First things first (oxymoron from an observational standpoint):
- –> I <– am providing you only with information
- –> Microsoft <– is providing you the free copy
- You get what you pay for
- Reading comprehension is required
- While technical, this is easy
- The information below is accurate as of the date of this blog post
So you need a copy of Windows 10 for whatever the reason. You can now download the Windows 10 iso for free from the Microsoft website (or any of the previous releases Windows 7 forward). Simply click here <– to be redirected to the Microsoft website where you can select the version you wish to install. The individual ISOs are not hyperlinked here as Microsoft creates unique secure download links that are only valid for approximately a day.
From there you’ll need a product key if you wish to activate it or, as reported in Tom’s Hardware, there have been many people that use an unregistered copies for years without issue. HowToGeek has an article on using a KMS product key, or you can investigate how to convert your current Windows 10 installation to virtual machine to extract the key for use on a clean installation or re-install (hard drive replacement, new machine, dual boot, etc).
Once you have the ISO downloaded and a product key all you need to do is create boot-able media to do the installation (it is suggested to use a 16 gig or larger usb thumb drive for this). Here is an article found on Tom’s Guide that will guide you through the steps or you can download the Microsoft Software Windows 10 tool directly if you are using a Windows based machine.
Once you have your boot-able media (typically a usb thumb drive), set your bios (try tapping ESC as your machine first starts) to boot off of the media of choice (DVD or USB) and follow the installation prompts. I would like to point out that I have never had success (granted I only tried once) burning this particular ISO to a DVD, and have simply found the USB thumb drive the way to go.
Cheers!