven't tried to mount the disc on Windows yet, so cannot speak to how that would work.
posted by jdl at 8:27 PM on June 17, 2006

You don't need any special programs. Ignore concourse. All you need is Disk Utility.
posted by dmd at 7:51 AM on June 18, 2006

(And really, Disk Utility is quite simple.)
posted by dmd at 7:51 AM on June 18, 2006

FYI, here is an illustrated how-to guide on making copies of DVDs / CDs with Disk Utility.
posted by concourse at 10:59 AM on June 18, 2006