How to make ISO (FILE) image from CD/DVD

An ISO image is an exact copy of the data on an optical disc, such as a CD, DVD, or Blu-ray Disc. ISO images are great because they're self contained, perfect representations of the data on a disc. Being single files, they're easier to store and organize than simple copies of the folders and files on a disc would be.Using the right software, you can create ISO images from optical discs and use them in place of the physical discs. "ISO" refers to the International Organization for Standardization, a group that sets common commercial standards. The term is also a reference to the .iso file extension for disc-image files.

Creating an ISO image is an effective way to back up data on an optical disc. To access the data in an ISO image, you can either burn it to a disc or use software to read the contents of the image file as if it were a disc. If you use a disc frequently and you don’t want to have to load and unload it all the time, making and using an ISO image is a convenient alternative. ISO images are also useful for distributing the contents of an optical disc digitally.

Windows doesn't have a built-in way of creating ISO image files so you'll need to download a program to do it for you. Luckily there are several free tools available that make creating ISO images a really easy task.

You can find many programs that are capable of creating and loading ISO images, including a handful of no-cost options. 

One free program is Burnaware.

Download Burnaware

BurnAware Free is a full-fledged, easy-to-use, free burning software which allows users to write all types of files such as digital photos, pictures, archives, images, documents, music and videos to CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray Discs. With BurnAware Free, you also will be able to create bootable or multisession discs, high-quality Audio CDs and Video DVDs, make and burn disc images, copy and backup discs.

Burn

Burn, backup or copy your files to CD, DVD or Blu-ray Discs.

Supports recording from command-line and BAT scripts for automating routine actions.

Supports CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R/RE and DVD-RAM media, including high-capacity double-layer media.

Supports UDF (Universal Disc Format 1.02-2.60), Bridge and ISO9660 (Level 1-3, Romeo), including Joliet Unicode extensions.

Append or update Multi session discs. 

Supports multi session for DVD-RW/+RW and import of any session.

Burn standard or boot disc images.

Supports ISO and CUE/BIN image files.

Create

Create Boot able CD or DVD. Use it as a very big floppy boot disc for recovery purposes.

El Torito creation support with advanced options: emulation type, sectors, platform, load segment and boot message.

Create Audio CDs. Play a CD on your traditional CD player or car stereo.

Supports MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, M4A, AAC and FLAC audio formats and M3U playlists.

Supports title and track CD-Text, including Unicode.

Create DVD-Video discs and MP3 CDs/DVDs.

Make standard or boot disc images.

Supports ISO and CUE/BIN image files.

Supports UDF (Universal Disc Format 1.02-2.60), Bridge and ISO9660 (Level 1-3, Romeo), including Joliet Unicode extensions.

Copy

Copy disc to ISO image. This feature can be used for disc backup, as well as for disc copying.

And more...

Erase. Erase or format re writable disc.

Verify. Check disc for read errors.

Benefits:

Lowest CPU usage while burning and copying

Easiest-to-use, multilingual user interface

On-the-fly burning

Supports all types of optical drives and discs

Uses the most fastest and stable burning engine

Supports all major audio and disc image formats

Does not require the .NET framework or additional drivers

Supports Windows 8 and Windows XP/Vista/7 (both 32 and 64-bit)

How to use it

Download BurnAware Free, a completely free program.

Install BurnAware Free by executing the burnaware_free file you just downloaded.

Run BurnAware Free, from the shortcut created on the Desktop.

Once BurnAware Free is open, click on Copy to Image.

The Copy to Image tool will appear in addition to the existing BurnAware Free window that's already open.

From Source, choose the optical disc drive that you plan on using. If you only have one drive, you'll only see one choice.

Click ...

Navigate to the location that you want to create to ISO image file to, give the soon-to-be-made file a name in the File name text box, and then Save.

Insert the CD, DVD, or BD disc that you want to create the ISO image from into the optical drive you chose .

Wait while the ISO image is created from your disc.

You can also now remove the disc you were using from your optical drive.

You can only create ISO images from discs that your optical drive supports. For example, if you only have a CD drive, you won't be able to make ISO images from DVD or BD discs because your drive won't be able to read the data from them.

There are other free iso image maker you can also use them

 ISODisk, ImgBurn and Free DVD to ISO Maker.