Difference

[halenrauch]

Just to put things into proper perspective I have never used this program or otherwise burned an ISO to a DVD/created a bootable disk from it, I couldn't be more of a beginner.  I picked up a used PC (from a certified MS rebuilder, I do not suspect any hardware issues), I did not want the HDD or the O/S on it, I am trying to get an updated version of Win 7 Ultimate on to a freshly NTFS-formatted ssd and get it running in this machine (I have the original media from MS but it is pretty old and i would be doing Windows updates all day).  I have drivers for HP's main board on a jump drive, I am ready to go except for getting Win 7 onto the DVD in bootable form, actually I think I may have that now, but let me ask a question that my go a long ways for me.  On the main screen of this program, in the mode that has the graphics (like the one showing a folder on the L and a R pointing arrow pointing to a disc on the R), what is the difference between "Create image file from files/folders" and "Write image file to disc"?  The first time I tried the former, at the end of the process it opened my CD/DVD burner door (I do not have that option checked), with a message to manually close it, so I did and then the program seemed to start the process over from the start - this didn't seem right so I stopped that (I think maybe it was some sort of finalization process and I probably should have let it go).  I tried again, this time I chose the other option, "Write image file to disc".  It did the same thing at the end of the process but this time I let it go and it seems I now have a bootable DVD with Windows 7 on it, I put that in the DVD burner and rebooted the PC and it loaded Windows install program.  Why would I have wanted to choose "Create image file from files/folder", though, as others have advised me to do?

[LIGHTNING UK!]

If you’ve download an iso (disc image file), you’d want to use the ‘write image file to disc’ option to burn it. The program reads a chunk from the iso and writes it directly to disc.

 

If you’ve got (for example) a few folders full of files that you want to burn to disc, you’d use the ‘write files/folders to disc’ option.

 

Think of an iso as a box or something. You can opt to ‘create image file from files/folders’ so it’s easier to deal with when you’re ready to burn it to disc.