To write this article, I was "knocked down", so to speak, by a user question on one fairly well-known computer forum... The bottom line is this: the guy downloaded an image of a certain one to his computer, which weighed about 10 GB. The problem itself lies in the fact that he simply could not open this image with the help of one well-known program for reading images. Why? In fact, everything is simple - images in the DMG format are created exclusively on Apple computers, so they are intended for PCs and laptops using MAC OS.
What to do, how to be? There are actually a few simple tricks that allow you to open DMG on various operating systems. And you can be convinced of this right now by reading this article to the end.
UltraIso (Windows)
For the operating room Windows systems(from XP to 8) UltraIso can be used, the main functions of which are to create, edit and convert various formats of CD and DVD images. It can also burn and emulate discs.
One of the main features of UltraIso is support for a huge number of image formats (over 30): .ccd, iso, .img, .pxi, .dmg, bwi, .bwt, .b5t and so on.
UltraIso functionality:
- Creation of optical images, hard drives, USB sticks, floppy disks.
- Create images from files that are located directly on your hard drive or CD / DVD-drive.
- There is the ability to add, create and delete files inside the image.
- Joliet and ISO 9660 support.
- Optimization of the image structure.
- Support for a huge number of languages, including Russian.
- Using the own ISZ format, which, although it has a number of disadvantages, is supported third party programs to create and edit images.
The only thing that does not suit some users is the cost of the program, which at the time of this writing is $ 29.95. However, the developers allow you to try UltraIso in a trial mode, which should be enough for you.
Apple Disk Utility (MAC OS)
Apple Disk Utility is actually a utility included with Mac OS, so it must be present on your MAC OS computer.
Apple Disk Utility is the primary storage management tool for MAC OS. It is located in the following directory: / Applications / Utilities / Disk Utility.
In addition to working with the DMG format, the utility has the following functions:
- Manages hard drives, from formatting to error correction and disk partitioning.
- Provides information about all drives that are in this moment connected to a computer.
- Works with CD / DVD-disks, allowing not only to read information from them, but also to format disks or write data to them.
- Creates RAID arrays.
HFSExplorer (Windows, MAC OS, Linux)
Users of all operating systems can use HFSExplorer - this is the main feature of this utility. In particular, it "sees" disks in the HFS + format, which are used, among other things, on MAC OS and iPods. The program allows you to view the contents of the disk in a sort of explorer-type browser.
Most often HFSExplorer is used by Intel Macs users who run Windows through Boot Camp, as well as by MAC emulators who want to see the contents of their disks from the outside.
HFSExplorer is distributed free of charge.
How to open DMG. We open with UltraISO
Before we figure out how to open the DMG format, let's first find out what this format is and what it is generally used for. So, files with the .dmg extension are nothing more than a disk image in the operating room. Mac system OS X is a special operating system that is used only on Apple computers. And since many computer users very often face the problem of opening this type of file on their computer, on which the Windows operating system is installed in most cases, in today's article we will consider with you a simple, and most importantly convenient way with which you can easily open files .dmg format.
How to open dmg file?
As surprising as it may be, to solve this problem we will use the well-known program UltraISO. But first, you will need to download this program from the Internet and install it on your computer, and only after that you can proceed directly to solving the problem with opening files this format... So, we launch the program and see the main window in front of us. V top menu select File and select the "Open" item in the drop-down menu:
Move on. You should open a window to select the folder on your computer where the file is located.dmg. Using the explorer, we find the folder we need and select the file you need. If, for example, in the folder with the one you need.dmg file contains many other files or folders, you can sort the display of files with the extension you need by selecting it from the drop-down menu:
After you have found the file, select it by clicking on it with the left mouse button, and click on the Open button. This will open the contents of this document:
How to extract data from a filedmg and open them?
After you have opened the contents of the file and saw there useful information for yourself, the question arises, but how to extract it from there. In fact, the answer to this question is very simple. To do this, click right click mouse on the file or folder that you want to extract and in the appeared context menu select the item "extract to ...":
After that, select the folder on your hard drive where you want to put the extracted data fromdmg file and confirm this action. At the end of the process, all data will appear in the folder you specified.
A DMG file is a disk image created in Mac OS. Analogue in Windows environment is the image in ISO format... Since this format is used on Apple computers, the question of how to open DMG in Windows or Linux environment causes serious difficulties for users. However, in practice, the problem is quickly resolved: it is enough to know which programs can read the DMG format to open the image on Windows or Linux.
Using the 7-Zip archiver
If the 7-Zip archiver is installed on your computer, use it to view the contents of the image. WinRAR program it does not provide such an opportunity, but the powerful 7-Zip copes with the task successfully.
You will not be able to mount the disk or add new data to it - only viewing and extracting the contents. You can use other programs: free archiver PeaZip, DMG Extractor (limited to 4 GB in free version), AnyToISO Converter (limited to 870 MB in free version) or Magic ISO Maker.
Viewing via UltraISO
The UltraISO program is actually paid, but it has a fully functional demo period of work, which should be enough to perform simple actions with the DMG file. The advantage of UltraISO over 7-Zip is the ability to add / remove files from the image.
You can mount the disk, but its contents will not be displayed in the Windows environment just like that. The problem is eliminated by converting, which is performed by means of the UltraISO program.
The conversion time depends on the size of the source file. After completing the procedure, you need to open the resulting ISO image in UltraISO and mount it into a virtual drive.
Opening DMG on Ubuntu
There are a lot of Linux assemblies, but we'll see how to open DMG on Ubuntu - one of the most popular Linux systems.
Instead of Mounty, you can use other imaging applications such as AcetoneISO. The idea of work is the same: you specify the path to the file, and then mount the image, after which you can work with it as with a regular optical disk.
Converting to ISO on Mac OS
In order not to suffer with the search for suitable applications, it is better to convert DMG to ISO on Mac OS in advance. If you have a Mac computer at hand, then this operation will require a few steps:
- Start a terminal.
- Run the command "hdiutil convert image-path.dmg -format UDTO -o image-path.iso".
After completing the operation, you will receive a regular ISO image that can be opened on any computer, whatever system is installed on it.
From time to time, users come across files in the DMG format, but they do not understand how to open the DMG and find out the contents of a particular document.
Moreover, it can be various films, games, music or photographs - when the user downloads something from this, he discovers that the file he has downloaded has the extension DMG.
Of course, most users come across this for the first time and at first do not know what to do with it.
On the Internet, you can even come across the opinion that a file in the DMG format is a kind of virus that it is better not to mess with. In fact, this is just a myth.
Therefore, it would be useful to consider how to open a DMG and whether it is as difficult as it might seem at first glance.
Before you understand how to open these files, you must first understand what they are all about. Any DMG file is a disk image.
This means that the information is recorded as if on a regular CD or DVD disc, but without the blank itself.
Only it is used not in Windows, but in Mac OS X. Such images in Windows carry the ISO extension.
Chances are now ordinary users it became clearer what this DMG format is, but the question of how to open a document in this format remains open.
How to work with DMG
In Mac OS X, any file with this format can be opened with a double click. But in the Windows that is familiar to all of us, everything is somewhat more complicated. Here it can be opened in one of the following ways:
- One of the free utilities for opening DMG.
Let's consider each of these methods in more detail.
7-zip archiver
In fact, the archiver is almost a universal tool that can recognize and open a wide variety of extensions, not only for reading, but also for full-fledged work with them - copying, deleting, changing content and other manipulations.
The same goes for DMG. The process of opening itself is absolutely standard and consists in pressing "File" in the main window (highlighted in Figure 1), and then selecting the command "Open" in the drop-down menu.
The pictures below show how all this happens.
What to do if such an archiver is not installed on your computer? No problem! It can be downloaded and installed within minutes.
This is the official site. On this page we need to choose one of two options - for 32-bit or for 64-bit. They are for different systems depending on the bit depth.
If you have Windows 7 or higher, choose the 64-bit version.
On the download page, click on the "Download" button next to the desired document, after which the download will begin.
To install the archiver, you just need to run it and follow all the instructions.
The disadvantage of this method is that in order to edit a file, you need to extract it from the image.
This means that you cannot edit something and leave it in the image in a modified form. Basically, the same goes for the following methods.
Free utilities
In fact, to open a file in the format DMG, there are more than one special program... But the paradox is that they all work in exactly the same way as the aforementioned 7-zip archiver.
With their help, you also cannot change the contents of the image itself. Any file can be edited, but it will remain the same in the image.
But the user will be able to take all the necessary information.
One of the most popular programs in this category is the DMG Extractor.
Such a program looks quite standard. Moreover, its interface is very similar to the most common archiver.
True, there is a button "Extract", that is, "Extract", which, in fact, allows you to take the contents of the image and use it at your discretion.
The DMG Extractor interface looks like the one shown in Figure # 4.
As you can see, in the figure, the numbers indicate the buttons. Their meanings are as follows:
- Open file. By clicking on this button, the already familiar dialog appears for choosing the location of the file, the format of which is DMG.
- Extract file. In order to use this function, you just need to click on the file in the image and click on this button. After that, three options will be available:
- all files in the last location;
- all files in ... (assumes that the user chooses their location);
- selected files in ...
- Write to creators.
- Help.
In general, there is nothing complicated here, and, as we can see, this terrible format is quite amenable to viewing and editing.
On home page you can find a large button "Download free edition now", that is, "Download free version now".
There is also a paid edition, the minus of the free one is that it will not be able to process images that weigh more than 4 GB.
None of the versions operating system Windows does not support the DMG file format. Therefore, for those who have already downloaded files with the .dmg extension and want to open them, it will also be necessary to install on a computer or laptop one of the programs that will be discussed in this article.
Let's take a look at three free tools for opening DMG in Windows 7 and 8.
DMG Extractor
DMG Extractor is probably the first and only tool dedicated exclusively to opening DMG files in Windows. Using this particular program avoids converting .dmg files to other formats.The only catch with the free version of DMG Extractor is that it can open a DMG file no larger than 4GB, but this shouldn't be a problem for most users.
DMG Extractor is very easy to use. First, download (the file is located a little lower in the same article) and install it on your computer. After that, right-click on the DMG file and select “ To open with» → « DMG Extractor».
Download DMG Extractor free
HFSExplorer
The second free program to open DMG files. It is less popular because it also requires Java SE Runtime Environment 5.0 or higher to be installed. And this is a waste of time.Also, noteworthy, HFSExplorer does not support all types of DMG format. Which ones, unfortunately, I cannot specify. But this program has its own plus - it has no restrictions on the amount of memory of disk image formats, unlike DMG Extractor.