One of the most used files when working with Windows are ISO images. These images are nothing more than perfect duplicates of the contents of an optical disc, such as a DVD, a CD or a Blu-ray. Microsoft‘s own operating system has the ability to mount images to create virtual drives without using third-party applications. However, on occasion we may get the error “Sorry, there was a problem mounting the file”, so we will see how we can solve it.
Windows 10 incorporates among its tools with its own built-in mounter for ISO files, which we can use through File Explorer. However, this does not always work and when using it, this error may appear. Therefore, today we are going to see what the possible causes may be and what solutions we can try to try to solve it.
Causes of the problem when mounting an ISO file in Windows 10
Although the tool for mounting ISO files that Windows 10 incorporates is quite reliable, there may be various situations where the error “Sorry, there was a problem mounting a file” appears. This may be due to an error related to the ISO file itself that is already mounted or that is not configured as “Read only”. It may also happen that the ISO file is locked or the disk image controller is corrupted, or the ISO image contains a sparse set of attributes. Other problems that may arise is that the motor letters or the microSD card may interfere with the mounting of the image.
Whatever the reason that is causing the error that prevents us from mounting ISO files, then we will proceed to see what possible measures we can take to solve it.
Fix “Sorry there was a problem mounting a file” error
If we have problems when mounting an ISO image with the native tool that Windows 10 provides, try one of the following methods to solve it.
Check if the ISO image is already mounted
Although it may be a no-brainer, it is possible that we are mistakenly trying to mount an ISO image that is already pre-mounted. Typically, when we try to mount an ISO file that is already mounted, Windows 10 opens the mounted folder, which could cause a “Sorry, there was a problem mounting the file” error in some cases.
Therefore, the first and foremost thing is to check if the ISO file is already mounted. The mounted ISO files appear within the This computer section which we can access from the “File Manager”. Here, we can find a new drive created that may correspond to the image file we are trying to mount and that could be the cause of the error. If we want to unmount the image, just right-click on the mounted image and then click on “Eject”.
Restart File Explorer
The first thing to try is to rule out that the Windows 10 File Explorer itself is the cause of the problem. To do this, it is best to restart it, which can help solve the error.
If we want to restart File Explorer, just open the Task Manager. To do this we must press the keyboard shortcut “CTRL + ALT + DEL” or type “task manager” in the search box of the start menu and execute it.
Once the Task Manager window appears, within the “Processes” tab, we find the File Manager application. We right-click on it and a small menu of options will appear, among which we will click on “Restart”.
Check if the ISO file is locked
If we have downloaded our ISO image file from the Internet or have received it by email, it may have been blocked by Windows 10. If the operating system is not sure of the file’s security, it can block this type of files using the File Manager .
To check if the file is locked or unlocked, we must look for the folder that contains the ISO image. Right-click on the ISO file and the context menu will appear, where we must select the “Properties” option.
Once opened, we go to the General tab, and at the bottom we find the “Security” section. Here we must mark the ” Unblock ” check box, and finally, we will click on the “Apply” button.
Uninstall third-party ISO tools from the Registry
If previously we have had third-party applications installed to mount ISO files that we have uninstalled, data about it may still be kept in the Registry. In order to solve it, we must clean the registry entry that is related to the ISO file association. It should be mentioned that the Windows Registry Editor is an elementary piece that any unwanted variation can cause system alterations, so we must use it with caution and under the responsibility of each user.
To do this, we must enter the Registry, using the keyboard shortcut “Windows + R” that will open the “Execute” tool, and write regedit in it. Once this is done, we navigate to the next route
HKEY CLASSES ROOT / ISO
In the event that we verify that there is a third-party problem that we have uninstalled and that is still associated with the ISO extension, we must right-click on the Default entry and replace it with the value ” Windows.IsoFile “. Once this is done, we confirm the changes, restart the computer and check if the problem has been solved.
Use Windows PowerShell
In the event that we cannot access the ISO file through File Explorer, it may be due to a problem with the so-called “sparse flag”, which is responsible for imposing large sections of binary zeros on NTFS partitions. In order to remove the indicator from the ISO file we must use the PowerShell tool.
For this we must write “powershell” in the search box of the start menu and start it as Administrator. Once open we write
fsutil sparse setflag “C:/FilePathFileName.iso” 0
In the event that the path of the ISO file is not in drive C, we must change it to the corresponding drive.
Use third-party programs to make ISO mounts
If none of the possible solutions has not been able to solve the problem, as a remedy we can choose to use a third-party application that helps us to mount ISO files.
PowerISO
This powerful tool will help us to mount ISO files on an internal virtual drive, being able to accept the most used image files such as ISO, BIN, MDF, etc. It will also serve us to be able to open, extract, create, edit, record, compress, divide and encrypt all types of content in ISO files. Its main drawback is that it is a paid application, of which we can download a free trial version from this link.
Alcohol 120%
It is a recording software with support for CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs, to make backup copies of them. It also allows us to store CDs as images and then mount them in one of the 31 virtual drives that it allows us to create on our computer. It is a simple program to use since most of its processes are carried out through wizards that will guide us step by step. We can download a trial version from their website .
