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ISO files


Anyone who has spent time burning data to discs has dealt with ISO files. An ISO file is basically a copy of an optical disc. The 'ISO' refers to the International Organization for Standardization. ISO developed a specific standard ISO 9660 which allows different operating systems to exchange data. ISO files don't use the first 32 KB of a disc - this is referred to as the system area. This is reserved for data that consists of alternate file system descriptors. The beginning of the data area is followed by a volume descriptor set of 2 KB. This is in effect the header of the data, and always begins with 'CD001'.

An ISO file can be opened with file extraction software like 7-Zip.

ISO 9660 can only support files of more than 4 GB on DVDs with a fragmentation feature. Mac OS devices may not be able to deal with these fragmented files.


Sean O'Shea has more than 20 years of experience in the litigation support field with major law firms in New York and San Francisco.   He is an ACEDS Certified eDiscovery Specialist and a Relativity Certified Administrator.

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The views expressed in this blog are those of the owner and do not reflect the views or opinions of the owner’s employer.

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