Windows 8 ISO?

Energize

Energize

Energize

Caporegime
Joined
12 Mar 2004
Posts
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Location
England
I bought a new laptop which came with windows 8 installed on it, naturally I want to do a reformat and reinstall to get rid of the bloatware etc, however when trying to download the ISO via the Microsoft website it says I can't use my oem key (which I had to use a 3rd party program to find :rolleyes:).

So where can I download a clean Windows 8 ISO?

Or am I better off just switching to Windows 7?
 
I don't think you can use a normal ISO with the oem key embedded into the BIOS of new machines, you would need a proper key to use a normal ISO.
 
How on earth are people supposed to reformat their computer then? :confused:

It seems every day Microsoft take a step backwards with Windows, as if the "start" screen wasn't bad enough...
 
Depending on the manufacturer you would normally have an option to create recovery DVD's or something, have a look through your machine for such things.
 
I think with Windows 8, they are trying to make everything easier for Joe Public and more difficult for power users. Ideally, MS would say you never reformat again - you just use the refresh to factory default setting which takes everything back to how it was when you first started. Bloatware included on an OEM setup, presumably.
 
nade said:
Depending on the manufacturer you would normally have an option to create recovery DVD's or something, have a look through your machine for such things.
Click to expand...

My laptop doesn't have a DVD drive.

Looks like I'll have to resort to cracking a version of Windows I legally own. :rolleyes:

ic1male said:
I think with Windows 8, they are trying to make everything easier for Joe Public and more difficult for power users. Ideally, MS would say you never reformat again - you just use the refresh to factory default setting which takes everything back to how it was when you first started. Bloatware included on an OEM setup, presumably.
Click to expand...

Which is absurd because if the hard drive becomes corrupt due to a hardware error or virus etc then the computer is useless as the user can't restore from an iso.
 
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Just get rid of any bloatware you dont want and then do a windows backup image to usb stick or external hard drive.

Also you can pick up usb external dvd drives for little money to create recovery discs.

Very easy.
 
Energize said:
My laptop doesn't have a DVD drive.
.
Click to expand...

Why would you need a dvd drive.
You can run win8 installer from within windows, or you can create a usb.
Or you can use the refresh/reset options from within windows.

Its not ms going backwards, its you not knowing what's what.

Oh and this is no different to win7. Win7 keys only worked with the same iso installation files.
Unless the reset option works (but i would expect it to reinstall the bloatware) you'll need to get the iso from somewhere checking the hash tag.
 
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Glaucus said:
Its not ms going backwards, its you not knowing what's what.
Click to expand...

Have you been reading a different thread to everyone else?

The problem I am having is that Microsoft do not provide an ISO file to allow oem users to reinstall windows from a USB/DVD.

If they had not moronically decided to split off the retail ISO from the oem one this would not be a problem I would be able to download the Windows 8 ISO with my oem key.

the1gooner said:
Just get rid of any bloatware you dont want and then do a windows backup image to usb stick or external hard drive.

Also you can pick up usb external dvd drives for little money to create recovery discs.

Very easy.
Click to expand...

Not easy, you cannot uninstall the bloatware via the control panel, it is much more tightly integrated into the OS installation than that.

This whole oem situation with windows is farcical in the first place, I've never known any other software providers to make licenses non-transferable, highly unethical and creates a pain for users of any technical level. And Microsoft wonder why software piracy is so rife? It's because millions of customers are trying to get their legitimately owned software to work as intended...
 
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They haven't split it, it was never joined in. The first place, its the same in w7. W7 volume licensing keys wont work on normal retail media.
Nothing at all has changed. You have to source the media yourself, or just use the recovery tools provided.
Bloat ware subsidises the purchases, so of course they aren't going to make it supper easy that would peeve off the OEMs
 
Energize said:
Have you been reading a different thread to everyone else?

The problem I am having is that Microsoft do not provide an ISO file to allow oem users to reinstall windows from a USB/DVD.

If they had not moronically decided to split off the retail ISO from the oem one this would not be a problem I would be able to download the Windows 8 ISO with my oem key.



Not easy, you cannot uninstall the bloatware via the control panel, it is much more tightly integrated into the OS installation than that.
Click to expand...

Microsoft do provide an ISO and if you bought windows 8 you would be able to use it if you lost your original installation disc etc.

The problem is that you bought a PC with a "free" copy of windows installed but do not want to use that copy.
 
Energize said:
I do want to use that copy, I want to reinstall it.
Click to expand...

You can reinstall it, just 99% chance of reinstalling the bloatware as well.
The only way is to obtain a matching iso and check people have messed with by checking the hash tag. This hasn't change in many many versions of windows.
 
*Sigh* Microsoft are such an unethical software provider, they add cost to your product but then don't give you the ISO to perform a clean installation of the software you paid for.

Off to the torrent sites then I suppose, it's the moral thing to do, lol.
 
lOL, its you who have it all back to front.

You didn't buy it from Microsoft, you bought it from who ever, who have given you the nessacery files to reinstall. You did not pay full price, not even close to full price for it. It really has nothing to do with ms, which is why oems buy it so cheap, its down to oems to provide support etc. unlike OEM discs from say here which is down to ms, ms provide support etc, but you pay a lot more for it.
It's you who need to readjust your opinion.
The OEM is free to give you a clean installation if they want, sod all to do with MS. Or to install it with bloatware and buy doing such lower the cost to you of the complete machine.

Seeing as you have a valid license its grey at best and more than likely legal. It's one of those areas which needs to go to court to have a verdict made. But no one is going to take it to court.
 
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1) Get a 4GB+ USB drive, search for recovery, create a USB recovery drive. It's handy to have a copy anyway.

2) Go to Refresh/Reinstall in PC Settings/General to reinstall or refresh your Windows install.

3) Use the recovery partition that is normally provided with every laptop.

3) Write down your key, download a Windows 8/8.1 ISO from MS using a generic key, then activate it after a clean install (might not be doable with an OEM key, never tried it myself).

5) Debloat the install using one of the several automated tools that you can find by using the power of Google Search Engine.

6) Manually uninstall/disable unneeded software/services that actually use up any resources on your system.

These are just a few options you've got.
 
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