And Microsoft's website, for reasons unknown, won't let us download Windows 7 ISOs with a valid OEM product key. In case we have a desktop or laptop computer with pre-installed Windows 7, we own an OEM Windows 7 License. However, to download Windows 7 through this site, we need the product key of a store-bought, retail version of Windows. Sure, they have set up the Microsoft Software Recovery website, the 'official' way to download Windows 7. We could download Windows 7 and be sure that the ISO was clean and untampered.Īnd then, in early February 2015, Microsoft decided to take down the Digital River ISOs, for good. That's why it was a big deal that Microsoft allowed us to download Windows 7 as an ISO through Digital River. For all we know, the ISO could contain a host of malware: rootkits, trojans, keyloggers you name it.

Microsoft giveth, Microsoft taketh awayĮven though it would work, downloading Windows 7 from questionable sources is never a good idea. Just check out our guide on how to find the Windows product key.

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