HeiDoc.net ISO downloader

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I just tried to download the ISO download tool for a Windows 7 Home Premium OEM, English system and got the following error:

“This file is currently unavailable and can be provided again in a small capacity next month. For now please select one of the downloads highlighted in green instead.”

This came up before I got to choose between 32 and 64 bit.

Has anyone else experienced this issue?/what did I do wrong?/what can be done?…

 

Craig L.
1) Win7 -> Win8.1 Pro, 64bit, Group B
2) Win7 Home, 64bit -> Group W
(hoping to reinstall each)

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Tried to download the tool or used the tool to try to download the ISO?

cheers, Paul

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Craig L. wrote:

I just tried to download the ISO download tool for a Windows 7 Home Premium OEM, English system and got the following error:

“This file is currently unavailable and can be provided again in a small capacity next month. For now please select one of the downloads highlighted in green instead.”

This came up before I got to choose between 32 and 64 bit.

Has anyone else experienced this issue?/what did I do wrong?/what can be done?…

 

Just tested too. Got the same notice.

You can try Fido : https://www.ghacks.net/2019/11/26/fido-is-a-powershell-script-which-you-can-used-to-download-windows-iso-images/
or
AveYo’s MediaCreationTool : https://pastebin.com/bBw0Avc4

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Sounds like heidoc.net is on a shared hosting plan (Hostwinds, LLC) and has exceeded its (probably somewhat arbitrary) bandwidth limit.

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I think the restriction is due to licenses and MS servers (where the downloads come from):

But Windows 7 is already gone for the month. Depending on when exactly MS shuts down the downloads API after Windows 7 end-of-life, downloads might or might not come back on February 1.
Win 7 / Office 2010: Monthly Download Days starting October 1 (experimental)

1 user thanked author for this post.

jabeattyauditor

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Hi,

It’s Jan here (the author of the tool).

The issue is with MS who keep blacklisting the keys that generate the downloads in the background. I’d need to buy licenses worth $10,000 in order to satisfy the full download demand. For the few days (of Win 7) and months (of Office 2010) lifetime, I decided not to invest into licenses any further.

The downloads database resets at 0:00 on the first day of every month, and then generares downloads on a first-come first-served basis. Usually on the sixth day no more links can be generated, and any cached downloads expire by the end of the seventh day.

Since Win 7 reaches its end of life this month, it is unknown whether there will be any downloads next month. It depends on whether MS keeps the API running for some more time.

The August 2018 and Dell editions of Win 7 are currently still working.

5 users thanked author for this post.

Kirsty, SueW, georgea, b, jabeattyauditor

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Great to have you here, Jan!

So that’s what’s happening. Makes sense — but I wish MS would back off a bit, eh?

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Thanks all for answering! That was really informative about why the ISOs are not available and unfortunately I am not able to wait till Feb 1 to see if MS provides any more. It also appears that the two options Alex5723 suggested are “no gos” for me since FIDO is available for Win8 and above and Ave Yo’s Media Creation Tool Win10.

I also found out that the Win8.1 upgrade (bootable and recovery disks) I got along with my Fujitsu notebook which I opted for a “factory-downgrade” to Win7 aren’t worth much as they don’t come with a MS product key. They said I would have to purchase one from MS.

Sooo, at this point, I am wondering about just reinstalling the Windows 7 OS on both my Win7 machines via their recovery partitions and (hopefully) using WSUS Offline to update per Canadian Tech’s Group W scheme to limit the updates. I guess this wouldn’t be considered as a clean install since I suppose all the original crapware, etc would get re-installed which might be the reason I have never seen anyone on this website discussing this option. (I do see there are some 3rd party tools to remove (most?) of the “c***”.)

If anyone wants to let me know what they think of using the recovery partition, I am all ears.

Also I do have one additional question that I would love to get some direction on and that is about having to provide any drivers or driver updates during the re-installation process. I’m just a newbie at all this stuff and therefore don’t even know if all the previous drivers will be wiped out when the C: drive is re-formatted. I know some are re-installed by some of the updates but those are all not recommended. Will the re-install actually work (finish completing) without me providing at least some of the required drivers at some mid-way point or can it (really) wait till after all the updates are done? Yes, I do know how to download them from the PC’s manufacture’s website and install them manually (or at least I just researched how to do it and it seems doable for me)

Thanks so much for all your support!

Craig L.
1) Win7 -> Win8.1 Pro, 64bit, Group B
2) Win7 Home, 64bit -> Group W
(hoping to reinstall each)

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Craig,

Why not just download the W7 iso direct? https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7

On the other hand, why do you want to reinstall W7?
Is your machine misbehaving?
Do you have and image backup?

cheers, Paul

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The fundamental problem is that many people – for whatever reason – don’t have a valid Win7 product key. You need the key in order to download the file.

I’ve tried using key recovery software to get a valid key to match my totally legal Win7 installation. Many times, either the key won’t appear, or it won’t work for the download tool.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Kranium

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I have used the Nirsoft portable tool ProduKey (see https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/product_cd_key_viewer.html)  to recover MS Office keys from a W7 PC and the actual W7 key itself was displayed as well.

From memory I needed to start it using the Explorer right hand mouse click “Run As Administrator” option. It did nothing just running it by double clicking it.

This did not work 1st time immediately after download with its default settings and I needed to tweak it to get it to work. I was attempting to read off an external (cloned) disk in a caddy, so maybe I just needed to change the partition letter? I do not remember all of the details, but definately use the “Run as Administrator” option.

BTW: This is considered malware by some security software, so I suggest not leaving it in place after you have finished using it. It is a portable so just delete it.

HTH. Garbo.

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[EP]

Paul T wrote:

Craig,

Why not just download the W7 iso direct? https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows7

On the other hand, why do you want to reinstall W7?
Is your machine misbehaving?
Do you have and image backup?

cheers, Paul

that will not work anymore, Paul T
especially for Win7 users who have Win7 OS pre-installed or using OEM versions of Win7

note to woody: only full retail Win7 keys may work for obtaining Win7 ISO downloads (those who bought the full retail Win7 DVD, not the Win7 “upgrade” DVD). the Win7 ISO download site will also not accept OEM keys as I found out myself several years ago in early 2015 on my family’s Dell computer with pre-installed OEM Win7 home premium edition

so for those Win7 users out there trying to obtain the Windows 7 ISO downloads from the Microsoft site, only those that purchased the full DVD retail version (with retail keys) may obtain them. for all others, it’s too late now to get them [hard cruel lesson for procrastinators]. I already got the Win7 home premium ISO download in early 2015.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by EP.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by EP.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Paul T

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I am also scrambling to upgrade from 1809 to 1903 (Home, 64 bit).
So far I have done all the backing up, creating full sysstem image and recovery disk for 1809 just in case. (I did the December patches as per Susan/Master Patch List) beforehand, just in case I need to revert to 1809.)

I’m a bit confused about the ISO from Heidoc, as many seem to be.
I grabbed Windows-ISO-Downloader.exe from Heidoc back in November, confirmed it is for 1903.
I am trying to create the 1903 install on a USB (I believe that’s what you guys mean by’mount’ it on a drive), as I want to ensure I have a way to install from an external source, just in case.

I have run the Windows-ISO-Downloader.exe and have gone through the selections for versions and language. I thought it would give me an option of where (externally) to create (‘mount’) the Windows 1903 install, but it seems to be creating a temporary file (5gb) somewhere locally.

Will it ask me afterwards where to put the bootable windows install? Or how do I get it on a USB??? From there, I plan to follow the usual instructions – disconnect from internet, run setup.exe (from the bootable USB) as admin. Follow the usual prompts/choices, and let ‘er rip. After checking everything in settings (including connection=metered) and verifying all is good, I’ll reconnect to internet.

Sorry for this being lengthy, but hopefully it will help others.

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Go to the ISO file, double click on it and it will mount it as another Drive letter. Open that Dreve in File Explorer and right click on setup.exe, choose Run as Administrator, and it will start the install process. If you want 1903, you should disconnect from the Internet BEFORE you start the install process or you will get upgraded to 1909 durint the install.

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[Cijan]

Sorry – still confused. Does ‘mounting it as another drive letter’ mean I have a FULL version of Windows 1903 OS on that external USB in case windows needs to be reinstalled in future?

And… the plot thickens…
Last time I did this, the ISO was downloaded to the usual downloads folder. This time it completed with no clue where it was, then something called ‘Power2Go – Cyberlink ISO viewer’ came up showing the ISO is some rather bizarre file path that I can’t navigate to – C:\Users\xxx\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\IE\G3M8SI6C.

The Cyberlink ISO viewer has a setup.exe, which presumably means running the install from there. If I double click the ISO file itself (as was suggested in this post), it starts something that says ‘importing from..’the path above. Their is a ‘burn to disc’ but these is nothing except a d drive that is not anything I have.

Has anyone actually done this from the heidoc site??? Or knows about this Cyber link ISO viewer?

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by Cijan.

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[PKCano]

What you have, if you mount the ISO where it downloaded on your PC, is like having a DVD (like one you would buy) with the installer on it in a DVD drive. The install files are in the ISO.

What you have if you “burn” the ISO to an external USB stick, is the installer – the same as if it were on a DVD(like one you would buy).

It is the installer. Neither is a running Windows OS untill you install it on your computer.

• This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by PKCano.

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Please see what I just added to my post.
I don’t want to know how to install 1903, I want to know how to create a USB that can be used for installs.

In other words how to burn the bootable files onto a USB. Once on the USB, I will use that to do the install.

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What a nightmare – I ended up removing CyberLink Media Suite as it was causing all the problems. I’m pretty sure I have an orphaned huge ISO file lurking somewhere that I will have to find later.

I am back on track now, hopefully. I managed to copy the 5gb ISO from wherever that nasty CyberLink Power2Go tool put it back onto an easily accessible location. I downloaded the Windows 7-USB-DVD-Download Tool.exe and am using it to create a bootable USB drive with 1903 on it. So far so good – I can see the boot, sources, efi subfolders and setup.exe being created on the USB.

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HeiDoc ISO’s are labeled ‘updates’ [Win10 Nov 2019 for instance]. Is it really an ‘update’ to a previously installed Win10 or are they good for clean installs? I’m looking to install 1903 or 1909 Win10 Pro on a running Win8.1 desktop. I hope the answer is clean install. I have a key.

TIA, dick

Win11 Pro desktop [2], XPS 8950 23H2/22631.4169, Optiplex 7090 23H2/22631.3880

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That is the same ISO you would download from MS (if it was still available through MS). It is good for a clean install of Win10 or an in-place upgrade from Win8.1 to Win10.

When choosing an ISO, 1903 is Build 18362 and 1909 is Build 18363. I believe the latest 1909 ISO is Build18363.592 which is Jan 14, 2020 release. Be sure you get Pro, and 64-bit if that matches your machine.

Word of caution: If you do the install online, you will be forced to create a Microsoft ID. If you want a Local ID (so you don’t log into MS every time you use your PC), you need to do the install OFFLINE (disconnected from you network) and elect for something like a “limited experience.” Otherwise, you won’t be able to create a Local ID.

Also, if you are online, it will upgrade you to v2004 in the process of the install. SO do not connect to the network/Internet until you have completed the install and gone through all the settings (particularly Windows Update) for your level of tolerance.
If you need help with the settings to control Windows update, there is a Guide in AKB2000016.

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My wife recently got a new machine — my first experience with Windows 10.

There are (at least?) two times during your setup that you will need to take a ‘non-blithely-standard’ path, with the internet disconnected. The first (thanks, PK, for your emphasis on this through the months) is during the first setup. There also is another place, I don’t remember where right now, that you should select “I don’t know” (or similar expression of vacuity) (I think in the bottom left corner).

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