copy ISO to desktop

456 · Feb 25, 2019

If you want to copy an ISO file on a USB to your Mac desktop and keep it as an ISO file.....if you right clik it gives many options among them is duplicate and copy.
I did the copy one and it made a folder and copied all the files to it. It took 5 minutes. Is that good or should I have picked duplicate.?? I tried Duplicate after just to see what would happen and it appeared to do the same thing. what do you say??

MacInWin · Feb 25, 2019

Normally when you copy an iso, it just copies as a file. Did it ask for a name for this folder? I just copied an iso from a USB drive to the desktop and it copied just like any other file, as expected. The name of the file on the Desktop is the same as the name on the USB. The icon for the copied file looks like a sheet of paper with a corner folded and the picture of a drive on it.

ferrarr · Feb 25, 2019

Did you double click on the iso file while it was on the USB?

456 · Feb 25, 2019

mine copied into a blue folder on the desktop. All the files on the USB are also in the folder. I named it something easy to remember and put .iso at the end. THis should work,no?
I can do it again if needed..no big deal..

MacInWin · Feb 25, 2019

No, a folder is not an .iso. You need to repeat the process, but this time don't mount or open the iso before you make the copy. Just copy the .iso file as is. I take it you are trying to install Ubuntu? If so, it must be the .iso or it most likely won't install.

MacInWin · Feb 25, 2019

Or did you copy the contents of the iso to the USB stick instead of copying the iso file itself? Either way, to get to the iso, you need to copy it as a file, not opened.

456 · Feb 26, 2019

so what is Duplicate for?

MacInWin · Feb 26, 2019

Duplicate creates a second copy of that file, with the addition at the end of the name of "copy." So if you have filename.ext and select Duplicate, you now have both filename.ext and filename copy.ext. Duplicate is useful if you want to do some edit of the file but keep the original without risk. You do the work on the copy, and if you like it, save it back, get rid of the original and rename the copy back to the original name. (Or you can Save As and put it in place of the original and delete the copy version, your choice.) Copy, on the other hand, simply says to Finder to get ready to create a second version of that file in a different location. So you would use Copy to select the file, then go where you want it to be, and Paste it there.

ferrarr · Feb 26, 2019

MacInWin said:
Duplicate creates a second copy of that file, with the addition at the end of the name of "copy." So if you have filename.ext and select Duplicate, you now have both filename.ext and filename copy.ext. Duplicate is useful if you want to do some edit of the file but keep the original without risk. You do the work on the copy, and if you like it, save it back, get rid of the original and rename the copy back to the original name. (Or you can Save As and put it in place of the original and delete the copy version, your choice.) Copy, on the other hand, simply says to Finder to get ready to create a second version of that file in a different location. So you would use Copy to select the file, then go where you want it to be, and Paste it there.

Duplicate duplicates all selected files/folders/data.

456 · Feb 26, 2019

I copied the drive icon and pasted it on the dektop and it still made a blue folder for it. I dont think thats a problem. Any program can find an iso by whats in it. I know the iso is good cause I have tried it in a live session.

ferrarr · Feb 26, 2019

But it may no longer be an iso, depending how you copied/moved/duplicated the iso file.

456 · Feb 26, 2019

I dont think so. I copied it properly.

MacInWin · Feb 26, 2019

If it copied, the copy would be an iso, not a folder. That's what we have been trying to say. Now, you can always give it a go to see if you can use it as an installer, but it's not an iso, so it may well fail.

456 · Feb 26, 2019

you mean its a boot device..thats true I will copy the iso ..

MacInWin · Feb 26, 2019

What I was saying was that if you are using it to install Ubuntu in VB (which I think you are), VB may not recognize a folder as an iso from which it can install the OS. A folder is not an iso. Doesn't matter if it's a bootable iso or not.

456 · Feb 26, 2019

I got the iso from my old PC and it copied fine to desktop.No folder.I had been copying a bootable iso which is much different.I got the right icon now.

pm-r · Feb 26, 2019

I got the right icon now.

- Patrick
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