where to find Windows 7 Pro ISO?

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I have purchased a couple of HP/Compaq PC's with Core I5 that my son is upgrading for his grandfather to use. This is giving him some experience before he builds a computer from scratch for his upcoming 4-H project. Each PC came with a Windows 7 Pro COA sticker/code. I assumed I would be able to download the ISO easily, as I did several years ago, then we could burn to DVD and install.

I found what APPEARED to be the ISO file I needed at the website softlay.net, but when I downloaded it, it was not a single iso file. Instead, it had several different folders (boot, efi, sources, support, etc.) and some files (autorun, bootmgr, bootmgr.efi, setup to name a few) Clicking on setup seems to launch a windows 7 install, but that isn't any good for me since it doesn't appear to be bootable, or an iso file. The whole thing is about 3.1 GB in size.

I'm not sure where the ISO files on the Microsoft website went. I thought that if you had the official COA sticker on the case, it was fairly easy to download and install windows, then activate it. Evidently not so much any more.

Can anyone give me some ideas on what we can do for a next step? We bought memory, new hard drives and video cards to upgrade these a little bit for my father in law to use (and to give my son some experience)

However, we're at a bit of a standstill right now. I'm not sure what to do next in order to get the official OS on the new hard drives. Any help would be appreciated - my son is anxious to start putting the hardware together for his new computer, but I told him we needed to get these two old PC's upgraded for grandpa first.

 

[mxnerd]

Direct from Microsoft

Windows 7 - Microsoft Lifecycle

Windows 7 follows the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

www.microsoft.com

==

If you are upgrading memory, GPU and hard disk, you shouldn't have to reactivate or reinstall Windows 7, unless you are changing CPU or motherboard.

Just use disk cloning software to clone the whole old hdd to the new hdd, like EaseUS Disk Copy free edition.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Direct from Microsoft

Windows 7 - Microsoft Lifecycle

Windows 7 follows the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

www.microsoft.com

==

If you are upgrading memory, GPU and hard disk, you shouldn't have to reactivate or reinstall Windows 7, unless you are changing CPU or motherboard.

Just use disk cloning software to clone the whole old hdd to the new hdd, like EaseUS Disk Copy free edition.

Ah, well, the company destroyed the original hard drive, before selling it as a system with no hard drive. I figured no problem, since the HDD is probably the one
item with the most wear and tear on it anyway, so we installed new 2TB sata drives. (if the original HDD had been included, I do have a hardware disk cloner)

I did enter the Windows COA code on the sticker on the side of the case into the page you mentioned above, but it says that the COA was installed by the hardware manufacturer, and so evidently we are supposed to contact them for a recovery disk. Since we are not the original owners, I really doubt that they would help us with any sort of recovery media. I don't remember running into this a few years ago - evidently Microsoft has become a LOT stingier with their ISO's. It would seem that even with the official COA sticker on the PC, I'm stuck.

I would try downloading a torrent file, but the last time I did that, my ISP turned off our internet and home phone for 2 days, so I'm a bit reluctant.

Any other ideas on where I might be able to get the ISO? Thanks so much for your time and suggestions.

 

[mxnerd]

ISO is not the problem. The COA is the problem. Since Microsoft has ended Windows 7 support, yeah, you probably are stuck.

You have to google the solution yourself, can't help here, since Anandtech does not allow any sort of software hacking discussions.

Or just buy Windows 10. Install Open Shell Menu https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu if you want WIndows 7 experience.

 

[Steltek]

You are over-thinking the problem.

If you have the separate valid Windows 7 keycodes for each of the PCs, there is no need to buy Windows 10 as you can validly upgrade them to a clean Win10 install for free. There does not have to be an OS installed on the computer to do this as long as you have those Win7 keycodes.

Use the Windows 10 Media Creation tool to create a flash drive installer on another computer. When installing Windows 10 from the flash drive, at the point the installer asks for the product keycode just enter the Win7 keycode from the COA sticker on that particular PC. You should end up with a fully activated clean Win10 install for each machine that has a valid Win7 OEM keycode.

Win10 should install the majority of necessary drivers as this is older hardware. However, if there are any it doesn't install, post back and we can tell you how to go about finding them.

It has been my experience that Win10 will normally run no worse than Windows 7 did on the same hardware.

 

[mxnerd]

Yeah, I was overthinking.

OP should be able to install Windows 10 just using Windows 7 keys, the free upgrade to Windows 10 does not really end.

 

[mikeymikec]

I think the OP downloaded the ISO file in the first place, double-clicked on it, and Windows mounted the file as a storage volume for him to read.

 

[Steltek]

I think the OP downloaded the ISO file in the first place, double-clicked on it, and Windows mounted the file as a storage volume for him to read.

Yeah, I see that now that you point it out. He just needed software (such as Rufus) to burn it to an install media to be bootable.

However, while I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of the owner of that website he mentions, in these times I wouldn't trust an ISO I downloaded from any 3rd party website these days. Especially for a grandparent much less an EOL Win7.

Much better to download and install a free Win10 upgrade.

 

[mikeymikec]

Yeah, I see that now that you point it out. He just needed software (such as Rufus) to burn it to an install media to be bootable.

I think any version of Windows from Vista (inc.) can write an ISO to CD/DVD without additional software.

However, while I have no reason to doubt the sincerity of the owner of that website he mentions, in these times I wouldn't trust an ISO I downloaded from any 3rd party website these days. Especially for a grandparent much less an EOL Win7.

Much better to download and install a free Win10 upgrade.

I'd be worried about downloading an OS ISO from a third party too.

 

[JackMDS]

Or, if Win 7 is "So Dear" to One.

windows 7 | Newegg.com

Search Newegg.com for windows 7. Get fast shipping and top-rated customer service.

www.newegg.com

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I think the OP downloaded the ISO file in the first place, double-clicked on it, and Windows mounted the file as a storage volume for him to read.

Man, you're right! My system thought the downloaded file was a winzip archive, which is how it showed up on my desktop. I didn't even think to right click and see - it shows iso. I could have easily burned to a disk. Now I'm not sure whether to try that out or go the Windows 10 route. Thanks so much for all the suggestions!

 

[Steltek]

Man, you're right! My system thought the downloaded file was a winzip archive, which is how it showed up on my desktop. I didn't even think to right click and see - it shows iso. I could have easily burned to a disk. Now I'm not sure whether to try that out or go the Windows 10 route. Thanks so much for all the suggestions!

I'd encourage you to try Win10 first in (you can do so in trial mode without a keycode if you want) to see how well it works. Win7 is dead and gone at this point. It may still be relatively secure for now, but over time (probably fairly quickly) will accumulate numerous dangerous unpatched security flaws. If you don't like the user interface, as mxnerd said using Open Shell will allow you to make Win10 look pretty much just like Win7 if you want.

If it doesn't work well or you don't like it, you can just create a Win7 installer using your ISO and install Windows 7 using the Win7 keycode. Worst case (presuming the ISO hasn't been altered - you did download it from a 3rd party website), you may have to use telephone activation to get it up and running but that shouldn't be much of a problem.

 

[craftech]

Direct from Microsoft

Windows 7 - Microsoft Lifecycle

Windows 7 follows the Fixed Lifecycle Policy.

www.microsoft.com

==

If you are upgrading memory, GPU and hard disk, you shouldn't have to reactivate or reinstall Windows 7, unless you are changing CPU or motherboard.

Just use disk cloning software to clone the whole old hdd to the new hdd, like EaseUS Disk Copy free edition.

As has been pointed out, Microsoft won't allow you to download that iso with an OEM product key.