New ways to get free Windows-installation media

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	TOP STORY New ways to get free Windows-installation media
	By Fred Langa Sooner or later, you’ll need to repair, refresh, or reinstall Windows — a task that will require your original Windows installation/setup files. But most new PCs no longer come with classic Windows setup discs; the vital recovery files are typically stored on the hard drive — where they are vulnerable to loss or damage.

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The full text of this column is posted at windowssecrets.com/top-story/new-ways-to-get-free-windows-installation-media (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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Tried using the Win 7 download with my Retail Upgrade key (from the 3 PC Family Pack) as my x64 Disc is missing but it failed with “ERROR We encountered a problem with the validation request. Please assure your product key is for a product supported by this site and was entered correctly, then try your request again.” So not all retail packs are supported.

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I have Windows 7 with OEM installation and no disc. I went to Windows 7 software recovery site and entered my Product Key but got message that the key was from an OEM installation which was not supported and told me to refer the matter to manufacturer.

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Is it possible to make disc that is a copy of Windows 7 Ultimate with SP 1 on it. I want to do an upgrade as you described in an earlier column and I find it impossible to uninstall the SP 1 already on my computer.

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Fred, your article has a bit of “bait and switch” in it. Near the start you say that, “…Windows 7 users…can now download copies of the full, free, official, 100 percent legitimate Windows install/setup files…”, that is, “…free of OEM add-on software.” But that’s not entirely correct.

The method provided later in the article is only for those people who have a retail version of Windows 7, which is already free of the OEM crapware. There is no way for people with an OEM copy to get a “virgin” copy.

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“all Windows 8 and Windows 7 users — and some Vista users — can now download copies of the full, free, official, 100 percent legitimate Windows install/setup files”

This is misleading. only a very small number of windows 7 users can get the download. The vast majority of us have oem versions that came with our computer and are locked out of the site.

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I have a PC that came originally as Win 8 … I upgraded it to Win 8.1 using a previously published method to install Win 8.1 from a USB stick and then upgraded to Win 8.1 Pro.

I used the first method to successfully create a Win 8.1 Pro 64bit setup dvd. It never asked me for the key. After creating the iso file, I used Nero BurnRom to create the bootable disk.

Based on past experience with recovery, I’m wondering…if I try to reload my PC from this setup disk, won’t I get an error message when I try to use the Win 8.1 Pro Upgrade Key? Seems like I have run into something like this in the past, the Upgrade key not being acceptable to load Windows from scratch. Would I have to create a Win 8 recovery disk with the original key and go through the upgrade to Windows 8.1 and then to Pro again?

I was hoping that this new method would give me a disk that would work with this PC with the current key that I received when I upgraded to Win 8.1 Pro. The article wasn’t clear on what I would be able to do or not do depending on circumstances.

I also have another PC that came with Win 8.1 that I upgraded to Pro. Will that Pro Upgrade key work with this method or not?

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I have a PC that came originally as Win 8 … I upgraded it to Win 8.1 using a previously published method to install Win 8.1 from a USB stick and then upgraded to Win 8.1 Pro. …………………….

Slightly different scenario. My machine came with Windows 8 Pro and I upgraded to 8.1 Pro via the usual Windows Updates provided and almost required by Microsoft. I’m also wondering if I have to choose Windows 8 Pro to create my install disk, or will my Windows 8 Pro product key work if I download the 8.1 Pro iso? Would hate to sit here with the wrong media if things go wrong one day. Lotza questions on this new method. Judy

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Slightly different scenario. My machine came with Windows 8 Pro and I upgraded to 8.1 Pro via the usual Windows Updates provided and almost required by Microsoft. I’m also wondering if I have to choose Windows 8 Pro to create my install disk, or will my Windows 8 Pro product key work if I download the 8.1 Pro iso? Would hate to sit here with the wrong media if things go wrong one day. Lotza questions on this new method. Judy

Check out this but you may run into problems if you only have an OEM product key.

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Check out this but you may run into problems if you only have an OEM product key.

Bad link Browni.

Should be this

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Bad link Browni.

Should be this

Thanks mate!

Fixed it in my post.

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Pretty misleading and disappointing article.
I have an Asus laptop and when the windows serial was typed it was verified but I was directed to the computer supplier for help…Windows strikes again.

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Is this a viable alternative to building a slipstream Win7 USB?

My original disk does not contain SP1. I’d like to have this on a USB drive. I’d like to have all the latest updates included.

I guess if I go through the effort of building a slipstream USB, I could include the drivers but a USB drive with fairly current updates would be good enough for me.

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Is this a viable alternative to building a slipstream Win7 USB?

My original disk does not contain SP1. I’d like to have this on a USB drive. I’d like to have all the latest updates included.

I guess if I go through the effort of building a slipstream USB, I could include the drivers but a USB drive with fairly current updates would be good enough for me.

I can’t see any reason as to why it will not work as long as you have a retail key for Win7. MS seemed to change things with the 8.0 to 8.1 upgrade though…

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edmcguirk, please tell me how to build a slipstream Win 7 USB. Your idea of having fairly current updates appeals to me.

Thanks.

Charles

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I have not done a slipstream for Win 7 yet. I have done it for previous versions. A google for that term will bring up a method to do it. It does not seem hard but it does seem to take a little bit of time and effort. If this MS download is complete with current updates, it would be simpler.

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@ Starry173 – This article gives some advice on doing a Repair Install when having upgraded from Win 8.0 https://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-reinstall-of-windows-8-and-8-1.html

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Thought I would give it a try with my self-built WIN 7 Pro x64 which has a product key from Microsoft. I get an error message saying that my choice of language (English) is not supported. I then went to the support site — gave up waiting after 20 minutes.

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Thought I would give it a try with my self-built WIN 7 Pro x64 which has a product key from Microsoft. I get an error message saying that my choice of language (English) is not supported. I then went to the support site — gave up waiting after 20 minutes.

Perhaps Fred should have researched the topic a bit more before publishing – some of us have known since last month when MS pulled the ISOs and the ensuing difficulty in the new site validating even retail keys.

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Thought I would give it a try with my self-built WIN 7 Pro x64 which has a product key from Microsoft. I get an error message saying that my choice of language (English) is not supported. I then went to the support site — gave up waiting after 20 minutes.

I have tried to download for the last three weeks and always get the same answer. I have a retail copy and it seems to accept my product key. (my choice of language (English) is not supported)

I hope Windows 10 is better supported. But at least it should be free.

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Exactly my problem! Bummer.

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Thought I would give it a try with my self-built WIN 7 Pro x64 which has a product key from Microsoft. I get an error message saying that my choice of language (English) is not supported. I then went to the support site — gave up waiting after 20 minutes.

Earlier I registered my copy of Win 7 Pro with Microsoft, and their site accepted my product key with no problems. Now their site seems to accept my product key, but says English is not supported for my product key. 😡

Microsoft’s behavior brings the following quote to mind:

Stupidity combined with arrogance and a huge ego will get you a long way.
Chris Lowe

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Because of changes in the way Microsoft distributes Windows setup files, all Windows 8 and Windows 7 users — and some Vista users — can now download copies of the full, free, official, 100 percent legitimate Windows install/setup files.

For the first time, Fred has really let us down. He said,”. . . . all Windows 8 and Windows 7 users — and some Vista users — can now download copies of the full, free, official, 100 percent legitimate Windows install/setup files. . . This article will show you where and how to obtain full, legitimate setup files for Vista, Win7, and Win8.”

In fact, it turns out that any Windows 7 owner who acquired it via a computer, rather than retail software, purchase is offered no advice. Greatly disappointed!!![/SIZE]
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Because of changes in the way Microsoft distributes Windows setup files, all Windows 8 and Windows 7 users — and some Vista users — can now download copies of the full, free, official, 100 percent legitimate Windows install/setup files.

For the first time, Fred has really let us down. He said,”. . . . all Windows 8 and Windows 7 users — and some Vista users — can now download copies of the full, free, official, 100 percent legitimate Windows install/setup files. . . This article will show you where and how to obtain full, legitimate setup files for Vista, Win7, and Win8.”

In fact, it turns out that any Windows 7 owner who acquired it via a computer, rather than retail software, purchase is offered no advice. Greatly disappointed!!![/SIZE]
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My wife’s Win 7 Pro 64 bit machine at work is down, Have her pro key but cant find her 64bit disk, need to download 7Pro 64 bit but my PC has Win 7 Ultimate and wont download with her Pro Key. so it seems it wont download your disk unless you download from the computer that the same key you use is present on the system you downloading from. I wish windows would make One Disk for all versions of windows 7 and the version installed from that disk is dependant on the KEY you enter when installing.
So as usual with Windows it is not made for any mission critical use, just have to do without her computer until I can get a win7 Pro disk with fully updated SP1. Do not want to spend time data costs to do all the update downloads. Have to remember in South Africa the internet is slow and our data is Capped and expensive. So downloading updates from her office could take days or even weeks. MS Office 2013 took three days to install, so on all the new machines they have gone back to 2007 using licences from discarded old PC’s as no 2010 licences sold anymore, or they must use open office, like most other people are doing. Looking forward to windows 10, hope no problems there, or Unix or Android here we come.

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Working fine here…

39761-Screenshot-8

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Glad to know it is working for someone!

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Glad to know it is working for someone!

I have a retail key though!

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I have a retail key though!

Can we borrow it 🙂

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It will cost you!

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It will cost you!

It’s okay 🙂 – I already have a few Win 7 x64 SP1 bootable disks plus a Win 7×32 and converted a Win 7 x64 Pro to an universal disk by removing the eicfg file.

I also stuck one on a Flash Drive should the DVD player go bad.

Glad I created them when I did but I still have the ISOs in my Downloads folder should I need any more.

There were problems between MS and Digital River before but that seemed to get resolved unless that has flared up again.

Perhaps MS got wise to people downloading these ISOs for repair problems as Win 7 remains popular and thought they were losing money – as if they need any more :rolleyes:

Although if the rumour is true about them giving free W 10 upgrades to Win 7 and 8/8.1 users, it may offset the cost a little if they can squeeze some more out of Win 7.

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I guess that’s the trick. I got my key directly from Microsoft. And it works in English on my machine!

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|Like others here, I bought a ‘refurbished’ OEM laptop, with Win 8.0 installed. I went ahead and upgraded to 8.1. This unit came with a disclaimer that the Restore partition had been deleted, to ‘protect the privacy’ of the previous owner. Obviously, this left me with no way to restore OR recover. When I bought the Asus laptop, there was no indication that I was buying a used OR refurbed PC, nor that I would NOT get the needed restore files. Seeing your article I said, ‘AHA! Here is my solution!’ Unfortunately it was not to be! Now, I am back at page one. HOW can I Restore my system, if AND when I need to? I have managed to get Ubuntu up and running in a dual boot setup, And except for a couple of Windows apps, I could easily drop MS altogether. If I can find a decent replacement for those programs it will be a done deal. In the meantime, however, I am flying in the dark, feeling VERY vulnerable. Also, am I the only one who HATES UEFI? I fully understand that MS doesn’t want anyone to run Linux (and find out just how good it is) so they want to lock it out, but is there SOME way around that, to allow us to fully use OUR computers? Oh, well, that’s a question for another day.

Nice try, but no cigar, Fred.

Bob

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Win7 ISO download did not work. Each time I tried to “authenticate” I would get this error msg: This is not the right language for this product key. Please select another language. Well, they didn’t have Southern, so I chatted and talked to Level 2 MS support for 25 minutes, and now I will have to wait 1-5 business days for a solution, “please answer the phone when they call”.

There use to be a site that had win7, sp1 as a ISO for downloads. Anybody remember what it was?

Thanks,
Ron

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Win7 ISO download did not work. Each time I tried to “authenticate” I would get this error msg: This is not the right language for this product key. Please select another language. Well, they didn’t have Southern, so I chatted and talked to Level 2 MS support for 25 minutes, and now I will have to wait 1-5 business days for a solution, “please answer the phone when they call”.

There use to be a site that had win7, sp1 as a ISO for downloads. Anybody remember what it was?

Thanks,
Ron

There used to be a few which would take you to Digital River, but clicking on any initially takes you to a page where you click on Windows Downloads and that dumps you onto the key validation page.

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Just got around to reading some of Fred’s article in the Newsletter and the link that was supposed to be eventually for Vista ISOs only gives you a selection of Win 7 – perhaps MS has scuppered that one as well ???

I know they’ve pulled the Heidoc Vista ones.

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Hi
Can you pse clarify for me:
I am running win8.1.I had win7 (retail). I upgraded to win8 (using early upgrade special offer). I then upgraded to win8.1.
I have the win7 installation dvd and product key, and the win8 upgrade dvd and the win8 upgrade product key.
If i have to / want to reinstall win8.1 for any reason, can I use this media creation approach instead of using the win7 dvd and win8 upgrade dvd?
Thank you
nomadic

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Hi
Can you pse clarify for me:
I am running win8.1.I had win7 (retail). I upgraded to win8 (using early upgrade special offer). I then upgraded to win8.1.
I have the win7 installation dvd and product key, and the win8 upgrade dvd and the win8 upgrade product key.
If i have to / want to reinstall win8.1 for any reason, can I use this media creation approach instead of using the win7 dvd and win8 upgrade dvd?
Thank you
nomadic

Hi Nomadic and welcome to the forum!

The instructions listed only give details as to how to recreate a new Windows 7 disc, nothing else has changed.

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Hi Browni
I’m confused by your reply that the article refers to win 7. It clearly talks about creating win 8.1 installation media?
To perhaps expand on my query:
prior to this article, I assumed that to reinstall win8.1, I would have had to either:
1 reinstall win7, upgrade to win8 (both using the DVDs I have) and then upgrade to win8.1 using MS update or
2 Install win8 using the win8 upgrade DVD I have, than use MS update to upgrade to win8.1.

This article seems to show a cleaner way of reinstalling win8.1 but maybe I’m missing something.
So, Can I use this approach to download win8.1 installation media and do a fresh instal using my win8 upgrade product key?
Thanks again
nomadic

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Hi Browni
I’m confused by your reply that the article refers to win 7. It clearly talks about creating win 8.1 installation media?
To perhaps expand on my query:
prior to this article, I assumed that to reinstall win8.1, I would have had to either:
1 reinstall win7, upgrade to win8 (both using the DVDs I have) and then upgrade to win8.1 using MS update or
2 Install win8 using the win8 upgrade DVD I have, than use MS update to upgrade to win8.1.

This article seems to show a cleaner way of reinstalling win8.1 but maybe I’m missing something.
So, Can I use this approach to download win8.1 installation media and do a fresh instal using my win8 upgrade product key?
Thanks again
nomadic

Did the Win 8.0 install wipe your Win 7 Recovery partition ?

This article which I’ve already linked earlier in this thread gives you some pointers to a Repair install of Win 8.1 when you have upgraded from 8.0 to 8.1 which I hope will clarify things.

https://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-reinstall-of-windows-8-and-8-1.html

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Hi Browni
I’m confused by your reply that the article refers to win 7. It clearly talks about creating win 8.1 installation media?
To perhaps expand on my query:
prior to this article, I assumed that to reinstall win8.1, I would have had to either:
1 reinstall win7, upgrade to win8 (both using the DVDs I have) and then upgrade to win8.1 using MS update or
2 Install win8 using the win8 upgrade DVD I have, than use MS update to upgrade to win8.1.

This article seems to show a cleaner way of reinstalling win8.1 but maybe I’m missing something.
So, Can I use this approach to download win8.1 installation media and do a fresh instal using my win8 upgrade product key?
Thanks again
nomadic

The article covers Windows 7, 8.0 & 8.1

Perhaps this link will help you with a clean 8.1 installation? It worked fine for me using an 8.0 key.

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Did not work for my XP -> Win 7 HP upgrade key.

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article);…

Fred, you could be behind on this item. While it was shut down for a while, the Microsoft Partner subscriptions were made available again this past year. For two years, I was not able to renew my subscription, but last April, I did so successfully. Is the partner site different than the TechNet subscription??

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A great shame that only a few lines of this article were devoted to “OEM versions of Win7 only”
The obvious inconsistency of approach was not even mentioned:
1) For years Digital Rivers file were freely available, then suddenly they are withdrawn.
2) You can (it seems) quite readily obtain Win 8/8.1 files without apparent restriction.

Bear in mind that reportedly some 40% of PC users operate Win7 in one form or another.
Very few users will have purchased an OEM copy.
Reason to believe MS is being obstructive or plans to seek $$ from this change.

When I phoned MS in Australia recently, to ask why I could no longer access Win7 files at no charge to me, the response was that’s policy.
Well MS go ahead & encourage people to become thieves & download your OS, they just might keep doing that on future OSs.
BTW my Win7 is legit & I already have a copy from Digital Rivers because it includes SP1.

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I have a slightly different problem with Win 7. I purchased a copy of a “genuine” Win 7 Pro from a well known auction site. When I opened it it was obviously not right. I immediately contacted Microsoft and they asked for the disks to check. Sometime later I received a complimentary copy of Win Ultimate with SP1 and a thank you for reporting it. I have just tried to use the product key supplied with this copy but it will not work on the download site. I suppose they don’t class this as a retail copy (although I shelled out, and lost, £140 for the “original”)

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@ LexLen – If the machine came with Win 7 x64 Pro then you will need to contact the computer’s vendor, but they may only supply OEM Recovery disks which will factory reset the machine.

If it was a retail install then you could contact MS and explain the situation but you may not need to do a repair/clean install.

Will it boot up into the Advanced Boot Options may be by tapping F8 as you switch on, but this could be a different key combo depending upon the make and model.

If it’s a laptop (don’t know if this works on a desktop) tapping the spacebar as you switch on can also get you into the Advanced Boot Options.

In there you could try Last Known Good Config or selecting Repair your Computer and navigating to the Recovery Environment then selecting Startup Repair could do it.

If Startup Repair doesn’t do it first go then run that another twice.

Selecting the Command Prompt – enter bcdedit |find “osdevice” then using whichever partition letter enter (assuming c ) chkdsk c: /r and that will check/repair any files and check for bad sectors without the need to do it within Windows.

When done enter exit to close the command window and if the chkdsk was successful and the HDD isn’t too shot with bad sectors, hit Restart.

As you have a working computer you could also try the Paragon Rescue Disk which has a Boot Sector repair, as well as others.

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/rk-free/download.html

Using this rescue kit negates the need for an install disk to carry out the Bootrec repairs, but you haven’t said what symptoms there were, if any prior to the machine going down.

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This offered so much and was so disappointing.

I’ve got an OEM copy of Win7/64 with a paid upgrade to Ultimate. I didnt expect the OEM key to be accepted but it doesnt accept the ultimate key either.

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I went to the Win 7 download site, on the day I received this article, with my retail key and got a validation error “System Error We encountered a problem with the product key you provided. Please visit the Microsoft Support Contact Us page for assistance. Refer to Message Code 715-123130.” So I click on the Microsoft Support Contact Us link, select windows 7 option which takes me to a Microsoft Support Welcome to Answer Desk page. Here it asks for a product number, not a product key. Spend hours with this support desk, they acknowledged I have a legitimate, legal retail version of windows 7. We were unable to fix the problem or find a workaround. I have been referred to level 2 support and I should expect a call back in 3 – 5 business days.

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Update. Microsoft technical support called back 3/19/2015. They took remote control of my machine and downloaded Win_7_64Bit.iso. The tech stated there are still problems with the “Software Recovery Center”.

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Wonder if Fred will have any comment to make in this week’s Newsletter regarding the comments and users experiences ?

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Hi Fred,
Glad to see a route to the iso’s as I’ve just needed to reinstall my Windows 7 system after HD crash, BTW: a pox on WD for that! 🙂
Went to the site given, and my serial number worked fine. What was not fine was the ISO Microsoft supplied was SO OLD!
Even though it was SP1, I still needed to apply over 150 updates.
I expected that a new ISO would give me a clean install without all the risks of updating etc. M$ as usual have cocked up.
BTW: I also spoke to their support team who assured me it would be a current ISO with everything on it!
So much for their knowledge :0
Cheers,
Don

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You could try this site to download Windows OSes. http://getintopc.com/softwares/operating-systems/
It worked for me and world of trust seems to like it.

Urge

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