ISO files are commonly used for a variety of purposes, including:ĭistributing software: Software vendors often distribute their applications as ISO files, which can be burned to a CD or DVD or mounted as a virtual drive. ISO files provide a convenient way to distribute and store large amounts of data in a single file. An ISO file is essentially an image of a CD-ROM that complies with this standard. The term 'ISO' comes from the International Organization for Standardization, which developed the ISO 9660 standard for file systems used on CD-ROMs. They can be mounted as virtual drives or burned onto a new disc to create an exact replica of the original. ISO files are commonly used for creating backup copies of CDs and DVDs, as well as for distributing large software applications and operating systems over the internet. It is a disk image that contains all the data and file systems that were present on the original disc. What is an ISO file? An ISO file, also known as an ISO image, is a type of file format that contains an exact copy of a CD, DVD, or other optical disc.