LEGAL Windows 7 Download Links (Just like Vista before!!!)

1.) Put all the downloaded file into a Folder.

Did this step.

2.) Right Click and select Properties on each of them. Select Unblock(General Tab) for each of them.

Only 2 of the 3 objects gave me the option

3.) Run the Windows 7-HP-Retail-en-us-x86.exe or Windows 7-HP-Retail-en-us-x64.exe or Windows 7-P-Retail-en-us-x86.exe or Windows 7-P-Retail-en-us-x64.exe as administrator. It will begin to extract the Windows 7 Installation files from the setup1.box and setup2.box.

I got the unbox error as soon as it completed. I assume this means I should not continue to burn it to a disk

4.) You will see expandedSetup folder after the extraction. Delete the 3 files because you're not using them anymore(they're just like unrar/unzip something, which you will delete the rar/zip file after extracting the content).

Never went to this step out of concern of wasting a disk.

5.) All the Windows 7 Installation files are inside expandedSetup folder.

6.) You can either do a CD image and burn them into a Disc or you can make a bootable USB flash drive and copy the file into the USB flash drive. Both method works.

What recommendations could anyone give me?

 

What's your issue?

 

I would guess the DL was corrupted, you may need to DL again

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...ks-just-like-vista-before-21.html#post5536067

 

The posted links are not legal. It breaks copyright law in the U.S. to make a copy of software without permission from the copyright holder. I just thought I should mention this for anyone concerned with breaking the law.

In this case, Digital River makes download links available to support its business as order fulfiller for Microsoft. Users are encouraged to contact Digital River customer support to obtain links to the direct downloads. Permission is given to purchasers who have proceeded through the Microsoft store to download; no permission is given to anyone else. The fact that back-door links were found and passed around ad infinitum doesn't make copyright violating downloads any more legal than they were in the first place.

 

We appreciate your concern.

*Downloads another copy of Ultimate to store on flashdrive*

 

I am also happy that you are concerned about this. I do believe Microsoft knows about this situation and they have done what they intend to do with it.
If I was you I would contact Microsoft asap and tell them everything you know. Who knows there might be some kind of reward for stopping people from trying out this software to see if it will work on there computers and then purchasing a copy. And we all know even when you purchase software it is never really yours.

 

I'm not too concerned.

 

When I tried a clean install on my Asus g74sx, it stopped me and asked for my cd-rom driver. I have looked, and I'll be damned if i can find that specific driver. Any ideas?

 

Did the exact same thing to me, I had downloaded the file on my desktop then moved it to a USB flash drive. This I believe corrupted the file? I downloaded from my laptop directly and never got that again.

 

I burned mine to a DVD from my desktop. I will try doing it on my laptop and putting it on a usb drive. Thanks!

 

Right, right. You can do what you like as long as you can think up some rationalization, such as trying before you buy something that isn't meant to be used that way, circumventing the proper channels for obtaining software, etc.

Now, back to the real world. The misleading title of this thread should be changed.

 

Yeah, I mean outright software pirates generally aren't concerned about the rights they violate either. I guess as long as you get away with it and you get some benefit everything's hunky dory, hmmm?

 

As well you shouldn't. The links are intended for the use of people who proceeded through the Microsoft store, and are being passed around for illegal downloading by people here and elsewhere. This circumvents the Microsoft store and presumably steals from Microsoft by avoiding the cost of install media gotten through the proper channels. If they wanted to make legal download links available to the public at large, they would have done so and publicized the fact.

 

Why don't you just call the local police and file a report? And please remember to call Microsoft to follow up.

If I really wanted to pirate Windows, I know where to go, and so does everyone else here. I'm looking for a standard Windows disc to use with my legitimate Windows 7 key, as advised by technical support at my laptop manufacturer.

 

Am I not permitted to note a misleading, inaccurate title on a thread here without filing a local police report? Local police are concerned with local crime, not copyright violations encouraged by NBR users. Your "argument" boils down to "You can't catch me".

Wait, your laptop manufacturer advised you violate copyright using a back-door link here? Wooow.

ETA: The actual truth is that you deleted your recovery partition (which would be against expert user Chastity's advice), destroying your legal method of reinstalling Windows which came with your laptop:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...3817-just-got-new-g74sx-bbk7.html#post7944533

It's hard to believe that ASUS advised you to wipe your recovery partition, then download Windows illegally. Call me a skeptic if you must.

 

Perhaps you should learn about copyright in the U.S. before venturing an opinion? I'm sure pickpockets would think that others were blowing concerns out of proportion, and not see anything wrong with taking one's wallet.

It's quite simple: if you make a copy of some software protected by copyright, without permission, you're in violation. Downloading makes a copy. End of story.

As has been noted by others, including in this very thread, the links are to files hosted on a server at Digital River, intended for use only by people (specifically students) who have bought their software through the Microsoft store.

Your "logic" applies just as well to CDs down at the local library; those are "public" as well, though protected by copyright; why not rip them off, eh? It doesn't involve any loss to the copyright holder, since you wouldn't have bought the CD anyway, isn't that the way the logic goes? And since you weren't inclined to pay for the install media for Windows gotten through the proper channels, everything's hunky dory-- loss is only measurable if a thief would have paid in the alternative, eh?

In addition, the forum rules state, " Discussion of illegal activities such as fraud, software and music piracy and other intellectual property violations are not allowed. There is a zero tolerance policy for illegal activity being discussed." This thread and all advocates in it for violating Microsoft's intellectual property rights are in direct violation of the forum rules, and this thread would be deleted if the admins enforced the rules properly. I'm surprised this hasn't come up yet.

ETA: The links are not provided with Microsoft's permission, nor are the downloads in agreement with Microsoft's terms of use. In fact on the Digital River website qualified users (i.e. students who bought from the Microsoft site during a specified eligibility period) are directed to contact customer support directly to obtain download links; the fact that one or more of them must have passed the links along does not change the fact that the unqualified use of the links is not permitted.

The Digital River Terms of Use:
http://windows7.digitalriver.com/store/mswpus/ContentTheme/pbPage.Terms
(Eligibility restricted to students purchasing through the offer up to January 3, 2010; those students only can download, with the alternative option of buying the disks at the low promotional price of $13; etc.)

"8.1.1 [The] Software may not be copied, adapted, translated, made available, distributed, varied, modified, disassembled, decompiled, reverse engineered or combined with any other software, save to the extent that (i) this is permitted in the License Terms, or (ii) applicable law expressly mandates such a right which cannot legally be excluded by contract."

https://windows7.digitalriver.com/D...=TonCnQoBAlcAAA39KNIAAABD&rests=1317820988651
"When will I be able to download my pre-ordered product? ... To re-download software you have already purchased within the 30 days of your original purchase, you will need to go to your order information page and press the download button."

https://windows7.digitalriver.com/D...nformationPage&SiteID=mswpus&Locale=en_US#q10
"What is the difference between what I can purchase from the online store versus in a retail store?
You can only take advantage of this special offer through the official promotion website."

 

The links I've posted indisputably show that it is the case here. And if you can't find some source of permission, it is a copyright violation in the U.S. I understand things may be different in Estonia, but these are U.S. copyright rights we're discussing here.

Refer to the links I posted. Some of them have links back to Microsoft EULA etc., and as has been stated and restated in this thread, Digital River is a fulfillment vendor for Microsoft.

If you can't point to some permission for the downloads, they're illegal. The only permission that exists for the downloads at issue is the permission for students buying under the stated promotion. Unless you have some source of actual information, simply ignoring the information I've pointed to won't work as an argument; you need some actual information to show permission. Otherwise, anyone could violate copyright rights and claim that they weren't denied permission, so they have permission. That's not how it works.

Why is someone from Estonia venturing an opinion on U.S. copyright-violating downloads on the basis of Estonian law? Am I missing something here, or is it just that you like the downloads and don't want them to stop?

From the U.S. Copyright Office:

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-digital.html
"Uploading or downloading works protected by copyright without the authority of the copyright owner is an infringement of the copyright owner's exclusive rights of reproduction and/or distribution."

Yes, it does-- and there you go again, falling into the trap of thinking that if you can do something in Estonia, it's legal in the U.S.

Yes, it does.

 

More specious argumentation; I'm not surprised. Under your newest "logic", anyone who pirates software is not bound by terms applying to a sale of the same software, leading to the inescapable conclusion that the piracy/copyright violation is legal. In other words, unless someone duplicates the prohibition existing in U.S. law against copyright violations, in all terms of use/EULA documentation, which will be disregarded anyway by pirates, the pirates aren't restricted in any way by those laws and can violate copyright with impunity.

I guess it's back to the drawing board, applying Estonian concepts to U.S. downloads without permission from the copyright holder, hmmm?

 

If there were a problem with this thread and these links it would have been removed and marked illegal by both this forum and Microsoft.

I see no problem acquiring a copy of something I legitimately paid for in order to use legally acquired product keys.

Sue me.

 

This same topic and links are posted in most geek/tech/pc enthusiasts forums, if there were a legal issue I am sure we would have heard about it by now.

Some people just like to argue

Iucounu I pose a scenario:

You and your family are on a trip your sister is mad because you used up the hot water she noses through your laptop bag and finds your windows 7 DVD (your only copy), with a cold laugh out the window it goes at 80 miles an hour! Five semis hit it and a bum picks it up thinking its a giant dented quarter in disgust he tosses it off the 100 foot over pass where it lands and splits into a hundred pieces, a family of raccoon's then eats all the pieces.

Now your laptop has your COA on the bottom do you:

A. Find a download so in case of a disaster you can install it using your COA?
B. O well it is just money I shall by another copy?
C. Throwing your sister out the window IS NOT an option!

 

Oh, is that all you were doing? Well you have noted it, and hopefully you have contacted the administrators about it. As far as piracy, I have argued no such thing. I don't know how plain I can make it: for pirated versions of windows, you just need to go to google. That's not what I'm after, and it's not what the people in this thread are after. Why on earth would Microsoft shut down a thread of new computer owners who want to use their OS(and have a right to do so)?

No, I didn't delete my recovery partition. It's still right where it always is. Chastity did tell me to get a Windows 7 cd to use with my valid key, and that's what I'm doing. Thanks for caring enough to investigate my issue!

 

... a line that would be perfectly suitable for use on any warez discussion board, I suppose. "If the mods haven't indicated that something is illegal, it's legal."

Yes, we know that's your attitude. The question is not whether you see a moral issue, but whether you and others have authorization for the downloads. If you don't, you're violating copyright. Thanks for acknowledging, at least, that you are making a copy; that's more than I expected.

 

They wouldn't, of course, but that's not what we're discussing. The specific topic is whether leaked links for authorized downloads by others, used by unauthorized users to make copies of copyrighted software without permission, are illegal (the answer is yes). No one has shown any authorization for the software copying, except that I've shown the very specific authorization that pertains only to students buying through the Microsoft store pursuant to an offer that expired on January 3, 2010.

Really, I'm stunned that people apparently think that owning a license key for Windows (or better yet, intending to try before one buys) translates to authorization to engage in multi-gig downloads not contemplated when the user bought the Windows software or machine. Nor does it translate to authorization to spread the links around and encourage their unauthorized use. Is it piracy in the same sense as cracking Windows to use it without a key? No.

But is it making software copies without authorization from the copyright holder? Yes. Because of this, the title of this thread is inaccurate and misleading, and the thread itself violates the forum rules.

 

The legal approach would be to find a legal source of the media. Many laptop manufacturers, for example, will send copies of reinstallation media for a small fee, often the cost of shipping, sometimes a little more.

That's the way it goes; sellers of software are allowed to charge for it. If Microsoft wants to restrict access to copies of its software, it's allowed to do so. It has the right to allow some users to buy at a reduced price and download the software, and charge others more without giving them the specific authorization for the same download. You and I might think this is unfair, the way that many people think that Microsoft software is overpriced, but that doesn't mean that they don't have that right.

There is, of course, another legal option with possibly less cost, but it involves raccoon diapers and top-notch jigsaw skills, so wouldn't work for everyone.

 

At least you have a sense of humor

But again many forums have this same topic and have no issue with it, is it simply the topic title that bugs you?

 

You did, by noting that the CD-copying analogy would be just fine in Estonia. It's completely off topic, as we're discussing U.S. copyrights. And, by the way, for any content protected by U.S. copyright that winds up in an Estonian library, you would still be violating the copyright by making a copy, even if the librarian didn't come after you for it.

Your fallacy here is known as an "appeal to authority", except that in this case you're appealing to a non-authority. Similarly, a warez-using pirate could point to his buddy and say, "Shlomo here says it's okay, so it's not illegal." What threads get locked by particular administrators on a particular forum has nothing to do with what is illegal. Sometimes admins, like everyone else, make mistakes; sometimes they intentionally break the law, like other people; sometimes they don't follow their own forum rules very well; etc. I don't know why this thread hasn't been deleted, but it's not because the clearly illegal downloads are legal.

It's more that copyright restrictions apply unless there is an exemption (e.g. fair use) or you have specific authorization from the copyright holder to make a copy. In this case, there is no specific authorization for anyone except students specifically authorized by purchasing through a particular offer which expired on Jan. 3, 2010.

Did you manage to find the authorization to engage in these downloads? If not, refer to my prior posts.

... and it does not grant anyone the ability to make copies by downloading from links authorized only for students taking part in a Digital River-fulfilled promotion. IIRC it allows an end user who has already acquired a license and copy of the software legally to make one backup copy from the copy already acquired. Nowhere is permission given to download from a leaked link like the ones posted here.

 

Incorrect. Despite your Estonian-library-informed view of the way things should work, U.S. copyright protects intellectual property unless specific authorization is given to make a copy. That is, you're restricted from making a copy unless you have authorization to do so.

That's why when you sometimes see "making unauthorized copies is illegal" and similar language in licenses, it's superfluous.

I'm not making this up. Feel free to read up and learn about U.S. copyright anytime, then come back here with proof that use of the Digital River links by non-qualified users is actually authorized. I'm all ears.

It just hit me that you're seriously arguing that only students participating in the Digital River promotion are prohibited from making any copies of the software.

 

I think if the admins determine it legal and are okay with it the topic should just be locked.

 

That's the problem: they can't. It really is inescapable, for anyone who understands the bare minimum about U.S. copyright, that the links aren't legal to use for anyone but the authorized people. It might make sense that a license key holder is allowed to get the software by any method-- even unauthorized downloads; it might seem fair; but it's simply not legal if it's not authorized. So if right is right, the thread can't be left and just locked under the forum rules; it has to be deleted.

For anyone just showing up:
1. U.S. copyright law permits only authorized copying of Windows 7.
2. Downloading software is making a copy of it.
3. The Digital River links posted are only authorized for use by students participating in a promotion which ended on Jan. 3, 2010.
4. Hence, use of the posted links by anyone but those same authorized students violates U.S. copyright rights held by Microsoft.

 

I'm assuming they've made a good-faith mistake, or simply missed the thread up till now. But until someone shows actual authorization for the use by the whole wide world of those links, the conclusion that copyright violations are encouraged by this thread is inescapable.

 

That, if you believe this is illegal or in any way breaching MS' terms in a way that they'll want the thread closed, then contact the admins as well as MS about this. Whether they decide to take action or not will be up to them. You've already made your point of view clear. If you want to prove it right, then contact the concerned party (MS) and if they take action, that means that they consider it infringes on their license terms in a way that threatens their business.

 

Was there any contact like we will look into it?

I hardly believe a forum of this nature huge membership and quoted all over the internet would leave something up that may shade a bad light? Heck I was yelled at and post removed once five minutes after I created it, my own fault of course.

 

If there were any legal violations with the posting of these links then the Vista thread would've been taken down as well and this Windows 7 thread would have never existed.

I'd find it best if you contact whomever you'd like to report this to and refrain from posting and clogging up this thread with a discussion equivalent to beating a dead horse. Please, mash your keyboard elsewhere.

 

Microsoft makes it so you can try the software out for at least 30 days. Microsoft Obviously has better things to do than attack customers whom already have a legal copy of the software on there computer. I do not believe they care that people try it out on older computers. I have purchased two legal copies of 7 Pro from Fry's after confirming proper function using these downloads. This is actually making money for Microsoft.
Preaching HE double toothpicks about what is right and wrong on the law is the act of a person whom needs attention, allot of it apparently.

 

Guys do you know if I can use the windows serial that I got with my new laptop to install the same version of windows but different language?
My laptop came with Dutch windows but I want to install english. I can use the iso of this thread but will my serial be accepted?

 

Back everything up and give it a try.

 

Stay on topic. Some posts have been deleted.

This thread is not for talking about the legalities of using the provided links. This thread complies to the forum rules, so it will stay.

Any further off-topic posts will be deleted. Send me a Private Message(PM) if you feel that this decision is incorrect.

Thanks for your cooperation.

-Kdawgca
NBR Mod

 

Give it a try

 

I am a total noob at this stuff. But I just bought a new computer, that doesn't have a os already installed. Can I and if so, how do I install this trial on my new pc? At least till I can buy the real Windows 7 64 bit...oh and yes I need 64 bit.

 

Download the 64 bit of your choosing and create a bootable USB using another Windows 7 computer (click on the links in my sig).

You can use Windows for up to 30 days without a product key and may renew it up to two times for a total of 120 days.

 

Ignore those previous two comments. I wasn't thinking. I get what you mean, but do I have to create the bootable usb with a computer that has windows 7 on it? I have xp 32 bit on my laptop, which is what I would be putting it on to make the bootable usb. I do have access to a win7 computer though if need be. Or would it just be easier to just take the program of choice and burn a iso disc on a dvd and just put that into my new computer?

 

hello, newbie

ive completed all the steps for the 3 file/iso but when i get to the cmd txt it runs completely, making the iso

but when i look for it on the c: drive it's not there. anyone know why? thanks!

 

Just get this one: http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-digitalriver-windows-7-sp1-13-languages.html

 

"NOTE: If you currently have an OEM activation (a factory installed Windows 7), then the easiest way to reactivate is to use this program to backup the activation before clean-installing and to restore the activation after clean-installing. This way, you will not have to use the key on the bottom of your laptop, and you will not have to call microsoft to activate windows."
I been doing it where I just type in the OEM keys off the laptops & towers.Did they change this?Or have I just been lucky for many years?I never ran into any problems,like the msg"your copy of windows is not genuine."

 

so i should use this one? i do have a geniune key

could someone explain to me why the iso isn't showing up after running cmd?

 

Nothing has been changed, there just is different ways to activate windows. They behave and work differently, yet in the end everything works the same.

 

hi i'm looking for a file called bootsect.exe 32 bit if anyone can help thanks

EDIT : never mind found one

 

I have 32-bit vista ultimate OEM on my laptop. I bought upgrade key for 32-bit Win 7 ultimate. Can I use this key for installing full win 7 64-bit professional? My laptop is eligible for 64-bit.

 

You cannot use your key to activate different edition but why you want to install Professional edition if you already got the key for Ultimate - just install the Ultimate x64 and you're good as your key should work for both x86 (32 bit) and x64 (64 bit).

 

what does it mean when he say, burn it , boot it, use it

what does it mean boot it?

also if i put it on the usb using the program he recommend can i use that when im doing clean install to my laptop?