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Comments
well... u can always try to download a torrent
Your best bet might be to check some sites that have torrents.
Yes i could but its too risky @joodle
What about this? http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=21700
Unfortunately that is only SP2, it doesn't include the full Windows Server 2003, thx however @joodle
@joodle, that's just SP2 itself, not the actual OS. I couldn't find the download on microsoft's site either, though I was able to find downloads for Server 2008...
thank you for a link, I think the direct link will be:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/3/7/737d5061-be37-4d02-a67c-70569e75584b/w2k3sp2_3959_usa_x86fre_spcd.iso
Thx for that @WebProject, i am downloading it now. Would there also be a 64bit version?
Ok i also found the R2 edition at http://www.w13.co.cc/
direct link for 64bit version is
http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/9/1/8910a383-9e6b-49d2-9953-e52ff65acc5a/w2k3sp2_3959_usa_x64fre_spcd.iso
@zafouhar: the www.w13.c.cc page lists the 180 days trial version iso files download links. The regular non time-limited product keys and iso files are on the Microsoft technet/msdn and volume licensing web sites.
Hrm... at all these torrent suggestions, condoning piracy are we? (though whoever you got the 2003 license from, I would think would have the ISO handy).
LowEndPiracy
I just wonder why someone would come here to ask for it. I mean Google provides plenty of the methods mentioned above and cough lets just say I found a "bay" where it was delivered without much effort.
I wont question the OPs having a legit key or not because I have lost a disk or two in my day but still had the key saved in a text document. You have to be creative to replace your disk sometimes.
It's not piracy if you have a license. That said, I would be cautious using anything other than official ISOs downloaded from Microsoft's website. Chances are pretty good that the ISO you're downloading has a virus or rootkit or something else nasty in it.
correct, I recently ordered the "Windows 8 Pro" directly from Microsoft and instead of sending the DVD/CD with OS, I had the "Windows 8 Pro" card with license inside. Nowadays users can buy the license without any software/os and download it from Microsoft. I personally don't recommend to use any other website as @NickM stated the reasons.
It depends on how much work you want to put into it, such as making sure its an untouched iso (will say so in the listing where you downloaded it), then you google for the md5 hash of the MS provided iso and if they match you have an untouched image.
Plus no matter where you download, always read the comments, if something is fake or has issues, generally someone will have posted something saying not to download it.
+1 @Holoshed Most torrents have already been downloaded. Comments will usually show if it is a good/bad torrent.
@NickM If you of course have a legit license to use such a copy of windows, why download the ISO from anywhere other than the official source... unless you like potential security holes from unknown sources.
That said, even if you had a license, if you were some how caught downloading it from particular sources, they may still try to push forward against you even if you're like "but I had a license, I just need an ISO".
Yeah! Except that isn't not illegal. Just because you download something from torrents doesn't make it illegal. You're not violating any laws by downloading a Windows ISO via torrent. Now if you're using a cracked version of Windows, obviously that's a different situation.
@Kairus if the copy comes with a crack, pre-cracked, or other means of circumvention, plus the re-sharing of pieces, the annoying lawyers could argue for re-distribution. ... they'd have to catch you first of course (which normally doesn't happen if you're using the copy with a valid product key).
@wdq @Holoshed
So both of you trust software distribution from unknown third parties just as long as the comments are OK? I got this Android app you should download and check out..
@bamn grin lol.
@bamn I guess it's a little bit more than that. It's a certain amount of trust I have gained with certain torrent sites, certain uploaders, and certain commenters.
Like wdq said, it takes knowing your stuff, it isn't just reading some comments. I said above your best bet is to always check the md5 hash on untouched copies and compare it to the actual known MS releases from technet/msdn etc. It is not hard to find an untouched copy of nearly all Windows OS versions.
The info about comments mostly pertained to an iso since that is what we were discussing, not android apks. If someone wishes to try out other software they do not trust, there is a plethora of ways to check it including vmware images with no net access to analyze what the software does. There is also sandboxie for sandboxing simple exe files. If you know what you are doing you can even use tools like ones from sysinternals to watch how a piece of software is interacting with your computer.
The thing is i have the license key however i misplaced the CD with the ISO @kbeezie - i suppose the easiest thing would be to call the company i bought the license key from
If i manage to find even the trial iso's i can activate them with my license key @pcan
@WebProject
Within that license pack you got from MS theres a link to a 'backup' site where you can download an ISO from MS. Atleast its there for their office products.
@zafouhar
The boxed iso is different from the volume license iso. With the 'wrong' iso you might not be able to enter your license.
Nothing wrong with piracy. Free the internet!
@MikHo
in card it's stated where I can download from - Microsoft website URL.