Burning ISO CDs and The Open Education Disc Project

What, pray tell, is an ISO CD? To be honest, I had never even heard of this before this summer, and have had need of it several times in the last 2 months. (Note: If you have a slow internet connection (DSL or (gasp!) dial-up) this is not for you. ISO files are usually 600 – 700 MB.)

ISO files are actually images of complete CDs burned as one whole image, instead of separate files. If you’re on a Windows PC, you need a special program to handle it. I assume that your computer can burn regular CDs.

If you already have a program you like for burning CDs (Roxio, Nero, etc.) then you just need a utility that can handle this. ISO Recorder is just the ticket. After it is installed, right-click a downloaded ISO file and click Copy Image to CD and it does its thing.

If you are lacking a CD burning program, check out IMGBurn. It can handle burning CDs, DVDs (if you have a DVD recorder) and ISOs.

As to why you might want to burn an ISO disc, head over to The Open Education Disc Project and download (again, only if you have a fast connection!) the Open Education Disc. It’s a one-stop collection of every piece of open-source software you could possibly want as a teacher/student.

Any Stern teachers wanting a copy can just ask me, and I will be happy to burn you a copy, especially if your internet connection is less than blazing.