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Comment by slayed0 | Hacker News Reader

You can download windows 7/8 iso's directly from microsoft with your product key:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-recovery

You would of course need to grab drivers from the manufacturer as well, but you can skip all of the bloatware (and borderline spy/malware) that comes with a retail machine.

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I've tried this with an old laptop and the site refused to let me download anything. It claimed, for Windows 7 at least, that you need a retail key; OEM keys are not supported and you must go through your OEM. Really obnoxious.

I tried this and when I reinstalled I got all the bloatware back. It was pretty frustrating because I don't know what I did incorrectly.

I ended up putting a Microsoft Windows 8.1 iso on a flash drive using rufus. https://rufus.akeo.ie/

I don't understand why Microsoft won't just make the latest build of its operating system publicly accessible in ISO format for anyone to download. I mean I still have to enter a serial number and activate. Why not just let me download from a trusted source without jumping through a bunch of hoops?

They do put it on their website not publicly you need to login with a Microsoft(live or whatever) account.

They used to allow this (as recently as a few months ago). You could download any windows 7 iso and then would have to activate after install. They even provide a utility for making bootable flash drives from an iso (presumably for installing win7 without needing a disc). I have to imagine they stopped offering the images due to the high level of piracy.

With an image from microsoft and an easy to find, spy-ware free, super easy to use executable (I'll avoid mentioning names on here), it was way too easy to pirate windows.

Also, not sure why you still got bloatware with this method. Manufacturers typically offer all of the required drivers individually online. The drivers themselves are bloatware-free but maybe you got roped into installing a software pack for the machine or something?

It asked something like keeping the recovery partition. I naively said yes. I got everything from McAfee to Encyclopedia Britannica.

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