Windows 8 Adds .ISO and .VHD Mount Support

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I have a pretty huge library of Microsoft products.  Those products were downloaded from my TechNet Subscription in .ISO form.  A few of those .ISO files are burned to physical media but in general it’s only the OS images I need for bare metal installs.  The rest of the library is typically used for testing and demonstrating Microsoft products here on my blog, customer meetings, conferences and seminars.

Like many of you, I have often needed to crack open the .ISO or .VHD file to check something in the structure, a file version, or something else.  I’ve always resorted to a variety of tools and utilities to create, burn or mount .ISO files.

Thankfully some new support is coming to Windows.  The Windows engineering team has detailed what will be provided in Windows 8 at the https://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/08/30/accessing-data-in-iso-and-vhd-files.aspx blog post.

Be sure to read Rajeev Nagar’s description of the feature and support that is coming. Enjoy!