ISO Means Equal

You are allowed by law to make 1 backup copy of any and all dvd's, bluray's etc you own. You can make ISo images files of them and then watch them on your puter by mounting in the free version of "Virtual Clone Drive" Once you mount it then any media player program can play it from the drive letter that virtual clone drive is using just as it if is on a DVD, etc in your cd,dvd drive.

Peripheral to the topic at hand, but...

I notice 2 of the 6 comments so far posted are duplicates. I have accidentally posted duplicates also. It happens when you click on Post Comments and nothing appears to occur. So you wait a while and eventually try again, only to find that your comments have now posted twice. Can something be done to fix this?

And it (posting a duplicate comment) ALMOST happened yet again, with my comment ABOUT duplicate comments. This time I waited a REALLY long time, (or it seemed that way; it was maybe 30 seconds) and eventually I got a new screen with the comment posted. Why does it take so long to get a response? I'd be happy if it just came back with "Working..." or something to indicate that my clicking on Post Comments had been noticed by the system.

EDITOR'S NOTE: I'll see what I can do about that...

As for duplicate comments -- I use Chrome for my browser, when I click on Post Comments -- First I see a partial gray circle, spinning round & round -- Then a full blue circle spinning round & round. When the blue circle stops & I see an icon of Bob -- I know that my comment has gone through & can be read now.

Does that help anyone? This is really no different than when you are waiting to get to a website that you typed in.

Thanks, I have really gleaned a lot from your news letters.

Now, for my own comments on this article.

Thank you, Bob, for helping clear up some of my confusion regarding ISO files. This is one area of computing that has confused me for years.

Years ago, I had a program for creating a Virtual Drive. I don't know where the program is and I highly doubt that it would work with Win 7 Pro 64 Bit. I think, it was a Win 98 program and I was able to use it on Win XP.

I will now, read further on creating a Virtual Drive on my computer. Heavens, I have a 1TB Hard Drive, so space is not the issue. First I will look in Bob's Archives to seek more information. :)

@MmeMoxie, re duplicate comments: I'm using Chrome also, and don't see what you're describing. No spinning circles. The spinning circle comes from Windows, and I probably don't see it because I'm using a relatively fast desktop. (Chrome version 47.0.2526 under Windows 10.) No indication at all that anything has happened after clicking on Post Comments until the comment finally posts after a substantial wait. I previously observed the same under Internet Explorer.

...and that last comment took 29 seconds, by my wristwatch, before I could see that anything whatsoever had happened in response to my clicking on Post COmments.

Bob you have so many great articles but I don't always have the time or the need to use them when you post them. How do I find them later when I real need them. Thanks again for you help.

Bob, nice explanation of .iso files. I'd like to mention one small exception to the statement, "You can�t �run� an ISO file..." When I get a DVD, I make a backup copy using a free utility (DVDDecrypter or ImgBurn) to rip the DVD to an .iso file on external disk. I can then play the movie directly from the image in VLC (Videolan) media player. No doubt VLC has some virtual drive handling built into its code somewhere, but I can "run" it directly from the image. I don't know of any other software that does this, but then I haven't looked for one.

Interesting article, but with a couple of misplaced "facts." ISO is actually a Greek prefix for same (or equal). However, it is not an acronym for the "International Standards Organization."

1. An acronyms is set of initials that spells a word. ISO isn't a word, it's a prefix, as in isobar, or isothermal.

ISO is an alternative descriptor for the International Association for Standardization, one of the world's principal organizations that issues International Standards. The other is the IEC. Check out their website at www.iso.ch. The ch indicates Switzerland. Both of these entities are headquartered in Geneva.

Imgburn is freeware and it does a flawless and fast job of copying to ISO files.

As to acronyms, Wikipedia's description does not insist it be a word, but be used as a word.
"An acronym is an abbreviation used as a word which is formed from the initial components in a phrase or a word. Usually these components are individual letters (as in NATO or laser) or parts of words or names (as in Benelux)."

Again using Wikipedia, the article on ISO, one reference on the origin of the group explains how ISO was preceded (before WWII) by a mainly European group whose acronym was ISA. Neither acronym matches the spelling in any language of the full name, including the 3 official languages of English, French and Russian for ISO. It is pleasing to know that businesses and nations have been trying to agree on standards for so long. Also interesting to know that the "inch" countries were not active in ISA, that is, the USA and the UK. The reference list linking to a document on how the ISO began notes that the Greek meaning of ISO did not come up in the 1946 negotiations to name the organization. (prefix in English, word in Greek) So, it was serendipity, a way to remember the name that once had meaning only for film speeds for me.

In the US, at least, the url for ISO is http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html and the address given above > www.iso.ch

Thanks for explaining the iso files and how to use them, Bob, while giving me one reason to use Windows 10 this year before the download stops being free. And reasons to read up on ISO at its own web site and in Wikipedia

The less than symbol cut off my sentence above, so I use quote marks now, which was to say:

In the US, at least, the url for ISO is http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html and the address given above "www.iso.ch" brings me to that url. As does searching on google for ISO and following the link provided.

The "ISO is actually an acronym for International Standards Organization." is a very common misconception.
The actual name of the organization is "International Organization for Standardization" see http://www.iso.org/iso/home.html

You missed an important option--rip DVDs and watch them using VLC on any of several platforms--Windows, Android, iPad. I travel a LOT and I don't want to haul DVDs with me, so this is the perfect solution to watching my DVDs on the road.

Bob, I've been a fan since Tourbus days. Thank you for all of your info! I only wish when you talk about something that you would add the Mac end, as well.

Do Macs create and use ISO files? There's many of us who'd appreciate being included.

Daemon Tools Lite - Freeware, been around for years, and works great. Just another great option for a Virtual Disc app. I highly recommend it.

why is it so difficult to get rid of syimg.com? and who is responsible for this problem?