Download Windows 7 Disc Images (ISO Files)

[Paul Black]

Good evening,

I need to reinstall Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) Service Pack 1.

I have tried entering the product key on the bottom of the Dell Inc. Inspiron N5050 into the site...

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7

...but it will not accept it.

I ran Belarc Advisor and it gave me a different product key.
I tried entering that product key into the site above and again it would not accept it.

Where can I download an ISO for Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) Service Pack 1 please?
Also, if I installed that onto a USB and ran it would it accept the product key on the bottom of the Dell Inc. Inspiron N5050.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SIW2]

would it accept the product key on the bottom of the Dell Inc. Inspiron N5050.

Yes.


You can use any official win7 sp1 iso e.g. Ultimate . They contain all edititons. Toggle off the ei.cfg and all editions are available for installation.
eicfg_removal_utility.zip

If you extract the iso to usb, just delete/rename sources\ei.cfg.

 

[Snick]

Hi Paul,

There are two paths you can journey. Repair Install & Fresh Install (format drive). All depends on whether you wish to keep all your files, folders, installed programs ect., which is the 1st option and accomplished from within windows.
You can obtain Windows 7 via Heidoc.net. You'll have to download the app and run it. The latest version of the Heidoc downloader won't run on my Windows 10 machine!
See tutorial by Shaun Brink on repair install

You install ISO with ISOtoUSB or if ISO is not bootable, make it so with Rufus

Attached is VB script I use to find Win 7 product key. It's in a compressed folder because during the upload, download process, a script error occurs sometimes when you try to run it. Simply open the zip & drag & drop on desktop. When you run the script it opens a window with your product key displayed. Press CTRL + c to copy to clipboard. I usually paste it into notepad and save which reduces typos.

 

[Paul Black]

Thanks SIW2,

So basically, I download the file to my hard drive, run eicfg_removal_utility.zip and then run Windows7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool-Installer-en-US to make the USB bootable.

Is that correct please?

Thanks in advance.

P.S. I don't quite understand when you say...
If you extract the iso to usb, just delete/rename sources\ei.cfg

 

[SIW2]

Either:

There is a file called ei.cfg in the sources folder of the iso. If you use the ei.cfg tool, that file is ignored and all editions are available for installation.


Or:
Alternatively, if you extract the entire contents of the iso onto usb, then obviously the ei.cfg file is also extracted. It can then be renamed or deleted, so it has no effect. Once again all editions will be available.

You don't want the ei.cfg file in the usb\sources folder. Either method is fine.

 

[Snick]

Paul Black,

No, please read post #3 above.

Here's a short tutorial on Burning ISO to USB using Rufus

If you downloaded the Win 7 from the link SIW2 provided & downloaded the ei.cfg utility then you can proceed to alter the ei.cfg file. When you run the ei.cfg utility it will prompt you for the location of the ISO file. When you enter the appropriate info and run it, it either removes or alters that file. Either method works, in that is removes the constrains of a specific installation type, i.e., Basic, Home, Pro, Ultimate. It does not, however, permit you to install a different version than that which is already installed. You still have the 25 character product key that is associated with your win 7 edition.

Also, make sure you have your product key copied & in a safe place.
I provided a VB script post #3 that opens a window on your desktop with your product key. When the window appears, press CTRL + c to copy it to your clipboard. I usually paste that into notepad and print it.

If you require any additional explanation(s) please feel free to ask! There are no stupid questions!

 

[Paul Black]

Where has the link gone please???

 

[Paul Black]

Thanks SIW2, I appreciate it.

File downloaded and saved.

All the best, Paul.

 

[Paul Black]

Hi Snick,

Thanks for the reply and information, it is really appreciated.

I downloaded and saved the file SIW2 provided and run the eicfg_removal_utility.

I ran the VB script Find Windows Product Key and Belarc Advisor which gave me the same Product Key information, however, this was not the one on the bottom of the laptop. I will obviously be using the one on the bottom of the laptop during the clean install although it couldn't be verified using...

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/soft...nload/windows7.

Anyway, I ran the Windows7-USB-DVD-Download-Tool-Installer (on my old Vista machine) which gave the error message...

Files copied successfully. However, we were unable to run bootsect to make the USB device bootable.

I think I saw somewhere that I could correct this by renaming the Boot.mgr file to ntldr but I need clarification on this please.

I ran Rufus (thanks for the link and insight, I will definately be using this in the future) and it has seemed to have worked!

I will be trying the clean install later today hopefully after I have backed everything up.

Any comments or suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards, Paul

 

[torchwood]

Hi Paul,

is this the key Belarc found
6RBBT-F8VPQ-QCPVQ-KHRB8-RMV82

Thats the factory installed product key for >>>ALL Dell Home premium<<< computers

The COA key on the bottom is the back-up key.

note
you may not even need to use your spare, if you just SKIP "enter product key" during setup it might pickup the factory installed key.

nice litte tutorial here, pics included
Using The Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool - TechNet Articles - United States (English) - TechNet Wiki


Roy

 

[Paul Black]

Hi Roy,

Is this the key Belarc found:
6RBBT-F8VPQ-QCPVQ-KHRB8-RMV82

Yes it is.

I am obviously going to delete ALL the partitions during the clean install.
Are you saying that the Product Key is in the BIOS or somewhere so I will not need to enter the COA key on the bottom of the laptop?
I am going to use the ISO that SIW2 provided so I hope that the COA key on the bottom of the laptop will work.

Thanks again.

 

[torchwood]

Hi Paul,

Yep thats correct the key is NOT held on any partition.

If you used Dell re-installation discs then the "old" key is automatically picked-up
(Dell have an excellent recovery tool all you need is your ServiceTag no: Bloatware included)
Using 3rd party install media sometimes picks it up but not all the time.

Roy

 

[Paul Black]

Hi again Roy,

I don't have any Dell re-installation discs (so no bloatware to worry about)!

When creating the bootable USB with the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool I got the error message as posted above.

Am I right in saying that I could either rename the Boot.mgr file to ntldr in the ISO on the USB, or just double-click the setup.exe on the USB ISO to run the Windows 7 Installation, is that correct?

I will obviously use the Rufus created bootable USB first to see if it works!

I only enquire in case this doesn't work!

Thanks in advance.

 

[AddRAM]

If you run setup.exe from the usb stick, then you are not doing a clean install. You have to boot from the usb stick in order to perform a clean install.

Use the boot menu (F8) to choose the usb stick when you 1st turn on the PC.

Do not make any changes in the Bios, do not set usb as 1st in the Bios, just use the boot menu one time, that's it.