How to download & reinstall official windows 7 ISO for free
Have you found yourself in a situation where you need to reinstall windows 7, but no longer have the disk for it? You may have a restore disc or hard drive partition that will restore your computer to factory settings, but having an actual disc to install Windows is good to have if you need to reinstall just your operating system. Perhaps you are hoping to reset your computer but don’t want to pay for a new ISO? Well, today you may be in some luck.
There use to be a very easy method for this, a website named ‘Digital River, It was easy to use, all you had to do was reinstall and reactivate using the product key located on the certificate of authenticity and download any appropriate drivers from the manufacturers website. For the past 5 years Microsoft made it quite easy for users of the Windows 7 operating system to obtain reinstall media. If you lost your retail installation disc or recovery media (either it was damaged or faulty) you could download a copy of the edition you have a license for from an affiliate website named Digital River. Most recently, Microsoft ended availability of reinstall media which you could download as a .ISO file from Digital River, which is a digital replica of an optical disc. So, since this method is no longer available, what are your options?
I would also like to advise against downloading windows 7 from illegal sites online, the main reason being is most of these pirated versions of windows 7 are modified, not authentic and may be malicious. In fact, most of the time you can expect to find spyware and backdoors. Most people don’t realise that there is a way you can download a copy of your windows 7 ISO file from Microsoft itself. Microsoft certainly don’t advertise this (For monetary purposes it is assumed) and they seem to have purposely made it hard, but we intend to show you how to do it properly, safely and without having to pay.
Provided below are a multitude of options, put into 3 categories… find which option is best suited for you!
- The Best Option
If you are a Microsoft customer or your computer has come with windows 7, you can go directly to http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery, enter your product key, choose a language and you will be able to download the ISO file needed to reinstall windows 7.
Preparing for download
In order to recover your Windows 7 product or create a backup you will need to be able to download and save a large file (approximately 2 to 3.5 GB).
Make sure you have a reliable internet connection and sufficient data storage available on one of the following:
 |
or |  |
or |  |
| A computer | USB device | External Drive |
If you are not ready to download, or are using a mobile device, an email link to download the product can be sent to you after you verify your product key. The link in the email is valid for 24 hours.
After you verify your product key below, you will download a disc image (ISO file) and use it to create a bootable USB or DVD. This will require ISO burning software such as the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool.
How to Find Your Lost Windows or Product Keys
Firstly, you should check under your laptop (or behind your tower) to see if there is a sticker that reveals your ‘Product key’, this is where it is usually found. however, if you cant find it here or if you need further confirmation, you are still in luck because it’s stored in the Windows Registry… it’s just not easy to find, and it’s impossible to read without some help. Luckily, we’re here to help.
In case you didn’t know, your product key is stored within the registry in binary format. We’re not really sure why Microsoft went to great lengths to make it difficult to see the product keys for their software, especially since they are stored right in there in the registry and can be read by software, if not by humans. It is assume that they don’t want anybody to re-use a key from an old computer. The great thing is that you can even recover a key from a computer that won’t boot any more. All you need is access to the disk drive from a working computer. the method for this is seen below.
The Method:
Assuming you can boot your computer without any problems, you can easily create a simple VBscript that will read the value out of the registry and then translate it into the format that you need for reinstalling. This script works perfectly fine and can confirmed that we have tested this method ourselves.
Copy and paste the following into a Notepad window:
MsgBox ConvertToKey(WshShell.RegRead(“HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\DigitalProductId”))Function ConvertToKey(Key)
Const KeyOffset = 52
i = 28
Chars = “BCDFGHJKMPQRTVWXY2346789”
Do
Cur = 0
x = 14
Do
Cur = Cur * 256
Cur = Key(x + KeyOffset) + Cur
Key(x + KeyOffset) = (Cur \ 24) And 255
Cur = Cur Mod 24
x = x -1
Loop While x >= 0
i = i -1
KeyOutput = Mid(Chars, Cur + 1, 1) & KeyOutput
If (((29 – i) Mod 6) = 0) And (i <> -1) Then
i = i -1
KeyOutput = “-” & KeyOutput
End If
Loop While i >= 0
ConvertToKey = KeyOutput
End Function
You’ll need to use File -> Save As, change the “Save as type” to “All Files” and then name it productkey.vbs or something similar ending with the vbs extension. We’d recommend saving to the desktop for easy access.
Pro Tip: If you use CTRL + C when the popup window is active, it will copy the contents of the window to the clipboard, and then you can paste it into Notepad or somewhere else.
What to do if you cannot get recovery media from your manufacturer, refuse to use or purchase it or the Microsoft Software Recovery Website is not working?
Your next best option is to borrow the corresponding retail edition (upgrade or full version) or OEM System Builder disc from a friend or family member who has a Windows 7 disc. You can also borrow any of the following editions: Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate and create your own disc which will give you the option of selecting the desired edition you are licensed for.
- The Microsoft Options
1. If the above option does not work, your next best option is to request replacement media directly from Microsoft:
http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/326246/en-us (The above article describes how to easily order media for service packs, and replace Microsoft software or hardware. Please note that this process excludes obsolete and discontinued products.)
2. If you have lost your Windows 7 product key, Microsoft recommends you purchase a new one.
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/where-find-windows-product-key#where-find-windows-product-key=windows-7
3. If you have an active product key, you can download Windows 7 ISO.
• Windows 7 Ultimate (x86)* – 32 bit
• Windows 7 Ultimate (x64)* – 64 bit
32 vs 64 bit
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/32-bit-and-64-bit-Windows-frequently-asked-questions
Is my PC running the 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows?
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/find-out-32-or-64-bit
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Installing-and-reinstalling-Windows-7
ImgBurn – In addtion to supporting the creation of CD’s from .ISO files,
it supports a wide range of other image file formats, and it’s free.
(BIN, CUE, DI, DVD, GI, IMG, MDS, NRG, PDI and ISO)
http://www.imgburn.com/
http://neosmart.net/wiki/display/G/Burning+ISO+Images+with+ImgBurn
Note: Always use the slowest burn speed (4x or 2x) if offered a choice.
UPDATE: This method has been discontinued by Microsoft, however, a mirror digital river site is provided below in ‘The Pirate Option’ (Number 2).
4. You might be lucky by contacting Microsoft Support who might be sympathetic to your situation (Seriously):
http://support2.microsoft.com/kb/326246/en-us
Contact the Microsoft store:
US: http://www.store.microsoft.com/Help/Contact-Us
1-877-696-7786
Canada: https://www.microsoftstore.ca/shop/en-CA/Contact-Us
Microsoft Support Contact Information:
http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support
General Microsoft contact site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus#tab0
1-800-642-7676 (1-800-MICROSOFT)
-
The Pirated Options
If the above options are out of the question (because your product key is inactive, your incompetent or just a tight ass when it comes to money) then there is always ‘The Pirate Options’… this includes using either Pirated ISO’s and/or un-activated/multiple use Product keys. We have to inform you that this way might be illegal depending what country you live in and we never advocate or promote any illegal activity, however, for educational and research purposes only, we have included this section in the article.
1. If you use P2P Torrent software (Such as Vuze or Bit-torrent).
This version is not recommended by us but we can confirm that this method does work and is very easy (Assuming you are already familiar with torrents and how they work)
Click here for the Torrent location (The Pirate Bay):
(Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit Original iso Team Rjaa
Windows 7 Ultimate
32-bit Original.iso
Platform: 32-bit
Language: English and MULTILANGUAGE SUPPORT
Type: DVD ISO Bootable
Activation: use Activator
Size: 2.33GB
Version: Genuine version – UPDATABLE* with Windows Update.)
2. Mirrored Digitalriver & Technet Windows 7 ISO downloads (Quick and easy):
http://mirror.corenoc.de/digitalrivercontent.net/
3. Google for an active list of windows 7 product keys:
We wont recommend a particular site because we have not tested the validity of a particular site, in regards to the validity of the product keys, but we can assure you that such
websites are very easily found. with this in mind and a list of Product keys, it might be
worth giving the first option another go.
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