The files with the .dmg extension are actually the Disk Copy Disk Image Files used by Apple Macintosh OS X . On the Macintosh operating system, they play the same role as a real disk. These files can be burnt to CD or can be played like normal audio files. As far as the Windows users are concerned, they might not come to know the contents of a .dmg file as it only works in the Macintosh Operating System.
A bit more about DMG
There are various disk image formats from Apple which can be used to create the files of the .dmg extension. They include the Universal Disk Image Format (UDIF) and New Disk Image Format (NDIF). These files with the .dmg extension can be kept very safely as the Apple Macintosh OS X allows to secure them with password protection. The distribution of these files is also extremely easy as the option of compression is also available with these files. As far as the Apple Operating Systems are concerned, then these are the most common files to collect and transfer data from one user to the other.
So, how can you access this type of file?
For the time being, the only way of accessing the DMG disk image files in Macintosh is by using the developer version of the Disk Copy (version 6.4) or by using the beta copy of the version 6.5 which is unreleased currently. But, even with these, there is a limitation that they can only open those disk image files which are not compressed in nature. The compressed disk image files with the DMGcan still not be opened and accessed through Apple Macintosh.
There are a few licensed programs which can be used by the Non-Macintosh users to gain access to the .dmg disk image files. They are dmg2img, DMGEXtractor, Peazip and 7Zip. In the Windows operating system, most of these files can be accessed with programs like Acute Systems TransMac, HFSExplorer, 7-zip, UltraSO and IsoBuster. TransMac provides the facility to both create and open the DMG files on the system. While the programs like IsoBuster have the capability to interpret these files directly from their source. Thus, they can be very efficient and helpful, especially for the Non-Macintosh users.
Open DMG File on Windows OS
- Look for an DMG file you need to open in Windows Explorer and double-click on it
- If the file doesn’t open automatically and you see a “Windows can’t open a file” message then you should search for a program which can open DMG file
- If you have a program which can open DMG file installed on your computer then launch that program and select “File” and then “Open” or similar options from its menu to open the DMG file
- If you don’t have the program installed then you need to try searching for “DMG wiki”, “how to open DMG file” in the search engine.
- Once you find the application, install it on your computer
- After the program is installed double-click on the DMG file to open it
File extensions are used by Windows operating system to specify what kind of information is stored in the file. Every file in Windows OS needs to have file extension and file extensions are used by Windows to determine which application it should use to open the file. Every application installed on Windows OS places information about which extensions it could open into the Windows registry and Windows uses this information to determine which application it should launch when user double-clicks on the file. If application which can open DMG file is not installed, then Windows will show ‘Windows can’t open DMG file’ message and buttons to either select an application on the computer which can open the file or to search the web for the application which can open DMG file.