Make windows 7 ISO from my windows 7 DVD?

[thebigdintx]

I have my Windows 7 DVD I got as a promotional deal from Microsoft/House party, and my older DVD drive will not read it to install it. Is there a way (free) that I can make a bootable ISO image from my disc so I don't have to buy another DVD burner just to install it? I ran the beta/and RC versions of 7 fine, but those were installed from dvd's I burned myself using the ISO files, not a factory installation DVD. It's weird too because the DVD I made myself using the windows 7 RC DVD I made withe the iso boots fine, but the older DVD burner just doesn't like the factory DVD from Microsoft.

 

[berry120]

Before you go down another route, does the disk definitely work? Bad disks aren't unheard of and though you're blaming your old dvd burner you don't seem to say (unless I missed it) whether you've tried it in another PC or not.

If it IS the DVD burner's fault and you've done the usual lense cleaning and suchlike, although it's not what you ask I would advise just buying a new one. It shouldn't read some disks and not others (unless we're going into region encoded films and suchlike that doesn't apply here!) and if it is starting to get fussy over what (good) disks it does read, it usually means it's packing up. Seems silly to spend lots of time going down alternate routes when you might have to get one anyway, and they really are cheap as chips nowadays.

 

[thebigdintx]

Yes, I tried the DVD in my laptop and it works fine. I don't really want to buy another DVD burner if I can avoid it by simply making an iso image from my DVD and use that. I can probably burn the image back onto another DVD and the DVD burner will probably read it fine then, or, if I could just run the install from the iso image that would be good too.

It's a 2005 NEC DVD burner that I added into my XP computer and it hasn't read factory vista or window 7 DVD since upgrade to vista. NEC doesn't have vista compatible driver for it probably why hasn't worked right since xp.

 

[cboucher]

Try imgburn. It's free and it works great.

 

[thebigdintx]

How's that compare to magic ISO? Either one better? Or both do the same thing?

 

[J03]

They might perform similarly, but i'd choose Imgburn over MagicISO Any day of the week

 

[thebigdintx]

Thanks...any particular reason? And, is there anything else I would need to do besides rip an ISO image from my factory DVD, then burn the iso onto a DVD? Should that work ok?