- Sep 29, 2005 dmg stands for Disk Image. When you open them, it mounts what appears to be a disk drive on the desktop, alongside cds, dvds and hard drives. You then open up this disk image and take out /copy what ever was in it to your hard disk. Once you have finished with them, 'eject' the disk by trashing it.
- Mar 13, 2018 But before proceeding with the ways to open or view a DMG file, it is better if we have a thorough knowledge of what a DMG file exactly is. DMG files are actually Mac OS disk image files. It is very similar to ISO files in windows, or rather a counterpart of ISO files.
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May 02, 2019 Dmg is a disk image familiar to many that is widely used in macOS due to its ability to compress a large file without losing its quality. But, most of the standard Windows software and third-party utilities do not support this view because of what it is necessary to resort to third-party methods for converting this postscript.
Disk Utility User Guide
You can use Disk Utility to create a disk image, which is a file that contains other files and folders.
Note: You can burn information to a CD or DVD using the Burn command in the Finder. See Burn CDs and DVDs.
Create a blank disk image for storage
You can create an empty disk image, add data to it, then use it to create disks, CDs, or DVDs.
- In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose File > New Image > Blank Image.
- Enter a filename for the disk image, add tags if necessary, then choose where to save it.This is the name that appears in the Finder, where you save the disk image file before opening it.
- In the Name field, enter the name for the disk image.This is the name that appears on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar, after you open the disk image.
- In the Size field, enter a size for the disk image.
- Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose the format for the disk:
- If the disk image will be used with a Mac that has a solid state drive (SSD) and uses macOS 10.13 or later, choose APFS or APFS (Case-sensitive).
- If the disk image will be used with a Mac with macOS 10.12 or earlier, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).
- If the disk image will be used with a Mac or Windows computer and is 32 GB or less, choose MS-DOS (FAT); if it’s over 32 GB, choose ExFAT.
- To encrypt the disk image, click the Encryption pop-up menu, then choose an encryption option.
- Click the Partitions pop-up menu, then choose a partition layout.
- Click the Image Format pop-up menu, then choose an option:
- Sparse bundle disk image: Same as a sparse disk image (below), but the directory data for the image is stored differently. Uses the .sparsebundle file extension.
- Sparse disk image: Creates an expandable file that shrinks and grows as needed. No additional space is used. Uses the .sparseimage file extension.
- Read/write disk image: Allows you to add files to the disk image after it’s created. Uses the .dmg file extension.
- DVD/CD master: Changes the size of the image to 177 MB (CD 8 cm). Uses the .cdr file extension.
- Click Save, then click Done.Disk Utility creates the disk image file where you saved it in the Finder and mounts its disk icon on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.
- In the Finder, copy your files to the mounted disk image, then eject it.
- Restore the disk image to a disk.For more information about disk image types, see the manual (man) page for hdiutil.
Create a disk image from a disk or connected device
You can create a disk image that includes the data and free space on a physical disk or connected device, such as a USB device. For example, if a USB device or volume is 80 GB with 10 GB of data, the disk image will be 80 GB in size and include data and free space. You can then restore that disk image to another volume.
- In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, select a disk, volume, or connected device in the sidebar.
- Choose File > New Image, then choose “Image from [device name].”
- Enter a filename for the disk image, add tags if necessary, then choose where to save it.This is the name that appears in the Finder, where you save the disk image file before opening it.
- Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose an option:
- Read-only: The disk image can’t be written to, and is quicker to create and open.
- Compressed: Compresses data, so the disk image is smaller than the original data. The disk image is read-only.
- Read/write: Allows you to add files to the disk image after it’s created.
- DVD/CD master: Can be used with third-party apps. It includes a copy of all sectors of the disk image, whether they’re used or not. When you use a master disk image to create other DVDs or CDs, all data is copied exactly.
- Os x 10.11 dmg file. To encrypt the disk image, click the Encryption pop-up menu, then choose an encryption option.
- Click Save, then click Done.Disk Utility creates the disk image file where you saved it in the Finder and mounts its disk icon on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.
Important: Don’t create a disk image of a disk that you believe to be failing or that contains corrupted information. The disk image may not serve as a reliable backup.
For technical information about creating a restore disk image, see the Apple Software Restore (ASR) manual (man) page.
Create a disk image from a folder or connected device
You can create a disk image that contains the contents of a folder or connected device, such as a USB device. This method doesn’t copy a device’s free space to the disk image. For example, if a USB device or volume is 80 GB with 10 GB of data, the disk image will be 10 GB in size and include only data, not free space. You can then restore that disk image to another volume.
- In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose File > New Image, then choose Image from Folder.
- Select the folder or connected device in the dialog that appears, then click Open.
- Enter a filename for the disk image, add tags if necessary, then choose where to save it.This is the name that appears in the Finder, where you save the disk image file before opening it.
- To encrypt the disk image, click the Encryption pop-up menu, then choose an encryption option.
- Click the Image Format pop-up menu, then choose an option:
- Read-only: The disk image can’t be written to, and is quicker to create and open.
- Compressed: Compresses data, so the disk image is smaller than the original data. The disk image is read-only.
- Read/write: Allows you to add files to the disk image after it’s created.
- DVD/CD master: Can be used with third-party apps. It includes a copy of all sectors of the disk image, whether they’re used or not. When you use a master disk image to create other DVDs or CDs, all data is copied exactly.
- Hybrid image (HFS+/ISO/UDF): This disk image is a combination of disk image formats and can be used with different file system standards, such as HFS, ISO, and UDF.
- Click Save, then click Done.Disk Utility creates the disk image file where you saved it in the Finder and mounts its disk icon on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.
For technical information about creating a restore disk image, see the Apple Software Restore (ASR) manual (man) page.
Create a secure disk image
If you have confidential documents that you don’t want others to see without your permission, you can put them in an encrypted disk image.
Note: If you want to protect the contents of the system disk, turn on FileVault using the FileVault pane of Security & Privacy Preferences.
- In the Disk Utility app on your Mac, choose File > New Image > Blank Image.The third option is to right-click on the DMG file and open with the PeaZip archive utility.Step 3: Once you have the file open in PeaZip, you will be able to view the contents and copy them to another location if you require. How to get the dmg file. Depending on the type of files inside the DMG, you will require different applications to open individual files.Cons:.
- Enter a filename for the disk image, add tags if necessary, then choose where to save it.This is the name that appears in the Finder, where you save the disk image file before opening it.
- In the Name field, enter the name for the disk image.This is the name that appears on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar, after you open the disk image.
- In the Size field, enter a size for the disk image.
- Click the Format pop-up menu, then choose a format:
- If you’re using the encrypted disk image with a Mac computer using macOS 10.13 or later, choose APFS or APFS (Case-sensitive).
- If you’re using the encrypted disk image with a Mac computer using macOS 10.12 or earlier, choose Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled).
- Click the Encryption pop-up menu, then choose an encryption option.
- Enter and re-enter a password to unlock the disk image, then click Choose.WARNING: If you forget this password, you won’t be able to open the disk image and view any of the files.
- Use the default settings for the rest of the options:
- Click the Partitions pop-up menu, then choose Single partition - GUID Partition Map.
- Click the Image Format pop-up menu, then choose “read/write” disk image.
- Click Save, then click Done.Disk Utility creates the disk image file where you saved it in the Finder and mounts its disk icon on your desktop and in the Finder sidebar.
- In the Finder , copy the documents you want to protect to the disk image.
- If you want to erase the original documents so they can’t be recovered, drag them to the Trash, then choose Finder > Empty Trash.
When you’re finished using the documents on the secure disk image, be sure to eject the disk image. As long as it’s available on your desktop, anyone with access to your computer can use the documents on it.
To access the data in a disk image, double-click it. It appears on your desktop, and you can add, remove, and edit files on it just as you would with a disk.
See alsoAdd a checksum to a disk image using Disk Utility on MacVerify that a disk image’s data isn’t corrupted using Disk Utility on MacRestore a disk image to a disk using Disk Utility on MacConvert a disk image to another format using Disk Utility on Mac
If you are an avid Mac user using a Windows PC, and suddenly find a DMG file in your windows system, you would definitely want to open it up to see what it contains. Though the installation files or compressed files it contains will not be compatible with your windows PC, yet there are some ways you can check out what it withholds. But before proceeding with the ways to open or view a DMG file, it is better if we have a thorough knowledge of what a DMG file exactly is. DMG files are actually Mac OS disk image files. It is very similar to ISO files in windows, or rather a counterpart of ISO files.
The images usually comprise installation files of softwares and operating systems and sometimes, compressed files. Since you are using a windows PC, surely you won't be able to run it on your Window OS, but at least there are ways by which you can have a look at its contents. And that is what we are going to discuss in this article - ways to view the DMG files on Windows 10/7/8.
Way #1: Open DMG Files on Windows with 7-ZIP
7-ZIP is a lightweight freeware which is easily available on the internet market. It not only extracts DMG files but all other of compressed files, such as ZIP, CAB, ISO, RAR, WIM, etc. But we would restrict our discussion here only upto DMG. Read the steps below to know the tool's usage:
Step 1. Download the 7-ZIP program file in any of your working computer and install it.
Step 2. After installation is done, locate the DMG file that you wish to open or view in your directory or desktop, and right-click on it.
Step 3. From the context menu, click on '7-ZIP' which will not appear as a part of your system since installed.
Step 4. From the next sub-menu that follows click on 'Open archive' and your DMG file will be opened and you can view the contents inside.
Cons:
- You cannot view or extract files bigger than 4 GB.
- You cannot view or extract encrypted files.
- You are only allowed to extract 5 DMG files at a time.
Way #2: Open DMG Files with DMG Extractor
DMG Extractor is another professional tool to open and extract .dmg files without first converting them into .iso or .img files. It's interface is very user-friendly and even a beginner can use it without any difficulty. Just go through the steps below to pull off the task:
Step 1. First of all, download the DMG extractor program file from the internet and install it in your personal Windows PC.
Step 2. Run the application with admin rights and in the main UI of the tool's screen, click on 'open' button in the upper menu bar to browse the required DMG file. The file will be loaded into the software's screen.
Step 3. After the file is loaded, you will be displayed all the contents contained within the DMG file.
Cons:
- You cannot view or extract files bigger than 4 GB.
- You cannot view or extract encrypted files.
- You are only allowed to extract 5 DMG files at a time.
![How Do I Open A Dmg File With Disk Utility How Do I Open A Dmg File With Disk Utility](/uploads/1/2/6/1/126170827/305802105.jpg)
Way #3: View DMG files on Windows with PowerISO
PowerISO is yet another very powerful professional tool which can open, burn, extract, create, edit, convert, any kind of disk image files. It can process every kind of image files, be it BIN, DMG, ISO, DAA, etc. Here we would burn the image file into a CD/DVD or USB and then will open it from the disk storage to check out what it contains. But before you head on the tool's usage, better have a look at its specifications to use it in a better way.
Step 1. Get the program file downloaded from the official website and install it in your Windows computer.
Step 2. Launch the utility with admin privileges and then insert a empty Disk (CD/DVD or USB) in your computer.
Step 3. Click on 'Tools' button from the menu bar and then click on 'Burn' option from the drop-down menu.
Step 4. Now the 'DMG Burner' option will be shown in the PowerISO Window's screen.
Step 5. Click on 'Browse' button to fetch the required DMG files from your computer's directory.
Step 6. Select the burning speed from the dialog box and then finally click on 'Burn' button to start the burning process.
Step 7. Once the image is burnt in your disk, open the disk from 'My computer' and click on the DMG file to view what it contains.
Conclusion:
After going through all the methods mentioned above, you must have realized by now that the first two tools implemented have got several demerits and thus can be not relied upon fully. So in order to have all the facilities with disk images, better stick to way 3 for a guarantee result.
How Do I Open A Dmg File With Disk Utility Windows 10
Mar.13 2018 15:17 PM / Posted by Elva Xiao to Windows