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.
Apr 20, 2018 Simply do the following steps: Switch your mac off by selecting Apple Shut Down. Press the Power button and hold down Command + R keys combination. When the load bar appears on the screen, release the keys. Choose Disk Utility and click on Continue. Select Utilities Terminal. Enter a reset.
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.
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.
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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.
Related Articles & Tips
So you downloaded an .iso image, and now you want to convert it to .dmg format? How can I convert .dmg to a Windows-compatible .iso on Mac? Don’t bother downloading any third party software, you can easily convert .dmg to .iso or .iso to .dmg format using the Terminal or Disk Utility on Mac OS X.
Method 1: Convert Between .DMG and .ISO Using Terminal
Mac OS X has a command line tool called hdiutil which allows you to create, mount and convert different types of disk image with ease. Here’s how to convert .dmg to .iso format using the Terminal:
- Just press Ctrl + Alt + T on your keyboard to open the Terminal.
- Enter the following command into the Terminal window, assuming that you’ve put the .dmg file on your desktop.
hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o ~/Desktop/filename.iso ~/Desktop/filename.dmgWhen the process finishes, you’ll get an ISO image that is compatible with Windows, Linux, Ubuntu and Mac.
If you need to convert a disk image from .iso to .dmg, just execute the following command in the Terminal window:hdiutil convert ~/Desktop/filename.iso -format UDRW -o ~/Desktop/filename.dmg
Sit back and wait for the process to complete.
Method 2: Convert Between .DMG and .ISO Using Disk Utility
- Just launch Disk Utility (in /Applications/Utilities). In the menu bar at the top of the screen, select Images -> Convert.
- Browse to the .DMG or ISO file you would like to convert, select it and click on the Choose button.
- In the pop-up window, select Desktop as your destination. In order to convert .dmg to .iso, make sure to choose DVD/CD master as the Image Format. Click on Convert.
If you want to convert .iso to .dmg, set the Image Format to “compressed” instead. Click on Convert and you’ll have a .dmg file ready to use.
- Simply rename the converted .cdr file to .ISO and you’ll get a Mac-compatible .ISO image. However, a renamed file won’t work on Windows or Linux. To make a Windows/Linux/Mac compatible .ISO file, you have to convert the .cdr file to .iso format using this command:
hdiutil makehybrid -iso -joliet -o ~/Desktop/filename.iso ~/Desktop/filename.cdr
Conclusion
DMG is a disk image format commonly used by Mac OS X, but it’s practically unusable on Windows or Linux platform. After converting .dmg to .iso on your MacOS, you can copy it to any Windows or Linux computer for burning or mounting.