Hey guys, Some of you may have noticed that the download links to the DigitalRiver content have been removed by Microsoft, and that you can only download your version by providing a legitimate key. It's a nightmare if you don't have your key to hand for whatever reason, or your key simply says it isn't valid, so I'm going to try and help here. I have uploaded the latest Windows 7 and 8.1 .ISO that I could get my hands on through Microsoft before they removed the links, and I have uploaded them to my personal Google Drive to share with those whom need it. There is nothing illegal about this as they are 100% unmodified in any way, shape or form when you download the .ISO. Windows 8.1 does not require you to enter your key as of yet, so you can download the Media Creation Tool from the link below and download the .ISO according to which version you need/want. Windows 8.1 Download Tool Some of you may or may not know that you only require one .ISO to install ANY version of Windows 7 or 8.1, as it is all down to a single file called "ei.cfg" which I will explain below. First of all, you'll need to download a .ISO, so here's a link to mine from my Google Drive. Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with SP1 Download If you are installing Windows 7 on to a Skylake system, you must use this version as it has the XHCI (needed for USBs to work) slip streamed into the installer. Other than that, it is a 100% official .ISO from Microsoft. Windows 7 Ultimate x64 with SP1 & XHCI Drivers Download You need to put it on to a bootable memory stick. There are various programs out there which will do it for you. One of my favourites is PowerISO because it doesn't care if the .ISO is incomplete when it's lacking files which is perfect for a tweaked operating system for benchmarking. PowerISO v6 x64 Download Install it as you would normally install software, and make sure you change the number of virtual drives to none if you don't want anything of the sort, as it is not required. Now that it is installed, you will need to run it in administrator mode in order for you to be able to create a bootable memory stick. That's simple, just right-click the shortcut and click Run as administrator to begin. Click on the Continue Unregistered button and you're in! Then, go to Tools, followed by Create Bootable USB Drive... Choose your source file, which is your .ISO that you downloaded. Navigate to it via the explorer window that pops up and select it. Choose your destination drive, which will be your memory stick. Please make sure you are 100% sure that it is the correct drive as the memory stick will get formatted prior to the OS being put on there. Once you're satisfied, start the process and wait. It'll take some time on a USB 2.0 drive but it is relatively quick on a USB 3.0 drive. Almost there, just one more step. Now that the Windows 7 Ultimate .ISO is on your memory stick, it is bootable and you can install from it. However, not all of you may have Ultimate and may wish to install another version. Here's how to change it. Go to My Computer, and navigate to the memory stick, and open it. You'll see a few folders and the one you want is the Sources folder. Within that folder, you need to locate a file called ei.cfg. Right-click the file, open with Notepad and you'll see how very simple it is to change the version. This is how it is before you modify it: All you're going to do here is change Ultimate to a blank line, so it shows like this: Save the file, and you're done. Now you can install every 64 bit version of Windows from a single drive. If you would prefer to have it as a single installer, just fill in the gap with the appropriate prefix such as Professional and it will only allow you to install the Professional edition of Windows 7. One useful tip for those who want to install 8.1 using a Windows 8 key (no, you cannot use them during the installer - thanks Microsoft!) is to modify the .ISO on the memory stick. How to install Windows 8.1 using a Windows 8 key Windows 8 and 8.1 lack the ei.cfg file, which makes it impossible to "skip" the key entry during the install. However, if you manually insert the ei.cfg file into the sources folder, it will magically allow you to skip the key entry part. Here are the steps in order to be able to do it. 1) Create a Text Document by right-clicking on your desktop (for example), and do NOT change the name of it just yet. 2) Open the document and insert this: 3) Time to save the file, so go to File > Save As and change the Save as type to All Files. 4) Call the file ei.cfg and save it. 5) Move the file you've just created into the sources folder on your memory stick. 6) You can now skip the key entry during the install of Windows 8/8.1/10. After you've installed the OS, you can then activate your Windows 8.1 install with a legit Windows 8 key provided you've installed the same version of it.
I will warn you that makng the microsoft iso image publicly available probably available will almost certainly not end well. They take down torrents and mirrors aggressively.
There is one thing which is important : https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh824952.aspx?f=255&MSPPError=-2147217396 You can have a PID.txt file on the CD/flash drive too, which can be used to prefill or override the Windows licence key in this format : Code: [PID] Value=XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX It is pretty important for cases when you got a laptop with let's say Windows 8.1 Home licence, but you want to install Windows 8.1 Pro on it. Without PID.txt, the media will always detect the Home licence from BIOS and won't even offer you an option to enter the Pro key. PID.txt fixes that.
That's really cool and I didn't know that. Thank you! I'll update the OP accordingly when I have some time on my hands. Thanks Zoon; it's no biggie. I can just upload them again if the need arises. I just trust that the community will use them responsibly!
