I was wondering how to backup my entire hard drive and all the software I've installed including all the files I decide to keepand convert it all into a packaged ISO file I've tried backing up my operating system but it ends up as A VVhd. File
You can use something like Macrium Reflect (free) to create a system image which is then restorable. Make sure you use the utility included in Macrium Reflefct to create a bootable restore disk which is needed to restore the image in the event that your computer is no longer bootable.
does this convert the entire hard drive as an ISO file
There's no conversion, it saves a copy of the entire disk as an image that may or may not fit on a CD/DVD (depends on how stuff your drive has on it). An ISO can only be as large as a DVD can hold, around 4.7GB. Does the disk you want to create an ISO for have less than 4.7GB of stuff on it?
Why do you think you need an ISO? What do you intend to do with it?
ISOs are typically images of CD/DVD/BD media. Images for an OS partition (system image) are different and need to take different things into account. There are a number of system imaging programs out there and you definitely should be using at least one of them. Windows has an inbuilt system imaging capability but Macrium Relect is a very popular choice and much more capable than Windows inbuilt. Also, Macrium has a free version that is adequate for most users - certainly when you are starting.
Quote