Where can I download windows vista legally?
Asked by
saservp (
291
)
November 25th, 2010
Hi all, I have a dell computer which originally had vista business oem on it, and it has the license sticker still on the thing. I’ve long since installed another OS on it, and don’t have any disks that came with it.
I am now selling the computer and want to return windows vista back on it with the license, but I can’t find anywhere to download the original, non-hacked iso for it. Bitorrent is full of hacked, cracked, creepy, who-knows-what ISOs, but I just want the original legal version of it so I can use it with my key. sigh
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7 Answers
I was all over that page and couldn’t find anywhere to DL it :(
When you say you have the license sticker, does that mean you still have the code you need to put in to install Vista?
If so, you could ask to borrow a Windows Vista disk from someone and then just enter your own key code. There’s nothing illegal about that as far as I know.
The only way of getting an OS not pirate is bay having an installation disk.
However if you have a valid activation key, I don’t think it’s illegal to mount an iso obtained somewhere else.
I am not sure if it’s still true, but you used to be able to get a replacement CD from Macroshaft for a nominal fee (I think around $5 or so). Remember, most of the cost for software is the licensing, and you already have a valid license.
Or you could do what @ParaParaYukiko recommends, though that would require the other person having the same edition of Vista.
Hi
All dell computers come with a restore partition, which contains an ‘image’ of the computer in its original, factory state. Depending on how much you may have tinkered with the computer, the partition may still be intact. How to actually use this partition differs slightly from model to model, so a search for ‘dell xxxx restore partition’ [where x is the model of your computer] on goggle would probably net you the exact instructions.
some consider this a bit troublesome, so the other option would be to download ‘DELL OEM VISTA X86’ from some p2p site. this, unlike bought disks checks your bios to see if it is a dell computer and so installs without any key on dell computers. i wouldn’t really be afraid of this, as there isn’t anything illegal about downloading maintenance software built for your machine, but you could check the comments to find the perfect download from the whole load of torrents.
p.s. oem [ie preinstalled] keys dont work with commerical disks so borrowing a friends cd wouldn’t do much
@bigjay Thank you for that. I’ve been dealing with retail versions for so long that I forgot that OEM copies have different keys. D’oh!
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