What is the best way to convert IMG file to ISO file on Windows? A lot of people have questions like this. If you also have questions like this, this guide would be helpful to you. We will show you solutions on how to convert IMG file to ISO image file on Windows computers in several ways. Just check them below to view the detailed content.

Part 1: What is IMG? Why We Need to Convert IMG to ISO?

Firstly, let’s make clear what IMG file is and why we need to convert IMG file to ISO file. An IMG file is a disc image file created by various disc imaging applications, such as HH Software Virtual CD. It stores an exact copy of the data on a CD or DVD and is used for backups and burning new discs.

An ISO file (often called an ISO image), is an archive file that contains an identical copy (or image) of data found on an optical disc, like a CD or DVD. They are often used for backing up optical discs, or for distributing large file sets that are intended to burned to an optical disc.

Since both IMG and ISO files are image files, then why do we need to convert IMG to ISO? While the objective behind both of these formats is to create a disk easier and make an exact copy of the disk faster. But the problem with IMG files is that it is the compatibility issue. Compressed IMG files will not be recognized by many burning tools. That’s why people jump to the ship of ISO.

The difference between the IMG file and ISO file is the ISO file contains the disc content with a single track, and it is compatible with most of the operating systems in the market. While using the IMG image system ends up being prohibitive. Since it requires specific software and platform to run the format of the file, that is why so many people opt out to convert IMG to ISO without dealing with finding the right software to run an image file on the computer. There are tools that you can use to run the IMG file, but most of the time, these won’t be able to run the file format perfectly. That is why converting the IMG format to ISO is the best option to go for.

The below content would show you different solutions to help you convert IMG file to ISO file on Windows in various ways.

Part 2: Rename File Extension Name

Well, since both IMG and ISO image files are actually the same thing, the first solution to convert IMG file to ISO file is to rename the file extension from IMG to ISO. To change the extension name, you need to follow some steps:

  1. Open up the “Control Panel”.
  2. Go to the “Appearance and Personalization” option.
  3. Here you have to select the “Folder” option.
  4. After clicking the folder option, you will have to find the ‘Show hidden files and folders.’
  5. Uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”, and then hit “OK” button.
  6. That’s it. You will have an extension file under every file name inside your computer.
  7. Get to your IMG file, right-click on that file, go to the “Rename” option. Change the .IMG file extension from .img to .iso.
  8. If you don’t want to see the extension name from every file that you have on your computer, because unchecking the hide file extension will make you see the format of the file on every file that you have on your computer.
  9. The list includes image files to video files. To remove this problem, go through the same steps, just instead of unchecking, this time hit Check to hide the extension file name behind every other file on your computer.

By renaming the IMG file extension to ISO file extension, you could successfully turn IMG files to ISO files on your Windows computer.

Part 3: Try Free Small Software - IMG to ISO

There are various IMG to ISO file converter tools that could help you convert IMG files to ISO files besides renaming the file extension. Some of them are free while others are paid. IMG to ISO is a top-rated free IMG to ISO file converter tool for you to convert IMG file to ISO file for totally free.

IMG to ISO is a free utility software that does exactly what the name says. It converts your IMG file into an ISO file. The software is basically simple to use because there aren’t any other things you can do with the software. It is built for only one purpose in mind, which is to convert IMG to ISO if you are looking for a software that does only converting the IMG file to ISO and nothing else. Then this is the software build for you. Upon launching the app for the first time, you will only see three options.

Follow the steps below to convert IMG to ISO using IMG to ISO:

  1. Download IMG to ISO on your computer. Get source IMG file ready for converting.
  2. Install IMG to ISO app on your computer and then kick it off.
  3. Once the app is launched, it is time to import the IMG file that you want to convert by clicking the “Open” button to browse and load source IMG file.
  4. The second step is to set the directory for the IMG file by clicking the “ISO File” box.
  5. Then click the “Convert” button to start converting IMG file to ISO file.

Then, you only need to wait for the converting to complete. It won’t take you long. The converting duration depends on the file size of your source IMG file and your computer performance.

Part 4: Using PowerISO to Convert IMG to ISO

Besides the free IMG to ISO file converter IMG to ISO, there are also other IMG file to ISO file converters you could use to convert IMG files to ISO file. PowerISO is a powerful CD/DVD/ BD image file processing tool, which allows you to open, extract, burn, create, edit, compress, encrypt, split and convert ISO files, and mount ISO files with internal virtual drive. It can process almost all CD / DVD / BD image files including ISO and BIN files. PowerISO provides an all-in-one solution. You can do everything with your ISO files and disc image files.

Follow the below steps to learn how to convert IMG file to ISO file format with PowerISO app:

  1. Download and install PowerISO program on your computer. Get source IMG file ready for converting.
  2. Kick off PowerISO program on your computer.
  3. Choose "Tools > Convert" Menu.
  4. PowerISO shows IMG Converter dialog.
  5. Choose the source IMG file you want to convert in the “Source file” box.
  6. Choose ISO as output format in the “Destination file” frame.
  7. Next to the “Destination file” frame is the box to set output directory. Choose a hard drive that has enough storage space.
  8. After setting output directory, click the “OK” button to start converting IMG file to ISO file within PowerISO program.

Then, you only need to wait for the conversion to complete. You will get ISO image files after conversion completes.

Part 5: Convert IMG to ISO with AnyBurn

AnyBurn software can be used to extract the IMG file as most of the work you have to put into the software will be minimal. The conversion rate would be much faster if the above method didn’t work out for you. Then you can choose this method to convert the file format into another.

Follow the steps below to convert the IMG file to ISO with the help of AnyBurn.

  1. First, you need to download AnyBurn and install it afterward. Get source IMG file ready for converting.
  2. Run AnyBurn, then click "Convert image files" option.
  3. Select the source IMG image file in the "Select source image file:" box.
  4. And then set output directory in the "Select the destination image file" box.
  5. Below this box, set "Standard ISO File" as target in the "Select destination image file" box.
  6. then, click the "Convert Now" button at the bottom left corner to start converting IMG file to ISO image file within AnyBurn.  

You will then get ISO image files within AnyBurn program when the conversion completes.

Part 6: Conclusion

With the above solutions, you could easily convert IMG files to ISO file format for either playing back on your DVD players or mounting to DVD disc. Renaming IMG file extension to ISO extension is the basic solution for you to turn IMG files to ISO image file format, while PowerISO and AnyBurn programs offer you structure changes to help you convert IMG file to ISO for multiple programs. Just choose the one that meets you best.

As mentioned above, ISO image file is much more friendly with DVD programs. You could use multiple DVD creator tools to directly burn ISO file to DVD disc, such as Leawo DVD Creator, Windows Burn feature, etc.

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