.TAO File Extension

A TAO file is a disk image that contains a copy of a CD or DVD's contents. It is used to create duplicate or backup discs, via CD and DVD burning programs. TAO files are used to burn discs using the track-at-once (TAO) recording method.

Track-at-once is a method of writing data to a CD-R or DVD-R. Programs that use this method write one track or title to a disc at a time, with run-out and run-in blocks recorded between each track. In contrast, programs that write discs using the disc-at-once (DAO) method write all data to a disc at the same time, often with no run-out and run-in blocks.

Various CD and DVD authoring programs that can write discs using the TAO method can create and load TAO files. These files contain all of a track-at-once disc's contents, saved in a format that can be used to transfer those contents to a recordable disc.

You can open a TAO file and view its contents with Smart Projects IsoBuster (Windows) or EZB Systems UltraISO (Windows). UltraISO also allows you to burn the data your TAO file contains to a CD-R or DVD-R.