How to burn an ISO file to disc

Choose Burn image in Burn by Zaweba and select the ISO file, or simply double-click the ISO. Burn writes the image to a blank disc exactly as it is, and with checking on it reads the disc back afterwards to make sure it matches. Older image types such as BIN/CUE, NRG, MDF/MDS, IMG, CCD and CDI can be burned too.

An ISO is a complete picture of a disc in one file. Burning it gives you a disc identical to the one the image was made from, which is different from copying the ISO file itself onto a data disc.

Ways to start an image burn

There are several routes, and they all end in the same place. From the home screen, choose Burn image. From the menus, use File > Open a disc image, Disc > Burn image or Images > Burn image. Or double-click the image file in Explorer. If you've turned on Burn's Explorer right-click commands in Settings, you can also right-click the image and choose Burn image with Zaweba.

Burning and checking

Put a blank disc in the writer that's big enough for the image. The status bar shows the writer and the disc in it, with an Eject button if you need to swap. Start the burn. Progress shows on the taskbar button and the tray icon, and a chime and notification tell you when it's done.

With Check every disc after burning turned on, which is recommended, Burn reads the disc back and compares it with the image. It adds a few minutes and confirms the disc is good. You can also check later with Tools > Verify a disc, which compares a disc with an ISO image.

Images that aren't ISO

Burn also handles older formats from other programs. BIN/CUE, NRG, MDF/MDS, IMG, CCD and CDI data images are burned by way of an ISO made from them. Images that hold only audio are burned as an audio CD. Mixed-mode images, with both data and audio, are refused with the reason, since Windows' own burning, which Burn uses, can't write them.

If you just need the files inside an image rather than a disc, you don't have to burn at all. Burn can convert old images to ISO and mount them as a drive with Windows' own mounting, so you can open them like any disc.

Mounting is often the quicker choice when you only want to install something or copy a few files out. Burning makes sense when the disc itself is needed, for example to start an older computer from it or to hand a physical copy to someone.

When a burn goes wrong

Make sure the blank disc is the right type and size for the image: a DVD image won't fit on a CD. Tools > Drive information shows what your writer can write and its available write speeds, which helps if a disc type isn't recognised. If a burn fails partway, try a fresh blank and, if it keeps happening, a slower write speed.

Burn is for your own images and data. It never works around copy protection, and keeps everything offline with no account needed.