Can I reinstall Windows 7 using a pirated cd, but real cd key?

There's no need to pirate; you can download the ISOs for Windows 7 installation media directly from Microsoft (well, okay, Digital River's hosting the download but whatever), free of charge.

Links taken from here. I can't personally confirm they're live, but I've done this in the past and they look the same as I remember.

EDIT: Removed Ultimate links since they appear to be dead, but they're out there. Somebody feel free to comment and/or edit these in.

Shinrai

Posted 2011-06-17T17:25:38.693

Reputation: 18 051

Here is a aggregated list of all of the windows 7 versions from digital river http://www.mydigitallife.info/download-windows-7-iso-official-32-bit-and-64-bit-direct-download-links/ in case you need a version other than english.

– Scott Chamberlain – 2011-06-17T17:37:53.133

BIG RED FLAG! Those don't look like official Microsoft sources, so they might contain viruses or SpyWare! How come the links go to various IP addresses or domain names that don't end with "microsoft.com" (Microsoft's official Download Centre always provides a link that ends with "microsoft.com")? I ask that you provide an official "microsoft.com" web page that links directly to those, or else I will flag this answer for removal. – Randolf Richardson – 2011-06-17T17:41:00.410

5@Randolf - Digital River is a reputable digital file distribution source, used by tons of big name companies. (I wouldn't trust anything that directs to an IP address, for sure, which is why I only posted those and added the disclaimer.) These aren't linked directly on microsoft.com to my knowledge because these are the download links you get if you buy a license key from Digital River - they're not EXACTLY intended for public dissemination, but they're legit and perfectly legal. – Shinrai – 2011-06-17T17:42:12.400

1Can anyone else comment on the legitimacy of this? – tnw – 2011-06-17T17:43:51.180

3@Tory - I don't expect anyone to take my word for it if they've never heard of the company (which frankly surprises me, that's like never having heard of Amazon), but I think a quick Google search should clear up any concerns about Digital River specifically (and the digitalrivercontent.net domain is, of course, registered to their corporate entity). – Shinrai – 2011-06-17T17:47:37.403

@Shinrai I'm just not taking chances with my person info... I did look this stuff up. Norton's site, as annoying as Norton is (I bailed for MSE a while ago), gave it the green light so I'm gonna give this a go. – tnw – 2011-06-17T17:55:28.540

Not a direct answer but here is a microsoft link showing that they used digital river to to provide iso's of windows 7 http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-windows_install/microsoft-iso-image-for-digital-rivers-windows-7/33afd855-92fd-43ee-a76c-ace1b81140f2

– Scott Chamberlain – 2011-06-17T17:55:55.357

@Shinrai: I've never heard of Digital River before, but it seems that they're either a wholesaler or a retail outlet of some sort. I'm in Canada, and I've been dealing with local computer wholesalers for more than 20 years. Your comment that the links are not intended for public dissemination is also of concern to me -- why are you posting them publicly if you already know this? – Randolf Richardson – 2011-06-17T17:57:24.053

Here is a press release showing Microsoft is using digital river for their e-commerse outsoruceing http://news.office-watch.com/t/n.aspx?articleid=70&zoneid=10

– Scott Chamberlain – 2011-06-17T17:58:31.470

1@Randolf Exactly my concern – tnw – 2011-06-17T17:58:52.967

1@Randolf These are all perfectly legitimate links. I've used digital river before for stuff, and just because you haven't seen a source before has no bearing on its legitimacy. I appreciate the warnings, though. – cfrederich – 2011-06-17T18:07:00.093

@Randolf - These have been on the net for years. If they really cared about being having access to the downloads, they'd have put them behind a password wall ages ago - Digital River SPECIALIZES in digital distribution, so they know what they're doing. I simply say they're not intended for dissemination because there's not a public page that says "HEY, DOWNLOAD WINDOWS HERE" - you get these links after you buy a key. (Frankly, I'm surprised they're not behind a password wall anyway. I need a password to get my bloody WINAMP installation from Digital River, but not Windows?!) – Shinrai – 2011-06-17T19:11:03.573

2@Randolf: When I bought a digital copy of Windows 7 from my school, they linked me to Digital River. So I think it's legit. – BlueRaja - Danny Pflughoeft – 2011-06-17T19:26:28.713

@Scott Chamberlain: That news article is not from "microsoft.com" and doesn't include a link to Microsoft's web site to support its claims, so I remain skeptical. – Randolf Richardson – 2011-06-17T20:18:56.657

@BlueRaja: The reason I'm skeptical of Digital River is that they're making available, a copyrighted product, freely available for anyone, and yet Microsoft.com does not appear to be doing the same (although Microsoft does provide options for directly ordering replacement install CDs). Given the availability of serial numbers and product keys being provided illegitimately on many web sites, it seams reasonable to me that Microsoft wouldn't approve of anyone making their installation CDs freely available in this manner. – Randolf Richardson – 2011-06-17T20:24:29.097

@RandolfRichardson I can confirm that Digital River is Microsoft's official distributor for installation media purchased online. I have done this before when buying Windows directly from Microsoft. These links are legitimate, and publicly accessible and known. In a similar vein, see is discussion of removing DRM permitted? on meta.

– nhinkle – 2011-06-17T20:59:19.943

1What's more relevant is that this is a duplicate question - I just need to find the original. – nhinkle – 2011-06-17T21:00:40.783

@nhinkle - I figured as much myself actually and did a quick search but didn't turn up anything. I could have sworn I'd seen it before but I thought I might just be hallucinating... – Shinrai – 2011-06-17T21:05:37.077

@nhinkle - Oh, good, you found it! <3 – Shinrai – 2011-06-17T21:06:58.993

@nhinkle: Thanks for clearing this up (+1). I'm deeply concerned about the "piracy" matter, and wanted to be sure that copyright violations weren't being promoted via SuperUser.com. – Randolf Richardson – 2011-06-17T21:27:25.353

Thanks for your concern, @Randolf. The moderation team and Stack Exchange developers keep tabs on what content is allowed on the site, and we frequently remove requests for illegal software. If you ever have any questions about our policies, feel free to pose a question on [meta] or [metase]. – nhinkle – 2011-06-17T21:38:28.163

Any further discussion should be carried out on [meta] or on the duplicate question. – nhinkle – 2011-06-17T21:39:49.330

2Pirated software is known to include viruses and SpyWare. Don't ever use or copy pirated software, not only for this reason, but also because it's wrong. – Randolf Richardson – 2011-06-17T17:58:12.370

1@Randolf is right in that we don't encourage or condone piracy here. Consensus is that anything that breaks an EULA isn't encouraged, I believe, and I agree wholeheartedly with this. (It would probably open StackExchange up to litigation, anyway.) – Shinrai – 2011-06-17T19:13:17.440

1It's a technical question, not an ethical one. The ethics are debatable, of course. But that wasn't really the question. – DA. – 2011-06-17T20:23:18.647

@DA: The inclusion of the words "using a pirated CD" in the question is of great concern as it shows intent to [at least temporarily] violate Microsoft's copyright. – Randolf Richardson – 2011-06-17T20:33:09.383

3Legally and ethically, this is the best answer for this question. +1 from me. – Kirk – 2011-06-17T18:16:37.150

+1 from me too for the same reason -- emphasizing the ethical choice is always paramount. – Randolf Richardson – 2011-06-17T20:10:38.757

Can I reinstall Windows 7 using a pirated cd, but real cd key?

Answers