About this release
PowerISO is the tool for dealing with disc images once optical drives stopped being standard. It opens and edits image files directly, so you can add, remove or rename files inside an ISO without unpacking and rebuilding the whole thing. It creates images from a folder or a disc, mounts them as virtual drives so their contents appear as if a disc were inserted, and converts between the various image formats that different tools produce.
Making bootable media is where most people reach for it now. It writes a bootable USB drive from an image, which is how an operating system installer or a recovery environment gets onto a stick, and it still burns to physical discs where a drive is present. The virtual drive feature means a game or an application that expects a disc can be run from a mounted image instead of hunting for the physical media.
It doubles as an archive tool, opening and creating the common compressed archive formats alongside the disc image ones, so a single small application covers both the archive a download arrives in and the image inside it. It stays light, integrates into the file manager right click menu for quick mounting and extraction, and handles large images without complaint.
What it does
- Open and edit disc images directly without a full unpack and rebuild
- Create images from a folder or an optical disc
- Mount images as virtual drives that appear as inserted discs
- Write bootable USB drives from an installation image
- Burn images and files to physical discs where a drive is present
- Convert between the common disc image formats
- Open and create compressed archive formats alongside image formats
- File manager right click integration for quick mounting and extraction
- Split and merge large images
- Both 32-bit and 64-bit builds included
Changes in this version
- Improved bootable USB writing for current firmware
- Faster mounting of very large images
- Better handling of newer archive format variants
- Fixed a rare error editing images with long file paths
- Refreshed right click integration
What the package contains
- PowerISO full installer
- Both 32-bit and 64-bit builds
- Virtual drive component
- All interface languages
- Readme with the install order written out step by step
Installation notes
Follow these in order. Most reports of a failed install come from skipping a step rather than from the package itself.
- Extract the archive to any folder, the package is small.
- Disconnect from the network and pause real time protection.
- Run the installer as administrator and finish the wizard.
- Apply the included activation step before you launch.
- Open the application, confirm it opens without a trial prompt, then reconnect.
- Allow the virtual drive component if Windows prompts for the driver.
System requirements
| Operating system | Windows 7 or newer, 32-bit or 64-bit |
| Processor | Any 1 GHz or faster processor |
| Memory | 512 MB minimum |
| Graphics | No specific requirement |
| Storage | 60 MB free plus room for the images you work with |
| Media | A USB stick or optical drive for writing media |
Things worth knowing
- Writing a bootable USB erases the stick, make sure it holds nothing you need first.
- The virtual drive needs its small driver, allow it if Windows asks during install.
- Very large images are fine but the working copy needs disk space, keep some free.
Questions about this title
Can it make a bootable USB from an ISO?
What does mounting an image do?
Does it handle archives too?
Do I need an optical drive?
What people are saying
Wrote an installer to USB in a couple of minutes. Booted first try. Does exactly what I need.
Mounting an image instead of hunting for a disc is the whole reason I keep it around.
Nice that it opens archives too. One little tool instead of two.
Listing information
This entry is catalogued under Utilities & Tools and carries the tags below. Language coverage is Multilingual, 24 interface languages, and the supported platform list is Windows 7, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11. Version 9.4.0 is the current catalogued build, last checked 6 days ago, and the entry has been in the index since it was added 3 years ago.