We generally use a certain main operating system on our computer, but we can also install a secondary one or try another one through a virtual machine. We can also use certain ISO images of systems to install them on a computer that does not have this software element.
Thanks to the power of today’s equipment and the available operating systems, we have the possibility to choose many of them. For all this, on many occasions, the aforementioned images in ISO format are used, which greatly facilitate the installation or testing tasks. At the same time, this type of files in particular are not only used to host the aforementioned operating systems, but there are complete applications that are added here.
Whatever its purpose, mounting an image with these characteristics on the system is becoming easier, even if we don’t use external applications. A clear example of all this is the Windows operating system that allows us to mount an ISO directly from the File Explorer . This allows us to create a virtual unit with the content of the image and to be able to operate with it as we need it. We can also load it in a virtual machine to test that system before installing it on the PC permanently.
We even have the possibility to boot computers with these files for later installation from a USB stick , for example. What we want to tell you with all this is that there are multiple uses that we can give to an ISO image right now. But in the same way we recommend you to take certain precautions in order to avoid disappointments in the future .
Scan the ISO with the antivirus to avoid problems
With this, what we want to tell you is that these images are generally made up of a good number of files contained. Therefore, on certain occasions and as is usual with all types of files, ISOs may have some malicious code inside them. Likewise, when mounting the image, or uploading it to a PC for later installation, we may be adding these malware without realizing it. This is something similar to what happens with compressed .ZIP files that antiviruses often scan by default.
Well, we should do something similar with these images before we start using them. This is something that is especially evident if we have downloaded that file from an unreliable source on the Internet. The same happens if we receive it from an unknown user and we have certain doubts. At this point, for example, it is worth mentioning that this analysis we are referring to can be easily carried out in Windows. Obviously, the scan as such should be done before mounting the ISO on the system or loading it on any other computer.
For this, what we tell you, what we do is open a File Explorer window and place ourselves in the disk location where we have it saved. In the Redmond system, all we have to do is right-click on the ISO and select the option called Examine with Windows Defender .
From that moment on, the default antivirus of the Microsoft system will start and will analyze the entire content of the image. In this way we make sure that it is clean before mounting the ISO or loading it on any other computer.