Where to Download Windows 10, 8.1, and 7 ISOs Legally. Walter Glenn @wjglenn Updated May 29. Download the Windows 10 or 8.1 ISO Using the Media Creation Tool. Your license will only work with the correct version of Windows–if your license is for 64-bit Windows 10 Pro, you can’t install 32-bit Windows 10 Home with it, so ensure your. Jan 11, 2019 - How to install Windows 10 using an ISO image. You can also download this ISO recovery media from Dell's Support Website under the Drivers & downloads. Either option should perform a clean install (See Figure 6.). Click here to download the Windows 10 installation ISO (Installer image). The following dialogue will open and you should click 'browse' and browse to the location where you saved the Windows 10 ISO file earlier. *Click here for the Windows 10 clean install step by step installation tutorial.
One of the major “feature” of Windows 10 that will surely get many Windows enthusiasts on the cloud nine has finally been confirmed. That’s the ability to clean install Windows 10 with the free upgrade license offered to Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 users.Since the announcement that the free Windows 10 upgrade is only available for a year, many people has been bugging by questions of what would happen if they decide to perform a factory reset to original default, do a clean install, or reinstall Windows OS after a year.
Gabriel Aul, the head of the Windows Insider program, announced it on Twitter that clean install for Windows 10 is allowed once the PC is upgraded to Windows 10 when responding to question on state of Windows 10 free upgrade license after July 29th, 2016. In other words, firstly upgrade to Windows 10 from Windows 8.1 or Windows 7, then you’re free to do whatever you want on that device with Windows 10, including clean install.
Gabriel Aul stated:
@dinchy87@PiotrGoreckiJr Once you upgrade W10 w/ the free upgrade offer you will able to clean reinstall Windows 10 on same device any time
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) June 3, 2015
Then, he also said:
@Jacob_W_Klein@dinchy87@PiotrGoreckiJr Can wipe completely.
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) June 3, 2015
He also confirmed on separate tweet:
@mysz1985@dinchy87@PiotrGoreckiJr Once you've successfully upgraded a device to Win10 you can reinstall on that device whenever needed.
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) June 3, 2015
Finally, Gabriel Aul appeared to confirm or at least implied that the downloadable ISO of Windows 10 would be provided for clean install:
@insanelyapple Either way will work. Once you've upgraded to 10 on the machine the license will allow you to reinstall at no cost.
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) June 3, 2015
Apparently, Microsoft may be recording the hardware specification and other information on the systems that upgraded to Windows 10 from Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, as reactivation of Windows 10 on these PCs will be automatic on subsequent installs. Most likely, the reactivation of Windows 10 is verified against SLIC table in the UEFI to determine which Windows version came with the PC and authenticate a clean Windows 10 install, or Microsoft may validate and then upgrade the product key used on the system to allow future installs. Thus, it’s likely that no new Windows 10 product key is issued to upgraders, and existing Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 product keys are not working with Windows 10.
@dinchy87@PiotrGoreckiJr You will not need your 8.1 key, the same device will reactivate once it has been successfully upgraded to 10.
— Gabriel Aul (@GabeAul) June 3, 2015
Here’s the summary on what’s allowed on reinstallation of Windows 10 based on Gabriel Aul today’s tweets:
Windows 10 will arrive on July 29th, 2015.
UPDATED 5/22: It’s possible to download the Windows 10 ISO file without the Media Creation Tool to upgrade or clean install of the latest version of the OS, but Microsoft hides the option for Windows 10 users.
Microsoft makes available the ISO files every releases of Windows 10, including for the Windows 10 October 2019 Update (version 1809), the only problem is that when you go to the support site, you don’t get an option to download the ISO files directly. Instead, you’re only given the choice to get the update assistant or Media Creation Tool.
The reason is because the Microsoft support site is able to detect the OS you’re running, and if you’re already using Windows 10, Microsoft really wants you to use the Media Creation Tool. However, if you don’t want to go through the extra steps, there is a workaround to download the ISO file of Windows 10 directly from the Microsoft servers without the need to use the Media Creation Tool. It’s just the matter of making the support site think that you’re using an unsupported OS.
In this guide, you’ll learn the steps to download the Windows 10 ISO file directly from Microsoft servers without the Media Creation Tool.
To download the ISO file of the Windows 10 October 2018 Update, you’ll have to change your web browser settings.
On the legacy version of Microsoft Edge use these steps:
Open a new tab on Microsoft Edge.
Copy and paste this Microsoft support site link https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO in the address bar, and press Enter. (If you get redirected, it’s an expected behavior.)
Right-click on the page and select Inspect element.
Click on Emulation.
Under “Mode”, change the user agent string to Apple Safari (ipad).
Refresh the page if the browser doesn’t reload automatically.
Select the edition of Windows 10 you want.
Click the Confirm button.
Pick your product language from the drop-down menu.
Click the Confirm button.
Click the button to download the Windows 10 ISO to begin the process.
On the Chromium version of Microsoft Edge use these steps:
Open a new tab on Microsoft Edge (Chromium).
Copy and paste this Microsoft support site link https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO in the address bar, and press Enter.
Right-click on the page and select Inspect.
Click the three-dotted menu button on the top-right, and under “More tools”, select Network conditions.
Under “User agent”, clear the Select automatically option.
Select the Safari – iPad iOS 9 option from the “User agent” drop-down menu.
Refresh the page if the browser doesn’t reload automatically.
Select the edition of Windows 10 you want.
Click the Confirm button.
Pick your product language from the drop-down menu.
Click the Confirm button.
Click the button to download the Windows 10 ISO to begin the process.
On Chrome use these steps:
Open a new tab on Chrome.
Copy and paste this Microsoft support site link https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO in the address bar, and press Enter. (If you get redirected, it’s an expected behavior.)
Right-click on the page and select Inspect.
Click the three-dotted menu button on the top-right, and under “More tools”, select Network conditions.
Under “User agent”, clear the Select automatically option.
Select the Safari – iPad iOS 9 option from the “User agent” drop-down menu.
Refresh the page if the browser doesn’t reload automatically.
Select the edition of Windows 10 you want.
Click the Confirm button.
Pick your product language from the drop-down menu.
Click the Confirm button.
Click the button to download the Windows 10 ISO to begin the process.
On Firefox use these steps:
Open a new tab on Firefox.
Copy and paste this Microsoft support site link https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10ISO in the address bar, and press Enter. (If you get redirected, it’s an expected behavior.)
Use the Ctrl + Shift + M keyboard shortcut to open “Responsive design view.”
Click the Responsive button at the top, and select the iPad option from the list.
Click the Refresh button.
Select the edition of Windows 10 you want.
Click the Confirm button.
Select your language from the drop-down menu.
Click the Confirm button.
Click the button to download the Windows 10 ISO to begin the process.
After downloading the ISO file, you can use tools, such as Rufus to create a bootable media of Windows 10.
Originally published in March 2017, updated on May 2019.