Use Folder2Iso to declutter your hard drive

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Productivity, Freeware

Use Folder2Iso to declutter your hard drive

by Lee Mathews Nov 26th 2008

When I first came across Folder2Iso I wasn't convinced of its usefulness. The author proposes using it in combination with DVD Decrypter and ImgBurn to copy DVDs and CDs, but I'm guessing most of you have a more streamlined system for doing that.

Recently one of our readers wrote in looking for help in tidying up a disorganized hard drive. I thought back to that post, and figured I might be able to use this app to further my organizational efforts.

Instead of leaving multiple folders of installers that I may only require once in a blue moon on my drive, I can use Folder2Iso to quickly convert the whole lot into individual ISO files. If I need and app in a particular category later, I just mount it with Daemon Tools and share it.

My tools folder is quite a bit more streamlined now. Everything I need on a daily basis is in a common folder, and anything else has been dumped to a single ISO file and labeled appropriately.

It's a nice bonus that I can also quickly burn an entire set of tools to give to a friend if I need to using ImgBurn. Folder2Iso is freeware for Windows only.

Tags: iso, organization, virtual-cd

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Peter said 10:20AM on 11-26-2008

How is this even remotely easier than keeping all your tools in one folder, running them when you want and burning the whole folder to disc if needed?

Your way you add the time and trouble of making the ISO and mounting it every time you want to use one of the files.

It also won't save any disk space since the ISO will be the same size as the folder.

Lee Mathews said 11:00AM on 11-26-2008

I'm only talking about addressing clutter. One file < 100 files, so it does tidy things a bit. For infrequently used installers, it's no big deal to mount the iso the one time a month I need it.

Jash Sayani said 12:06PM on 11-26-2008

Nice. Great tool ! Thanks Lee.
Now I can just put my software setup files in a folder and make an ISO for distribution rather than using Nero.

Larry C said 12:09PM on 11-26-2008

I agree w/ @1, and will re-phrase:
How is this even remotely easier than just zipping all your tools / folders into one large zip file? Then, when you need to access an individual file, you can just open the zip and extract it. No messing around with Daemon tools or other iso mounters.

seaotter said 9:50AM on 11-27-2008

Technically, you can put everything into an ISO and still unzip the ISO to find what you want.

Of course the reverse is also true, but this is one option out of many to declutter the hard disk.

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