Most Windows don't come with an installation disc that you can use to reinstall your operating system. While you have options to create recovery discs, they're not the same thing.
The same applies when you purchase an upgrade from Microsoft. Again, you will not get an installation disc unless you purchase it directly.
The guide below will give you direct links to the programs or installation disc images that you can legally download to your system. Of course, you need a valid Windows product key to use them.
Note: All downloads below are from official sources only. It is not recommended to download Windows from unofficial sources. You can use the tools described below to copy the installation files to a USB, or even use a disc burning program such as ImgBurn to “burn” your operating system installation to a DVD.
Windows Vista
Windows Vista does not exist as an ISO image, but as three files, an exe file and two Wim files.
Microsoft Windows Vista with SP1 32-bit:
Microsoft Windows Vista with SP2 64-bit:
Windows 7
Windows 7 files are provided as ISO images that you can burn to a disc or copy to a USB drive. They are provided by Digital River, the company that officially hosts Microsoft downloads. If you purchase a copy of Windows 7 from the Microsoft Store, you will download it from Digital River.
- Windows 7 Home Premium with SP1 32-bit: X17-58996.iso
- Windows 7 Home Premium with SP1 64-bit: X17-58997.iso
- Windows 7 Professional with SP1 32-bit: X17-59183.iso
- Windows 7 Professional with SP1 64-bit X17-59186.iso
- Windows 7 Ultimate with SP1 32-bit X-17-59463.iso
- Windows 7 Ultimate with SP1 64-bit X-17-59465.iso
Windows 8.1
The best option to create Windows 8.1 installation media is to download Microsoft's Media Creation Tool. This is a small program that runs on your system and helps you create the necessary files to install Windows 8.1 on a computer.
All you need to do is select the desired language, the version of Windows 8.1, and your computer architecture. You can choose to copy the files to a USB flash drive or create an ISO file.
Windows 10
Windows 10 is currently only available as a technical preview. You can download the files directly from Microsoft as ISOs that you can burn to DVDs or copy to USB devices.
System Requirements
The minimum system requirements do not have major differences as you can see below.
