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Microsoft Finally Allows Customers To Legally Download Windows 7 ISOs 132

Posted by Soulskill from the baby-steps dept.
MojoKid writes: It's long been a pet peeve of many end users that Microsoft has made it such a challenge to procure a legitimate ISO image of its various operating systems. It seems like the company should have no problem offering them in an easy-to-find spot on its website, because after all, it's not like they can be taken utilized without a legal key. Sometimes, people simply lose the disc or ISO they had, and so it shouldn't be such a challenge to get a replacement. Fortunately, with a new feature on the Microsoft site, you are now able to get that replacement Windows 7 ISO. However, it's behind a bit of protection. You'll need to provide your legal product code, and then the language, in order to go through to the download page. If you've somehow lost your key but are still using the OS that it's tied to, you can retrieve it through a few different third party tools. However, it does seem like not all valid keys work properly just yet, since some users are reporting valid keys throwing errors or not enabling a download for some reason.
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Microsoft Finally Allows Customers To Legally Download Windows 7 ISOs More

Microsoft Finally Allows Customers To Legally Download Windows 7 ISOs

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  • nothing new (Score:3, Funny)

    by fleabay ( 876971 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:01PM (#49150209)
    I've been downloading ISO's from MS for years.

    • Re:nothing new (Score:4, Interesting)

      by plcurechax ( 247883 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:20PM (#49150387) Homepage

      I've been downloading ISO's from MS for years.

      You might want to qualify that. I know MSDN (MS Development Network) and TechNet (IT professionals) have had pre-release and release versions of ISOs available since before 2000 if I recall correctly, but that wasn't suitable for delivery to consumers, but services for software development and mid-to-larger corporate and enterprise customers, access was bundled by annual subscriptions, roughly $1000 USD and up.

      I think retail license purchases & ISO download, or downloadable recovery ISOs via Digital River has been available since MS Vista, at least since 2011, but perhaps earlier. /shurg

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Cenan ( 1892902 )

        They've had Windows 7 ISOs for download for years, all versions. They only recently closed off that access. I've been downloading those ISOs for years as well.

      • They've also got it available to corporate customers without a subscription if they have a select, select plus, or open license agreement.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by gl4ss ( 559668 )

        if you just ask the regional MS offices will give new companies bizspark etc access for free for few years with everything.

        hell, with windows 8 launch they were practically giving phones and licenses in a bid to get devs on board. and money if you made your app exclusive(so they funded only bad exclusive apps, since apps with a real market had to go on ios and android too)

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by doccus ( 2020662 )
      Really? I'd love to know how I can replace my lost 64 bit Vista disc..

  • great (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    wake me up when it also works for OEM versions.

  • Am I Missing Something? (Score:5, Informative)

    by CaTfiSh ( 724 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:06PM (#49150255)
    I've got an ISO image I downloaded from Microsoft back in April of last year without having to provide any details.
    • Ya, if I remember correctly, they do "offer" ISOs and have for a long long time, but not in easy to find locations. If i am remembering correctly they just "forgot" to install any security on one of their FTP servers and there are websites that will, list the available OS ISOs.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by MobyDisk ( 75490 )

      You probably got it from MSDN. Not everybody has access to that.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by Mashiki ( 184564 )

        DigitalRiver has been providing Win7 since it went live, and is one of the authorized MS sites to download it from. Hell that's where I got my copy from when 7 was released. And when I needed a new copy, a couple of years ago to toss on a flash drive I also got it there. Now I just wish they'd put WinXP up someplace easier to find it from. I still rarely need it for air-gapped machines when something breaks and a reinstall is required.

        • How often do you need it? And why would you download it more than once?

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Mashiki ( 184564 )

            As often as a media happens to fail. That could be DVD's or flash drives, so that's why you download it more than once. I could never see a point in having redundant backups of backups of backups of backups for an OS when the internet exists out there and I can download it. But I do know a few people who do run that way.

    • Re:Am I Missing Something? (Score:5, Informative)

      by tlhIngan ( 30335 ) <slashdot&worf,net> on Friday February 27, 2015 @06:23PM (#49150831)

      I've got an ISO image I downloaded from Microsoft back in April of last year without having to provide any details.

      DigitalRiver has stopped providing those ISOs for a little while now. If you visit any of those links, they just redirect you back to Microsoft.com.

      Yes, I tried last week when I had to get a Win7 image for a friend. None of those links work anymore.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/cannot-find-digital-river-download-site/66a8439b-0d16-4b70-92f7-1c8486a46ebf

  • MS can't give up decades old practice (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward

    MS is still paranoid about media distribution because, institutionally, they still link media control to piracy.. Even though that ship sailed looooooooong ago.

    Of course, you can do fun things with windows activation..

    Did you know you can install windows without a key and it will be completely fully functional for 30 days and not bug you once? This is called the activation "Grace Period" and it's a built in facility specifically designed to make deployments/testing/imaging/etc easier.

    Did you know you can re

    • Re:MS can't give up decades old practice (Score:5, Informative)

      by UnknownSoldier ( 67820 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:56PM (#49150647)

      Here are the steps to have infinite grace period with Windows 7 -- no 3rd party tools required!

      Reboot
      press F8 at startup
      Repair Computer
      System Recovery Options: Keyboard: US
      Username/Password
      (you will see: Windows found on Drive ?:)
      Command Prompt
      win7_reset.bat
      exit
      Reboot

      The contents of: win7_reset.bat

      reg load HKLM\MY_SYSTEM "\Windows\System32\config\system"
      reg delete HKLM\MY_SYSTEM\WPA /f
      reg unload HKLM\MY_SYSTEM

      And on reboot,

      Command Prompt
      Right-click, Run as administrator
      win7_reg.bat

      Contents of: win7_reg.bat

      slmgr /upk
      slmgr /cpky
      REM Default keys for Window s7
      REM Home Premium
      REM slmgr /ipk RHPQ2-RMFJH-74XYM-BH4JX-XM76F
      REM Professional
      slmgr /ipk HYF8J-CVRMY-CM74G-RPHKF-PW487
      REM Ultimate
      REM slmgr /ipk D4F6K-QK3RD-TMVMJ-BBMRX-3MBMV

    • Re:MS can't give up decades old practice (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TechyImmigrant ( 175943 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @06:07PM (#49150707) Homepage Journal

      MS is still paranoid about media distribution because, institutionally, they still link media control to piracy.. Even though that ship sailed looooooooong ago.

      Of course, you can do fun things with windows activation..

      Did you know you can install windows without a key and it will be completely fully functional for 30 days and not bug you once? This is called the activation "Grace Period" and it's a built in facility specifically designed to make deployments/testing/imaging/etc easier.

      Did you know you can reset the grace period timer up to three times with a simple built-in command line tool?

      Did you know that if you boot up in safe mode and apply a little registry hackery to reset the grace period "Re arm" counter?

      Did you know you can automate all of the above with a clever batch file?

      Did you know the best way to pirate windows is to ignore all that silly cat-and-mouse nonsense trying to subvert windows activation with special bootloaders and just use built in commands that shipped with windows?

      While it don't really like their products, they are legitimate products that do what they claim to do and I use them. So when I do install Windows on a machine, instead of seeking the cleverest way to avoid paying the price, I just pay the price. It's easier and a heck of a lot more honest.
         

      • The financial costs are only a part of the total cost of ownership when you get in bed with Windows.

    • There's an easier way, just download iso from tpb or something like that. Their modified isos have menus that allow you to choose variant you want to install(home premium etc) and doesn't even ask any serials. Installed os gets updates and works as it should. I think microsoft just needs to reuse their solution :P

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by vux984 ( 928602 )

        On the other hand its a little harder to verify that you actually have an umodified ISO that doesn't have something nasty in it.

        In practice the majority I've encountered at least appear clean... but that doesn't make the nagging worry go away.

  • Does this work for Consumer builds? (Score:3)

    by sirwired ( 27582 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:28PM (#49150441)

    It would be really cool if I could put in a consumer-PC key and get a "clean" Win 7 .ISO without OEM crapware.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by carvell ( 764574 )
      Almost certainly, yes. Put the key in off the license sticker on your PC, not the one that Windows has been installed with from the OEM (which will be the same key for all the PCs they sell).

      • Put the key in off the license sticker on your PC

        Yeah, the one that rubbed off the bottom of your laptop in three months and you forgot to take a picture of it when it was new...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by caseih ( 160668 )

      Most computers that shipped with Windows 7 have an OEM activation right in the BIOS. Last time I reinstalled Windows 7 on my Lenovo laptop, I used the official ISO from DigitalRiver (not available there anymore), and instead of using my license code, I followed the instructions here [wordpress.com] and used my OEM activation. Everything activated and ran normally. This is completely legit because the license is in the BIOS.

  • BitTorrent for the win (Score:3)

    by RR ( 64484 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:35PM (#49150491)

    I ran into this problem when I was trying to upgrade Windows XP computers to Windows 8 a couple years ago, while simultaneously upgrading from HDD to SSD. The download program wouldn’t allow this uncommon upgrade pattern. And, evidently, Microsoft is too poor to afford the bandwidth to provide the ISO (sarcasm).

    The solution was to download from the kindly strangers who have volunteered their bandwidth via BitTorrent. The retail RTM ISOs are readily available, with checksums to ensure that they haven’t been tampered with. The installer was still ornery; I had to install a dummy copy of Windows XP onto the SSD so the program would deign to reformat and install Windows 8, but otherwise it worked fine.

    • The retail RTM ISOs are readily available, with checksums to ensure that they haven’t been tampered with.

      Ah, but how do you know the checksums haven't been tampered with, ay? Yeah...

    • ISO-from-BitTorrent is a Microsoft problem that will eventually fix itself with no effort from Microsoft. Microsoft posts SHA1 checksums for their ISO files but the status of SHA1 is, "will be cracked any day now." After SHA1 is cracked, there there can be no more guaranteed-clean downloads anywhere except from Microsoft itself or other official sources.

  • Maybe there's another reason behind this... (Score:3)

    by ZorinLynx ( 31751 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @05:54PM (#49150629) Homepage

    The recent Lenovo mess has shown that it's a good idea for users to be able to easily download a stock Windows ISO to reinstall their system free of crapware. Microsoft may just want to make this process easier for people.

    Good for them. I'm not a Windows user myself, but it feels good to know that if I ever switch over to Windows, it's now easier to get real stock installation images.

    What about Windows 8, though? Are they doing the same for 8 and future versions?

  • This finally enables users to wipe their system easily after buying a computer loaded with crapware. Often, manufacturer will give you no cd and just a pre-customized (i.e. loaded with crapware) recovery - image. Having the ability to download and clean install without having to buy a system-builder version to get a clean image is a real plus.
  • I was hoping to re-install my OEM license as a VM on the machine from which it had been wiped, to make room for my current OS. No such luck.
  • Being able to download ISOs of your favorite OS -- what a novel idea!

  • IR5 (Score:2)

    by pla ( 258480 )
    because after all, it's not like they can be taken utilized without a legal key

    Who you trying to convince, there?

    Win7 had such a flawed, easily circumvented activation system that many suspected MS did it deliberately just to get market share on a new OS post-Vista.

    You can literally keep using Win7, fully functional, forever without a crack (note that the tool mentioned in my subject line doesn't "crack" or install anything, it just automates a few steps you can run, from the command line purely by h

  • I had wondered why the digital river isos were taken down.

  • Have they rolled in all the updates? (Score:4, Informative)

    by AbRASiON ( 589899 ) * on Friday February 27, 2015 @06:43PM (#49150983) Journal

    If you want to "make your own" copy of Windows 7, similar to the slipstreaming method, you can download a legit copy of Windows 7, SP1 but the updates much beyond that are missing.

    The only way to make your own, is a very complex process, but you basically install Windows 7, install all the updates, then run a sysprep to remove all your customisations (but keep updates) then you boot off a bootable ISO and re-compress that install into a .WIM file and put that on your DVD / USB key. It's .. interesting but overly complicated.

    Also a Windows 7 installable ISO, if you use an ISO editor and delete the fucking STUPID "EI.CFG" file (google it) from the ISO, when you install it will prompt you "which would you like to install" - from Home Basic up to Ultimate, saving you needing multiple forms of media (fucking Microsoft)
    I do not however, believe you can install Windows 7 Ultimate, install patches, ("slipstream") sysprep re-compress back into a WIM file AND then install from a single ISO without EI.CFG - it will specifically install whatever version you've done your slipstreaming on, unfortunately.

    Why can't these cocks make it easy? Single image file, installs any version, dependent upon key, and up to date?

  • Just give it up (Score:4, Insightful)

    by adiposity ( 684943 ) on Friday February 27, 2015 @07:19PM (#49151203)

    Just let anyone download it. The ISOs are everywhere already, the key is the only security you have anyway, and you should rather people get it from the official source rather than a torrent.

    I have MSDN so I can download it as many times as I want without specifying any key (even though I have limited keys I can install it with).

    The first time someone's legitimate key doesn't let them download it, your plan has failed.

  • Unfortunately, my OS is kind of screwed right now. Some registry files or another got fucked up from an installation of directory opus, and I can no longer open control panel, explorer, display, fonts, etc etc. The recovery (back to factory state) on my Dell computer does not work; it gives me a pretty lengthy error that pretty much states "The recovery partition is corrupted." So, I go to Microsoft's site, put in my key, and there it is (paraphrased from memory): "Your computer came with a preinstalled ope
    • That's bad news for me. I was hopeful that, at last, I could have a clean Windows PC by installing an + hardware drivers + OS updates, instead of a factory restore + updates, which installs that plus all sorts of useless crap manufacturers and vendors deliver in a hopeless effort to "give you more" than their competitors.

  • Too little and far too late.

    I needed an ISO in 2010 but Microsoft wanted an additional $150 from me so I switched to Ubuntu.

    No more Microsoft products for me and quite happy about it.
    Ubuntu is faster, smaller, easier to backup, restore and I don't have a gigantic company that's purposely looking for ways to ruin my computer or software so I'll have to buy more.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      It's typical for Linux zealots to pop on and gloat about their switch, but really I have to feel sorry for you. Even on my 4 year old machine, my Windows 8 OS PC runs faster than your computer, never needs backing up, never crashes, and only reboots for the occasional update (which is better than only updating the files and leaving unpatched libraries in RAM as Linux does), Best of all, I have the ability to run the largest selection of software on the planet from commercial to FOSS. Enjoy the slow perfo

      • It's typical for Linux zealots to pop on and gloat about their switch, but really I have to feel sorry for you. Even on my 4 year old machine, my Windows 8 OS PC runs faster than your computer, never needs backing up, never crashes, and only reboots for the occasional update (which is better than only updating the files and leaving unpatched libraries in RAM as Linux does), Best of all, I have the ability to run the largest selection of software on the planet from commercial to FOSS. Enjoy the slow performance of X, the endless dependency shenanigans, half-backed FOSS programs, and desktop environments that look like they were slapped together by someone with Down's syndrome.

        But if you open a shell and try to run GCC, it doesn't work.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        And you're any better gloating about not switching?

  • I've got a compaq notebook which came with windows 7 pre-installed, and the Microsoft site doesn't allow download using the key attached to the computer.

  • I bought a new machine with Win 8.1 (ugh) on it from Dell last week with plans to put OEM Win 7 on it. Dell said I could do that if I was willing to give up support and that was ok with me. To my surprise, when the machine arrived it had no license key sticker on it at all so I couldn't use a general OEM install program like the ones from Digital River. Luckily I had a Dell OEM Win 7 install disc from another machine and that installed and activated ok using the key stored in the bios. Is this a new trend t

  • Windows 8 equivalent (Score:3)

    by Solandri ( 704621 ) on Saturday February 28, 2015 @12:04AM (#49152215)
    I was opposed to recovery partitions when MS first started using them. But with Win 8 I think they've added enough options that the pros outweigh the cons. It took me a while to find all this info (or rather, learn that MS had even made this possible), so here it is as a PSA:

    All Windows 8/8.1 computers come with a restore partition. I highly recommend you buy a 16GB or 32GB USB flash drive and convert that restore partition into a reinstall flash drive [microsoft.com].

    If you don't like the default recovery partition state (maybe too much crapware installed), you can create a custom recovery partition after you've uninstalled the crapware and installed your programs [howtogeek.com].

    Finally, if you totally screw up, you can still create a Windows 8/8.1 recovery flash drive by using your Windows key and downloading a clean 8-16 GB recovery image from Microsoft.

    Microsoft site for creating recovery image [microsoft.com].

    Instructions for finding your key [dellwindow...nguide.com]

  • OEM version key doesn't work (Score:3)

    by QuietLagoon ( 813062 ) on Saturday February 28, 2015 @08:13AM (#49153095)
    Since I build my own PCs, I buy an OEM version of Windows at the same time I'm buying the hardware for the PC. When I tried to download the ISO yesterday, the site told me that my key does not qualify, and that I need to contact the system builder to get the ISO.

    .
    Microsoft really hasn't thought this through.

    I have the friggin' key (three of 'em), all valid, all legal. Yet Microsoft spit in my face. Again.

    Is Microsoft admitting that the key system for unlocking Windows is so insecure that they won't just provide open downloads of the ISO?

    Once again, Microsoft's DRM is punishing the innocent customer.

    • Once again, Microsoft's DRM is punishing the innocent customer.

      Why should they care? Its an abusive relationship, and most people will always return. Seriously though, this whole topic is bringing back memories of why I left for greener pastures. Bad service, bad upgrades, not allowing people to use things they legitimately paid for, and a whole bibleful of bad advice from users.

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