How To Open, Extract ISO Image Using 7-Zip

Sometimes you want to install a software, for which an ISO image is available (for example Windows 7 SP1 Beta ISO). In such a case, you will have to burn ISO file to CD or DVD first and then start the installation from the disk. However you can avoid CD/DVD burning by extracting the ISO image file contents.

When it comes to ISO extraction, there are not many freeware ISO extractor programs. 7 Zip, a free archiving utility lets you open and extract ISO files.

Download and install 7 Zip. Right click on the ISO image you want to extract and select 7-Zip –> Open archive.

This opens the ISO image and shows it’s file contents. You can now select only those files you want (CTRL + click to select multiple files) and click the ‘Extract’ button to extract them to your chosen location.

Or if you want to extract the entire ISO image file contents, then right click and select 7-Zip –> Extract.

From Tools –> options… menu, you can associate 7-Zip with ISO format in the ‘System’ tab. This way, you can simply double click to open an ISO file.

Download 7-Zip

Works with Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Mac OSX, Linux, Solaris.