Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows if you have a license key on the side of your computer?

[Bob J Jones]

Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you have a
license key on the side of your computer (which almost everyone has).

Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail thread).
Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>

But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

[Wolf K]

Post by Bob J Jones
Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you have a
license key on the side of your computer (which almost everyone has).
Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail thread).
Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

Search for "Windows XP ISO download", and take your pick. It's
orphanware, so AFAIK you can only get from 3rd party repositories, not
from MS. NB that you want SP3.

Good luck,

[Big Al]

Post by Wolf K

Post by Bob J Jones
Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you have a
license key on the side of your computer (which almost everyone has).
Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail thread).
  Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
  <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

Search for "Windows XP ISO download", and take your pick. It's
orphanware, so AFAIK you can only get from 3rd party repositories, not
from MS. NB that you want SP3.
Good luck,

And boy are there a lot of downloads too. Wonder how many are infected? LOL

I found this
https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Bootable-Windows-XP-ISO-from-a-Folder
page that explains how to make the ISO if you have a running windows xp
system. Might be an option.

Another option is to ask friends. You don't want their license just
the disk to duplicate. Even if they have SP0 or SP1 you can slipstream
to SP3 real easy. I used to do it all the time. And before burning
the CD, I'd make a folder and put drivers in there too.

The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find any official
download" replies to this same question.

[Mark Lloyd]

On 04/27/2018 01:46 PM, Big Al wrote:

[snip]

Another option is to ask friends.   You don't want their license just
the disk to duplicate.  Even if they have SP0 or SP1 you can slipstream
to SP3 real easy.  I used to do it all the time.   And before burning
the CD, I'd make a folder and put drivers in there too.

SP3 REQUIRES the prior installation of SP1 or SP2. It will not install
on plain (no SP) win XP.

BTW, there is no actual SP0. That's just what some people call it when
you don't have any service packs.

The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find any official
download" replies to this same question.

[Big Al]

Post by Mark Lloyd
[snip]

Another option is to ask friends.   You don't want their license just
the disk to duplicate.  Even if they have SP0 or SP1 you can
slipstream to SP3 real easy.  I used to do it all the time.   And
before burning the CD, I'd make a folder and put drivers in there too.

SP3 REQUIRES the prior installation of SP1 or SP2. It will not install
on plain (no SP) win XP.
BTW, there is no actual SP0. That's just what some people call it when
you don't have any service packs.

The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find any
official download" replies to this same question.

Sorry, yes, you can't slipstream the base XP OS.

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Post by Big Al

Post by Mark Lloyd
[snip]

Another option is to ask friends.   You don't want their license
just the disk to duplicate.  Even if they have SP0 or SP1 you can
slipstream to SP3 real easy.  I used to do it all the time.   And
before burning the CD, I'd make a folder and put drivers in there too.

SP3 REQUIRES the prior installation of SP1 or SP2. It will not
install on plain (no SP) win XP.
BTW, there is no actual SP0. That's just what some people call it
when you don't have any service packs.

The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find any
official download" replies to this same question.

Sorry, yes, you can't slipstream the base XP OS.

Can you slipstream it to SP1, then 3 - i. e. in two stages?

[mike]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Big Al

Post by Mark Lloyd
[snip]

Post by Big Al
Another option is to ask friends. You don't want their license
just the disk to duplicate. Even if they have SP0 or SP1 you can
slipstream to SP3 real easy. I used to do it all the time. And
before burning the CD, I'd make a folder and put drivers in there too.

SP3 REQUIRES the prior installation of SP1 or SP2. It will not
install on plain (no SP) win XP.
BTW, there is no actual SP0. That's just what some people call it
when you don't have any service packs.

Post by Big Al
The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find any
official download" replies to this same question.

Sorry, yes, you can't slipstream the base XP OS.

Can you slipstream it to SP1, then 3 - i. e. in two stages?

Why is this an issue?
Load whatever you have, install the service packs.
The only reason to slipstream is to save time when you intend multiple
installs.

[Shadow]

Post by mike

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Big Al

Post by Mark Lloyd
[snip]

Post by Big Al
Another option is to ask friends. You don't want their license
just the disk to duplicate. Even if they have SP0 or SP1 you can
slipstream to SP3 real easy. I used to do it all the time. And
before burning the CD, I'd make a folder and put drivers in there too.

SP3 REQUIRES the prior installation of SP1 or SP2. It will not
install on plain (no SP) win XP.
BTW, there is no actual SP0. That's just what some people call it
when you don't have any service packs.

Post by Big Al
The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find any
official download" replies to this same question.

Sorry, yes, you can't slipstream the base XP OS.

Can you slipstream it to SP1, then 3 - i. e. in two stages?

Why is this an issue?
Load whatever you have, install the service packs.
The only reason to slipstream is to save time when you intend multiple
installs.

SP2 wouldn't install on my laptop. It needed SP3.
So I had to slipstream for the install CD to boot.
If you have SP1 installed and working, the quickest way is to
simply install SP3 over it. And then clean up the left-overs with
something like BleachBit.
[]'s

[Mark Lloyd]

On 04/27/2018 05:26 PM, mike wrote:

[snip]

Post by mike
Load whatever you have, install the service packs.
The only reason to slipstream is to save time when you intend multiple
installs.

I might have done multiple installations years ago. Now it's unlikely. I
just have one installation of XP. I want to be able to test older
browsers (mainly FF and older IE that requires a 2-bit system).

[J. P. Gilliver (John)]

Post by Mark Lloyd
[snip]

Post by mike
Load whatever you have, install the service packs.
The only reason to slipstream is to save time when you intend
multiple installs.

I might have done multiple installations years ago. Now it's unlikely.
I just have one installation of XP. I want to be able to test older
browsers (mainly FF and older IE that requires a 2-bit system).

Did that run on the 4004?

[Mark Lloyd]

On 04/28/2018 06:53 PM, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:

[snip]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Mark Lloyd
I might have done multiple installations years ago. Now it's unlikely.
I just have one installation of XP. I want to be able to test older
browsers (mainly FF and older IE that requires a 2-bit system).

Did that run on the 4004?

I don't like this keyboard. It had trouble with the '3' key.

[Diesel]

Post by mike

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Big Al

Post by Mark Lloyd
[snip]

Post by Big Al
Another option is to ask friends. You don't want their
license just the disk to duplicate. Even if they have SP0 or
SP1 you can slipstream to SP3 real easy. I used to do it all
the time. And before burning the CD, I'd make a folder and
put drivers in there too.

SP3 REQUIRES the prior installation of SP1 or SP2. It will not
install on plain (no SP) win XP.
BTW, there is no actual SP0. That's just what some people call it
when you don't have any service packs.

Post by Big Al
The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find
any official download" replies to this same question.

Sorry, yes, you can't slipstream the base XP OS.

Can you slipstream it to SP1, then 3 - i. e. in two stages?

Why is this an issue?
Load whatever you have, install the service packs.
The only reason to slipstream is to save time when you intend
multiple installs.

I slipstreamed mine, years ago. Back then, XP was the OS going and I
had a lot of machines to work on....

[Big Al]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)

Post by Big Al

 [snip]

Another option is to ask friends.   You don't want their license
just  the disk to duplicate.  Even if they have SP0 or SP1 you can
slipstream to SP3 real easy.  I used to do it all the time.   And
before burning the CD, I'd make a folder and put drivers in there too.

 SP3 REQUIRES the prior installation of SP1 or SP2. It will not
install  on plain (no SP) win XP.
 BTW, there is no actual SP0. That's just what some people call it
when  you don't have any service packs.

The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find any
official download" replies to this same question.

Sorry, yes, you can't slipstream the base XP OS.

Can you slipstream it to SP1, then 3 - i. e. in two stages?

The answer is yes.
As Mike says, it's easier to just let the PC do it over internet though.
But that means you have time, only want to load XP once, and have good
internet.

Slipstream though reduces the number of garbage files left behind by the
updates.

[Mark Lloyd]

[snip]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
Can you slipstream it to SP1, then 3 - i. e. in two stages?

I know that when you try to install SP3 on a new XP (no service packs),
you get a message that you have to have SP1 or SP2 first. I usually use SP2.

[Sjouke Burry]

Post by Mark Lloyd
[snip]

Post by J. P. Gilliver (John)
Can you slipstream it to SP1, then 3 - i. e. in two stages?

I know that when you try to install SP3 on a new XP (no service packs),
you get a message that you have to have SP1 or SP2 first. I usually use SP2.

And I found that sp3 would not install if ie was to old.
I had to install ie8 after I installed sp2.

[Diesel]

Post by Big Al

Post by Wolf K

Post by Bob J Jones
Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you
have a license key on the side of your computer (which almost
everyone has).
Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail
thread).   Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
  <https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

Search for "Windows XP ISO download", and take your pick. It's
orphanware, so AFAIK you can only get from 3rd party
repositories, not from MS. NB that you want SP3.
Good luck,

And boy are there a lot of downloads too. Wonder how many are
infected? LOL
I found this
https://www.wikihow.com/Create-a-Bootable-Windows-XP-ISO-from-a-Fol
der page that explains how to make the ISO if you have a running
windows xp system. Might be an option.
Another option is to ask friends. You don't want their license
just the disk to duplicate. Even if they have SP0 or SP1 you can
slipstream to SP3 real easy. I used to do it all the time. And
before burning the CD, I'd make a folder and put drivers in there
too.
The Microsoft Community site has one or two "you won't find any
official download" replies to this same question.

I've still got original ISOs for Home and pro. Retail, OEM, and in
the case of pro, VLK as well. If you're needing a particular one,
lemme know.

[mechanic]

Post by Bob J Jones
Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you
have a license key on the side of your computer (which almost
everyone has).
Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail
thread). Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

[Paul]

Post by mechanic

Post by Bob J Jones
Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you
have a license key on the side of your computer (which almost
everyone has).
Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail
thread). Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

If you use that, and use the output of WsusOffline 9.2.1,
you can bring it back up to date. WsusOffline can prepare
a set of patches for it, you can blast into it, in a batch.

There are probably some WinXP patches that aren't properly
recorded in Windows Update. The SMBV1 patch or ones from
a related era. Those will take some research with your
browser to track down.

If you had a WinXP Gold disc ("SP0"), these are examples of
Service Packs. Microsoft had to re-issue SP1 after the
Java legal settlement (by removing MSJava). WsusOffline
isn't likely to have all these. If you're lucky, maybe
WsusOffline will have access to the SP3 one. There
are various opinions on "how Cumulative" these are,
with perhaps different problems showing up when
slipstreaming, versus command line usage. WsusOffline
uses only official MS URLs, and is not a file server.

WindowsXP.exe 140,440,152 bytes xpsp1_en_x86
xpsp1a_en_x86.exe 131,170,400 bytes (version with MSJava removed)
WindowsXP-KB835935-SP2-ENU.exe 278,927,592 bytes
WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe 331,805,736 bytes

If there was a ready source of WinXP ISO9660 downloads, for
discs released with the Service Pack already in it,
I'd have them :-) And I've never managed to snag some.
I'm talking about sources where there's some notion
of where they came from, not torrents. Even if the
discs had official checksums, that would be a start
at a trustworthiness check. (Maybe some torrented
MSDN discs would be as close as you get. Only trustworthy
if you have SHA1/SHA256 checksums.)

The OS still works, and it's the "right weight" for
an older computer. Like, a machine with a 512MB max
on memory, would be OK. A lot of Linux distros can no
longer run in 512MB. Puppy would likely work. There's
also a lot of missing video card support. Whereas the
box your video card came in, that CD probably has a
video card driver for WinXP.

Paul

[Ian Jackson]

In message <pc23up$4kf$***@dont-email.me>, Paul <***@needed.invalid>
writes

Post by Paul

Post by mechanic

Post by Bob J Jones
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

If you use that, and use the output of WsusOffline 9.2.1,
you can bring it back up to date.

In my ongoing messing-about with doing a virgin XP installation and
activation, I found that there is now a later version - 9.2.4esr.

[Paul]

Post by Ian Jackson
writes

Post by Paul

Post by mechanic

Post by Bob J Jones
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

If you use that, and use the output of WsusOffline 9.2.1,
you can bring it back up to date.

In my ongoing messing-about with doing a virgin XP installation and
activation, I found that there is now a later version - 9.2.4esr.

Weird. I thought they'd given up on WinXP.

Paul

[Ian Jackson]

In message <pc4b20$tc0$***@dont-email.me>, Paul <***@needed.invalid>
writes

Post by Paul

Post by Ian Jackson
writes

Post by Paul

Post by mechanic

Post by Bob J Jones
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

If you use that, and use the output of WsusOffline 9.2.1,
you can bring it back up to date.

In my ongoing messing-about with doing a virgin XP installation and
activation, I found that there is now a later version - 9.2.4esr.

Weird. I thought they'd given up on WinXP.
Paul

Apparently not quite!
http://bangfriends.net/2602015-wsus-offline-update-112-final-924-esr-port
able.html
It worked OK, although it did give me a desktop logon icon (which I've
never had before when using WSUS), and then it won't let you log on and
get into XP unless you've activated XP. Fortunately, there's a fix that
which lets you open XP, and also sets the activation time to the usual
30 days (phone only).

(look in 'Show More').

[Paul]

Post by Ian Jackson
writes

Post by Paul

Post by Ian Jackson
writes

Post by Paul

Post by mechanic

Post by Bob J Jones
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

If you use that, and use the output of WsusOffline 9.2.1,
you can bring it back up to date.

In my ongoing messing-about with doing a virgin XP installation and
activation, I found that there is now a later version - 9.2.4esr.

Weird. I thought they'd given up on WinXP.
Paul

Apparently not quite!
http://bangfriends.net/2602015-wsus-offline-update-112-final-924-esr-port
able.html
It worked OK, although it did give me a desktop logon icon (which I've
never had before when using WSUS), and then it won't let you log on and
get into XP unless you've activated XP. Fortunately, there's a fix that
which lets you open XP, and also sets the activation time to the usual
30 days (phone only).
http://youtu.be/wzTuHuWhdcY
(look in 'Show More').

That command is a "re-arm". The grace period is 3*30 or 90 days.
You can issue the re-arm command twice. There is a different
re-arm command for WinXP than for Win7. Curious that the usage
of WSUS would do that... to an activated copy of the OS. Some
file must be getting deleted.

When you run wsusoffline on a "host" system, the Windows Update
service must be "healthy" on that machine, for wsusoffline to
actually work. If the update window on the host "spins forever"
as some Vista setups do, that would make for a poor host to
run the Wsusoffline WinXP collection one on.

In fact, for some of the other OS versions of Wsusoffline,
they now have a folder of "lets repair WindowsUpdate" files
they like to apply first, to tip WindowsUpdate itself on
the target upright, before running the rest of the updates.

Even though that tool is intended to be used by end-users,
it still requires some understanding and some debugging
skills... when it produces nothing. At times, the process
can be as annoying, as getting Windows Update working
on the target (which for Vista is almost impossible).

And as much as I trust the people on the wsusoffline to
write their collection scripts, I still like to look
through the collection of update files and remove any
ringers that don't belong. I don't want any WGA notification
update shoved in there by accident. There is one WGA entry
that makes WindowsUpdate work (which is mandatory), but the
notification bar one is optional and doesn't belong. Neither
would you expect to install the "end of life" WinXP update,
that puts the "this OS is no longer supported" kind of
message on the WinXP screen. They do edit the update
list a bit, but I still like to skim through the
update numbers for stuff that slips through (that
I wouldn't normally install).

Paul

[pyotr filipivich]

Post by mechanic

Post by Bob J Jones
Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you
have a license key on the side of your computer (which almost
everyone has).
Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail
thread). Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

It is also stable, there is software which only works on XP, and
it has an interface which doesn't "get in the way".

If I could get XP's interface, I would not care what collection of
"upgrades", "improvements", and innovations are behind the screen.

[Ian Jackson]

Post by mechanic

Post by Bob J Jones
Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you
have a license key on the side of your computer (which almost
everyone has).
Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail
thread). Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

Some people are fascinated by things vintage and antique?

[mechanic]

Post by Ian Jackson

Post by mechanic

Post by Bob J Jones
Where to get official copies of Microsoft Windows assuming you
have a license key on the side of your computer (which almost
everyone has).
Paul found this for Windows 7 (in the Windows counterfeit jail
thread). Official download for Windows 7 disc image iso files
<https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7>
But where is the Windows XP ISO file official download location?

But why would you want it? It's many versions out of date.

Some people are fascinated by things vintage and antique?

Well this is the group for that - Vista, two versions of Win8 and
four of Win10 to go!

[Bob J Jones]

Post by mechanic
Well this is the group for that - Vista, two versions of Win8 and
four of Win10 to go!

It probably belongs in its own thread, but I'm with those who feel that
WinXP and Win7 are just fine, where I've used them all, including Win10.

Ignoring the inescapable ramifications of the technically arbitrary
marketing decision to drop support, I don't see anything in Windows 10 that
isn't already in Windows 7 and Windows XP.

[mike]

Post by Bob J Jones

Post by mechanic
Well this is the group for that - Vista, two versions of Win8 and
four of Win10 to go!

It probably belongs in its own thread, but I'm with those who feel that
WinXP and Win7 are just fine, where I've used them all, including Win10.
Ignoring the inescapable ramifications of the technically arbitrary
marketing decision to drop support, I don't see anything in Windows 10 that
isn't already in Windows 7 and Windows XP.

The only thing I found wrong with Vista, after all the updates,
was that it only supported two TV tuners. Vista COA stickers are
everywhere...

[Paul]

Post by mike

Post by Bob J Jones

Post by mechanic
Well this is the group for that - Vista, two versions of Win8 and
four of Win10 to go!

It probably belongs in its own thread, but I'm with those who feel that
WinXP and Win7 are just fine, where I've used them all, including Win10.
Ignoring the inescapable ramifications of the technically arbitrary
marketing decision to drop support, I don't see anything in Windows 10 that
isn't already in Windows 7 and Windows XP.

The only thing I found wrong with Vista, after all the updates,
was that it only supported two TV tuners. Vista COA stickers are
everywhere...

Vista is going to be a pig to get updates into.

Microsoft never gave a damn about fixing Windows
Update on Vista. They did make an effort on the
other OSes. The secret there, is finding a certain
folder on the WsusOffline for Vista (last version)
that covers the key items that have to be installed
first.

Vista SP2 may be fine as an OS, but if there's a
key with my name on it out there, you can keep it.
It took me about three tries, at two solid days work
a try, to try and figure out how to get Windows Update
to work. Whereas some MS OSes will spin for finite
periods of time, I couldn't get the Windows Update
window to paint on its own on Vista. But I eventually
defeated it and got it working. Once you succeed at
that, you can install the Optional Updates (time zone
patch, font Ruble and Pound symbol patches maybe). And
you'll have the usual amount of trouble finding the
SMBV1 patches.

Paul