Looking for a way to burn an ISO image file to a CD or DVD on your Mac? Luckily, just as you can mount and burn ISO images files in Windows 8/10 without additional software, you can also do the same thing in OS X.
There are a couple of different ways you can burn an ISO image in OS X and it really depends on what version you have installed. For the last several years, you could use Disk Utility to mount the ISO image and then burn it to a disc.
Now click on File and then Open Disk Image. The ISO image will show up in the left-hand side along with the list of hard drives, etc. Click on the ISO file and then click on the Burn button at the top. Pop your disc into the drive and click the Burn button to start the process. As mentioned earlier, this no longer works on OS X 10.11 El Capitan.
However, with the latest release of OS X, 10.11 El Capitan, Apple has removed the burning functionality from Disk Utility. You can still burn ISO images in El Capitan, but you have to use Finder instead. The Finder method also works on older versions of OS X too.
Lastly, you can use Terminal and the hdiutil command to burn an ISO image to disc if you are comfortable using that tool. In this article, I’ll show you all three methods for burning ISO images in OS X.
Finder Method
The Finder method is now the most universal method for burning ISO images in OS X since it’s supported on pretty much all versions. It’s also extremely easy to do. First, open a new Finder window, navigate to the location of your ISO file and then single click on it to select it.
Now go ahead and click on File and click on Burn Disk Image at the bottom of the list.
If you don’t already have a disc in your drive, you’ll be asked to insert one. Then just click the Burn button to start the burn process.
Another quick way to burn the ISO image file is to just right-click on the file and choose Burn Disk Image. As long as you have a disc in the drive, the burn process will start immediately.
Disk Utility Method
If you are running OS X 10.10 or lower, you can also use the Disk Utility method to burn your ISO image. Open Disk Utility by clicking on the Spotlight icon (magnifying glass) at the top right of your screen and type in disk utility.
Now click on File and then Open Disk Image.
The ISO image will show up in the left-hand side along with the list of hard drives, etc. Click on the ISO file and then click on the Burn button at the top.
Pop your disc into the drive and click the Burn button to start the process. As mentioned earlier, this no longer works on OS X 10.11 El Capitan.
Terminal Method
Lastly, if you love using the Terminal, you can type a simple command to burn the ISO image file.
I would suggest copying the file to an easy location like your desktop and renaming the file to something short too. In my case, I copied the file to my desktop and renamed it to just ubuntu.iso. I navigated to the desktop by typing in CD Desktop and then typed in hdiutil burn ubuntu.iso.
If you have a disc in the drive before you run the command, the burn process will start automatically. Otherwise, it’ll ask you to insert a disc. Those are all the ways you can burn your ISO image on a Mac without third-party software! If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!
- Before you begin
Before you begin
To install Windows 10 Education Edition from IUware, or if you have a Windows 8.x or 7 installation disk but do not have an optical (CD/DVD) drive on your computer, you can create a bootable flash drive for the installation.
On a Windows computer, you can use either a tool from Microsoft, or the Rufus software; using the Microsoft tool is generally simpler, while Rufus has some additional features.
What you'll need
To complete the process, you'll need:
- A Windows or macOS computer connected to the internet.On a Windows computer, you must have administrator privileges.
- A flash drive with at least 8 GB of space for Windows 10 and 8.1, or at least 4 GB of space for Windows 7The process described below will delete any data currently on your flash drive. Make sure to back up your flash drive's data to another storage location before proceeding.
- A valid product key that came with your Windows software. For Windows 10, this will be available on IUware. For Windows 8.x or 7, this will be with the disc you purchased.
Insert your flash drive before beginning.
Create a bootable installation flash drive forWindows 10 Education Edition
This process will delete anything saved on your flash drive. Save anything you want to keep before following these steps.
- Go to Windows 10 Education on IUware, and select either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version. Review and accept the terms, and then click Get product key. Copy the product key to use later.
- Download and run the Academic Media Creation Tool. Accept the license terms, select Create installation (USB flash drive, DVD, or ISO file) for another PC, and click Next.
- On the 'Select language, architecture, and edition' prompt, leave the default selections.
- To have the Microsoft tool create your bootable flash drive, make sure your flash drive is plugged in, select USB flash drive, and click Next.If you plan to use Rufus instead, select ISO file and click Next. This will save the
.iso
file to your computer; then, to use Rufus and your.iso
file to create a bootable installation flash drive, follow the directions below.
Create a bootable installation flash drive forWindows 8.1
See Recommended Windows operating systems at IU.
Download Windows 8.1
- Go to Download Windows 8.1 Disc Image (ISO File).
- From the Select edition drop-down menu, select Windows 8.1, and click Confirm.
- Select the desired language and click Confirm.
- Select the 32-bit Download or the 64-bit Download (recommended, unless the machine you're installing on doesn't support it), and download the disk image.
You can now use the
.iso
file to create a Windows 8.1 bootable installation flash drive using either a Windows tool or Rufus.Create a bootable drive using the Windows USB/DVD Download tool
This process will delete anything saved on your flash drive. Save anything you want to keep before following these steps.
This method formats the flash drive using the NTFS file system, which is incompatible with UEFI (secure boot). You will have to disable secure boot, if enabled, in order to boot from a USB drive made using this tool.
To create a bootable installation flash drive using the Windows tool:
- Download and install the Windows USB/DVD Download tool. The final four letters of each file (before
.exe
) represent the language and region of the installer. Download the one for your desired language/location. - Open the Windows USB/DVD Download tool. The tool refers to itself as an older version tool, but works for Windows 8.1 media creation.
- When prompted, browse to your
.iso
file, select it, and click Next. - When asked to select the media type for your backup, make sure your flash drive is plugged in, and then choose USB device.You may be prompted to insert the USB device even if the flash drive is already inserted. Ignore this, and choose the USB device you'll be writing to.
- Click Begin Copying. If prompted, confirm that you wish to erase the flash disk.
- The
.iso
files will start copying to the flash drive; the process can take several minutes. When it's finished, close the wizard and eject and remove the flash drive.
Create a bootable drive using Rufus
To use Rufus to create a bootable drive that is compatible with UEFI, follow the instructions below.
Create a bootable installation flash drive for Windows 7
At IU, you have two options for creating a bootable installation flash drive for Windows 7:
- The Support Center will create a bootable installation flash drive for you at the IU Bloomington Support Center walk-in location; bring a blank flash drive with at least 4 GB of storage.
- If you are unable to visit a walk-in location or would prefer towork with the
.iso
file yourself, download the Windows 7.iso
from Microsoft's Download Windows 7 Disc Images (ISO Files) page.
You can now use the
.iso
file to create a Windows 7 bootable installation flash drive using either a Windows tool or Rufus.Create a bootable drive using the Windows USB/DVD Download tool
This process will delete anything saved on your flash drive. Save anything you want to keep before following these steps.
This method formats the flash drive using the NTFS file system, which is incompatible with UEFI (secure boot) You will have to disable secure boot, if enabled, in order to boot from a USB drive made using this tool.
To create a bootable installation flash drive using the Windows tool:
- Download and install the Windows USB/DVD Download tool. The final four letters of each file (before
.exe
) represent the language and region of the installer. Download the one for your desired language/location. - Open the Windows USB/DVD Download tool.
- When prompted, browse to your
.iso
file, select it, and click Next. - When asked to select the media type for your backup, make sure your flash drive is plugged in, and then choose USB device.You may be prompted to insert the USB device even if the flash drive is already inserted. Ignore this, and choose the USB device you'll be writing to.
- Click Begin Copying. If prompted, confirm that you wish to erase the flash disk.
- The
.iso
files will start copying to the flash drive; the process can take several minutes. When it's finished, close the wizard and eject and remove the flash drive.
Create a bootable drive using Rufus
To use Rufus to create a bootable drive that is compatible with UEFI, follow the instructions below.
Use Rufus to write an .iso
file
- Download Rufus. Rufus is a standalone program and does not require installation.
- Open the Rufus program from where you downloaded it to run it.
- From the Device drop-down menu, select your USB drive, if it isn't automatically selected.
- Under 'Boot selection', select Disk or ISO image (Please select), if it isn't already chosen, and then click SELECT to choose the
.iso
file you downloaded. - Leave 'Image option' set to Standard Windows installation.
- Leave 'Partition scheme' set to GPT.
- For 'Target system', select UEFI (non CSM).
- Under 'Format Options', to ensure the flash drive is compatible with UEFI, select FAT32 for 'File System'.
- To create the flash drive with the 'Press any key to boot from USB' prompt at startup, under the 'Advanced format' options, select Create extended label and icon files.
- When you are finished selecting options, click Start. When prompted, confirm that you want to erase the flash disk.
- The
.iso
files will start copying to the flash drive; the process can take several minutes. When Rufus is done, close the program and eject and remove the flash drive.
Create a bootable installation flash drive on a macOS computer
In macOS, the option to create a Windows flash drive appears only when the computer does not have an optical drive. If your Mac has an optical drive, the option will be either missing or grayed out.
- From the Finder, open the Applications folder, and then Utilities.
- Open the Boot Camp Assistant, and then click Continue. The next screen should give you a list of options.
- UITS recommends making the USB drive installer first. You don't need to install Windows or download the support software at this time, as it will be easier to do both later. To proceed:
- Verify that the USB drive you will be writing to is plugged in.
- Uncheck the Install Windows 7 or later version and Download the latest Windows support software from Apple options.
- Check Create a Windows 7 or later install disk and click Continue.
- Your USB drive should be listed in the 'Destination disk' area. Use choose to browse to your
.iso
file; after selecting it, click Continue. - If prompted, confirm your action and/or provide an administrator password. The process of writing the
.iso
file to the USB drive can take 20 minutes or longer.
Other resources
Website | Article |
---|---|
Windows 10 Forums | How to create a bootable USB flash drive to install Windows 10 |
Windows Eight Forums | How to create a bootable UEFI USB flash drive for installing Windows 8.x |
How-To Geek | How to create bootable USB drives and SD cards for every operating system |