An ISO is a teensy weensie little "snapshot" of what will be laid onto the data device. The thing to remember is that once they are an ISO, they cannot be edited, but must be laid on in entirety, or loop mounted where we can see them in read only style. If we want to change something in them, we must loop mount, copy the contents to a temorary location and then edit away, recreate the ISO and lay her on to whatever we need, DVD, CD, or USB. They come in two flavors - iso for DVD and iso for CD. NOTE: An iso file can be created from the command line via the dd command, or via mkisofs. You can usually right click on the desktop and choose this option from the drop-down menu. Type "dd if=/dev/cdrom of=/cdrom_image.iso" You can happily download an ISO for installation, and loop mount, copy the source and recreate a new ISO file for cdrecord/dvdrecord to a CD/DVD "mount -o loop cdrom_image.iso /mnt/disk" "mkdir /tmp/builddir" "cp -R -p /mnt/disk/ /tmp/builddir" "joe /etc/hosts" or /etc/passwd /etc/shadow (or whatever) Then use: "dd if=/tmp/builddir of=/special_ISO_image.iso" Or use: "mkisofs -o special_ISO_image -r -J -hfs /tmp/builddir/" to get the right formatting.... Then lay her on: "cdrecord dev=0,0,0 -data speed=48 special_ISO_image.iso" ISO's go good on USB: http://ids.surfnet.nl/wiki/doku.php?id=sensor:bootable_usb-stick This is especially good to know for mass customizations for various reasons, ahem! After playing with ISO's once really truely appreciatees the importance of MD checksums and sanitary sources (forget that we all pass around media all the time...laugh)! Architect Mike Enriquez wrote: I am trying to understand how to take an ISO file and create a boot CD from it. www.obnosis.com (503)754-4452 http://despair.com/limitations.html "Contradictions do not exist." A. Rand -- www.obnosis.com (503)754-4452 http://despair.com/limitations.html "Contradictions do not exist." A. Rand --------------------------------------------------- PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: http://lists.PLUG.phoenix.az.us/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss