DMG is a disk image format for Mac just like an ISO file in Windows. That means, it is possible to mount a DMG file on a virtual disk or write it to a DVD and access its contents. A macOS installation package with DMG extension enables creating bootable installer DVDs. My first experience with burning a DMG file to DVD was actually on Windows, back in 2013, when Mountain Lion was the operating system. I accidentally formatted the hard disk of my iMac and lost the recovery partition in the process. The only option left for me was buying an OS X Lion Installer disc as the Internet Recovery required a lot of bandwidth and time. Later, I found a way to burn macOS DMG file to a bootable DVD on my Windows laptop. Eventually, I restored my iMac to OS X 10.8 using the same DVD as macOS installation disc.
Steps to burn DMG file to a bootable macOS DVD in Windows
DMG is used for disk image files on Macintosh computers running Mac OS X. This file extension replaces the older file extension IMG which was discontinued during the release of later series of Mac operating systems.
This is about burning a Mac OS X installer in DMG format (InstallESD.DMG) to a DVD in Windows environment. Please note that it’s an old method applicable for Mac OS X Mountain Lion. However, the procedure is somewhat same if you download a compatible macOS High sierra or Catalina in DMG format for Transmac on Windows.
Let’s see the steps and requirements to achieve what you see in the video.
- Get macOS Installer in DMG format. (Check below for macOS High Sierra and Catalina)
- In the video we use OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion downloaded from the Mac app store. You could also find a copy from the Internet.
- Install the free Windows application 7-ZIP (download) to extract and locate InstallESD.DMG, which includes all files to form a bootable macOS DVD.
- Now, download and install TransMac version 12 (15-day trial) for Windows 10 from this link.
- Run Transmac app as administrator, by right-clicking on its icon.
- Click on the File tab at the top, and select the option “Open Disk Image” to load macOS installer DMG file to the software.
- Find the DMG file loaded on the left side, right-click on it and choose to burn it to DVD.
- Once you write InstallESD.DMG file to DVD on Windows, load it to a Mac and start it.
- Press the Option key and select the listed DVD as your installation source.
The macOS High Sierra and Catalina DMG files have a size around 5.8 and 8 GB. For this file size you need a dual-layer (8.5 GB) DVD. Alternatively, if your Mac doesn’t have a DVD drive, You may consider making a macOS USB installer disk
.
Make a macOS install DVD in Windows PC from DMG/ISO image
Apple has changed the file architecture of the macOS installer from OS X Mavericks 10.9. Hence, you cannot follow the above-given technique to directly extract InstallESD.DMG in Windows and make it a bootable DVD in newer macOS variants like Catalina and High Sierra. It is possible to locate InstallESD.DMG or Basesystem.DMG from the ‘Shared Support’ folder inside macOS installation package ending with .APP extension, but still, you cannot make it bootable for a USB or DVD.
A workaround for this problem is to create the DMG file in a Mac itself from the official macOS installer. However, most people searching for methods to burn macOS DVD on Windows don’t have a Mac in working state. We have converted macOS Catalina, Mojave and High Sierra app to DMG format for such users.
This upload is hosted on OneDrive for quick and easy downloads. Although Mojave is the newest macOS release, it is not compatible with older iMacs and MacBook Pros. Hence, we also provide High Sierra in DMG format for those who want it. For personal use on your Mac only. We will set an expiry date for the download link to prevent leaching and hot-linking.
Convert the downloaded macOS Mojave or High Sierra DMG to ISO or IMG
You may want macOS in ISO or IMG format if Transmac doesn’t work as expected to create Install DVD from DMG. It is also useful for running MacOS on Virtualbox.
Download DMG to IMG 1.6.7.
Extract the tool to the folder where you have macOS Mojave or High Sierra DMG installer. Then, right-click and open the DMG file and point to the DMG2IMG program. The conversation starts immediately, showing the progress in a command-line interface.
Windows 10 natively support mounting or burning files with ISO and IMG extensions. Hence, IMG is just enough for the purpose if burning DMG to DVD in Windows PC is the sole requirement. to do this, right-click on the IMG file and pick the option “bun to DVD disc,” and follow the instructions.
We also have an article on how to convert macOS to ISO on Mac and Windows.
Alternative options to burn DMG in Windows 10 without DVD drive.
If you have I an old iMac or MacBook Pro with a DVD slot, you may use the above method to restore macOS through a bootable DVD installer created from a DMG source. However, as you know, none of the new Macs has an optical drive. Let’s check out a few alternatives.
- Format a USB Drive to GPT partition scheme in Windows. Next, restore the macOS Mojave or High Sierra DMG using Transmac.
- Get a portable DVD writer to boot into macOS installer.
External hard disks also work well for this requirement provided the file system is in the HFS+ format with GUID partition scheme.
Burn DMG to DVD in macOS Catalina 10.15
Looking for a way to burn the Catalina or High Sierra DMG Installer on your Mac computer? Here is the simplest and universal method to write files with DMG extension to DVD disc on macOS.
Right-click on the DMG file. Now, as shown in the screenshot, choose the option ” Burn Disk images to Disc.” Then, select the options as required. Keep the burning speed at the lowest rate to avoid write errors, although chances are rare.
Home > Search converters: iso to dmg
Conversion of iso file format to dmg file format beta
Search for iso to dmg converter or software able to handle these file types.
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Convert CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray disc ISO binary image to Apple Mac disk image.
We have found 7 software records in our database eligible for .iso to .dmg file format conversion.
Converting ISO disk images to DMG format should be easy enough nowadays and can be done in most, if not all modern disk image handling utilities, but it is unlikely you will find a dedicated iso to dmg converter only.
In most cases iso to dmg conversion is achieved because for Mac users .dmg files might be easier to handle compared to .iso files, but most recent disk management utilities for Mac have no trouble with either of these formats.
However, keep in mind that this won't work if you are trying to convert some Windows program installation disks to Mac one, that is simply not possible.
Updated: February 4, 2019
Microsoft Windows software - convert iso to dmg on Windows
AnyToISO
A disk image converter for Microsoft Windows
File extension | Convert | Open | Save | Edit | Create | Import | Export | Extract |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Convert from iso file | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
to dmg file | Yes, AnyToISO supports dmg file conversion as a target file type. | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
The tables with software actions are a good pointer for what a certain program does with various file types and often may give users a good hint how to perform certain file conversion, for example the above-mentioned iso to dmg. However, it is not perfect and sometimes can show results which are not really usable because of how certain programs work with files and the possible conversion is thus actually not possible at all.
gBurner
One of the many CD/DVD burning tools
File extension | Convert | Open | Save | Edit | Create | Import | Export | Extract |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
PowerISO
Application used to manage DAA and other disk images
File extension | Convert | Open | Save | Edit | Create | Import | Export | Extract |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
Apple macOS / Mac OS X software - convert iso to dmg on OS X
Apple Disk Utility
A disk mounting utility from Mac
File extension | Convert | Open | Save | Edit | Create | Import | Export | Extract |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
DropDMG
A program for creating Mac OS X disk images
File extension | Convert | Open | Save | Edit | Create | Import | Export | Extract |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
AnyToISO for Mac
Mac version of popular disk image converting program
File extension | Convert | Open | Save | Edit | Create | Import | Export | Extract |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
DMGConverter
A fisk image converter utility for Mac formats
File extension | Convert | Open | Save | Edit | Create | Import | Export | Extract |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Additional links: Open iso file, Open dmg file
ISO
An iso file extension is generally used for common CD/DVD disk image format. ISOs are used as a standard backup format of physical disks and are widely supported by burning or virtualization software.
DMG
A dmg file extension is used for default disk image format in Mac OS X (macOS) that replaced the older IMG format. It is used much like ISO images on Windows platform.
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