purpose of image files

[rookie1010]

Hi
What is the purpose of an image file,
i mean we can just copy all the files in a disk to a folder, and then copy them to another disk, so why use an image file?

 

[mikesgroovin]

Sometimes, just copying files from the CD to folders and then back onto a CD can not make a, once bootable CD, non-bootable any longer. Another reason is compression and yet another reason is that it keeps the data nice and clean. Tidy, if you will

 

[rookie1010]

you mean to say it might lose its bootable property