Hey,

I have a serious problem, I burned a file to a DVD as an ISO, the file was 4.2gigs and I didn't know that the ISO file system can only handle files up to 2gigs. Now the ISO on the DVD is oversized and the file is appearing a quarter of the size that it should be.

I need to find a program that can see through oversized ISO's on DVD's and see the full file size and extract it. I am normally a Windows user, haven't jumped into the deep end with Linux yet but have tried out Knoppix, any programs I get for this to be installed on Windows will use the Windows file system and won't see the true file size, hence why I am turning to Linux.

Its most likely I will not find a Windows program to do this, so even a bootable Linux version would work fine.

Any ideas?

Unless I'm misreading your problem (which is possible), it doesn't look like a limitation of ISO files. I create 7GB ISO files from time to time without a problem. What filesystem is your hard drive using? If it's fat32, I think there's a maximum filesize limit of 2 GB (although maybe its 4GB... I can't remember). At any rate, if you're saving the ISO to a fat32 drive, it's not going to work.

Or do you mean that there's a file inside of the ISO file that's over two gigs? That might be a problem, because I think the maximum file size that you can put into an ISO image is 2GB.

This is the case. I don't entirely understand it myself but I have had it explained to me by someone who does. Basically I had a file that was just over 4gigs, I used Nero to burn it to a DVD, Nero burned it under the ISO file structure instead of UDF which it should have used. Now Windows is not seeing the proper file size. The file should be there and should be intact, Windows just can't see it because it is on an oversized file system. I am on Windows XP NTFS and the file is on a DVD.

I have been told that I would more than likely be able to find a Linux boot disk that would be capable of seeing all file systems, and would be able to see the true file size of the file on the disk. Any ideas?

Fat32 has a 4 GB filesize limit. For NTFS, it may depend on the NTFS version. If a file exceeds the limit that the filesystem can hold, I don't think that the file would be saved intact. However, I think that most versions of NTFS have a higher file size limit. Another thing, I think that DVDs use the UDF file system. You might try mounting the file with a loop device and see if everything is there.

After reading a bit more, I realize that people may mistake what ISO I am talking about. I do not have an ISO image, what I mean is that I burned my file to a DVD using Nero on the ISO 9660 file system. This file system is associated with burning to CD's and has a file size restriciton of about 2gigs. Some how I managed to burn a 4gig file to the ISO 9660 file system and now Windows can not see it for its true size because it is an oversized ISO 9660 file system. So I need to find a Windows program or a Linux program that can see files on a oversized ISO 9660 CD/DVD.

Its not a problem with Fat or NTFS, its a problem that DVD's are normally written in the UDF file system, which allows for a greater file size, but somehow Nero managed to burn my 4gig file to the ISO 9660 file system, which is normally associated with CD's and has a file size restriction of about 2gigs. I have been assure that the full file is there alright but that becuase Windows is looking at a, ISO 9660 file system it doesn't see the full size and only gives you a file much smaller.

Can you not just burn the file again? Using UDF this time? Then just chalk it up to experience and have a new coaster.

Good question, I left out the background detail. This file is part of a Drive Image backup spanned across four DVD's. It was a backup of my files to transfer from my old notebook to my new one. I formatted and brought back the old notebook before I realised that there was a problem with the DVD's. Initially I thought it was a problem with Drive Image, then I noticed that my entire backup was supposed to be around 15gigs, with the file on each DVD being just over 4 gigs. Instead the file on each DVD was reading as 305MBs. Now it burned at 2X and it took 30 mins to burn each DVD, there were not errors reported and its visibly clear on the DVD that is is burned to the limit so its not a question of the file not being there, its a matter that is was burned incorrectly.

There is a element of desperation in this quest as it is pretty much my lifes work lost. Hence why I need to try every possibilty to get it back. I have very well knowledged computer scientist working with me on this and he is the one who has explained the problem, and he has left me to do the searching to find a program or a Linux distribution that will help. He is confident I will find a solution, I'm not so confident though.

Fire up Nero and use it's explorer window to possibly read the files. Nero burned 'em, so maybe Nero can find 'em. Then you can select what you need and compile a new one.

That's a shot in the dark.

I had a go at that, didn't work though. The Nero browser still uses Windows to look at the file system, so it only see what Windows sees. Pretty much any program I use on Windows to try and view this disk properly use Windows to view the file system so non of them are of any use.

This is why I was advised to turn to Linux, I was told there would be a high probabilty that there would be a Knoppix like Linux distribution or progra, that would be able to see oversized ISO 9660 file systems.

Hey all again,

I want to try and emphasis how much of a computing crisis I am in and I am desperate for a solution to my problem. Basically I have created 4 DVD's that contain a Norton Ghost Disk image spanned across the 4 DVD's. This image contains the backup of my life's work and it is the only copy I have. I run a charity and all the work I have done for this charity is on this backup, hence my urgency.

What happened is this. I was exchanging my old notebook for a new one, before I did this I used Norton Ghost to create an image of that Hard Drive on my old notebook, so that I could restore it to my new one. The image was 15GB's in size and I set Ghost to split it over 4 DVD sizes. I then used Nero 6 Burning Rom to burn each image part to a DVD. Each image size was just over 4GB's, it took 30 minutes to burn it to a DVD at 2x and there was no errors reported so I assumed they all burned fine. As soon as the burns were done I formatted my hard drive and returned it to the store to collect my new notebook. When I loaded the DVD's in the new notebook I noticed that instead of the files being just over 4GB's in size they were appearing as 305MB's. Needless to say something was wrong there and Norton Ghost could not use the image parts because they were the wrong size.

I took my problem to a friend who is well knowledge in all things computers. He explained that the files were on an ISO 9660 file structure and I should have burned them to a UDF file structure because the ISO 9660 file structure has an upper file size limit of about 2GB's. Windows could not read the file structure properly and see's the files as only 305MB's. Basically its and oversized ISO 9660 file structure and Windows or most Windows based programs cannot read it properly.

So now I am trying to find a program that can see oversized ISO 9660 file structures and allow me to extract the files. It is most likely that I will not find a Windows based program to do this as most of them use the Windows browser to look at the file structure of the disk. So I am looking more for a Linux distribution or a Linux program that can see through all file structures, including oversized ISO 9660's.

If any body can suggest a program or a solution to this that they know will work, I will be eternally grateful. So far ISO Buster, Daemon Tools and using Nero itself have been suggested, but these do not work. ISO Buster and Daemon tools and see into or mount ISO Images, I am not dealing with and ISO Image. I am dealing with files burnt onto the ISO 9660 file structure. Nero itself does not work as it uses Windows to browse the disk.

So please keep thinking and help me find a solution.

Yours gratefully
Stephen Judge

See if this can help you out.

http://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=DVD_Decrypter

This would be punting. Try to mount the dvd's using the filetype of "auto" and see if and how they mount.