Obtaining Windows 8.1 ISO files

Question

Level 1

8 points

Obtaining Windows 8.1 ISO files

I recently purchased Windows 8.1 from the Microsoft online store in order to set up my iMac with BootCamp. Soon after this I learned that Microsoft does not allow direct access to the ISO files (which seems silly as they are more than willing to send out DVDs which, while about as useful as cuneiform tablets, are essentially the same thing). Instead, the digital download version provides a little .exe file which will in turn download the ISO for installation. As I do not have a working windows machine, I can't run it.

While I am aware of a several possible work arounds (get a friend to download the file for me, pay geek squad $50 to do the same, etc) the simplest option would be to find a trustworthy online source from which to download the ISO file directly.

To that end, does anyone know of such a thing?

iMac, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Mar 4, 2015 3:16 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Sportack Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 4, 2015 3:26 PM in response to Sportack

I also checked into Digital River, and it seems like they aren't providing any Windows downloads at all anymore.

Windows 8 on Digital River

Up until recently, there was a notice on windows7.digitalriver.com that the Digital River Windows Store has closed down. Now even the subdomain isn't available any longer. It seems that Microsoft now wants to distribute Windows exclusively through their own website. We do not expect any future Windows versions to become available on the download domain digitalrivercontent.net or the Digital River Azure storage.

from: heidoc dot net (random tech blog)

Reply

Answer 2

Sportack Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 4, 2015 3:59 PM in response to Loner T

I'm not opposed to getting a refund from Microsoft. As I said in my OP, however I'm aware of my options: The simplest is to go find a PC and create an ISO on a USB drive using the utility I already have (I just can't get to one before the weekend).

i.e. I don't really need help troubleshooting the issue, I'm just impatient and looking to see if anyone has the ISO file available without jumping through all of Microsoft's hoops :b

Reply

Answer 3

Apr 4, 2015 1:39 AM in response to Sportack

I, too, went through some hoops while downloading the Windows 8 Pro.iso for our MacBook Pro.

The first problem was that I needed Windows to download it. Luckily I have an old Mac mini with VMWare/Windows 7 so I used that for the download.

But then Boot Camp Assistant complained about the missing 64-bitness:

Microsoft download page said nothing about bitness so I presumed the Windows.iso had both.

The net had posts with a similar problem and advised to make sure the .iso is not mounted and that it is not present in Disk Utility.

But as the problem persisted I called Microsoft support and learned that the download tool is so "smart" that it detects the download PC's bitness and gets the same version. And surely I had used VMWare/Windows 7 32-bit for the download.

After searching a little, Microsoft support advised me to Bing a page "create installation media for windows 8".

It allows you to select your desired language, Windows 8.1 edition and system architecture (32-bit or 64-bit).

But you still need Windows for that task.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

Reply

Answer 4

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 4, 2015 3:22 PM in response to Sportack

You may be able to use your Product Key to re-download the 64-bit only ISO from Digital River.

The less said about "cuneiform" the better. 😉

Reply

Answer 5

Loner T

Level 9

59,536 points

Mar 4, 2015 3:28 PM in response to Sportack

Get a refund from the online M$ store and buy a physical disk set which should have two separate DVDs for 32-bit and 64-bit. Do not buy a combined DVD.

Reply