YourNumbr1Fan
June 3rd, 2015, 08:25 PM
Thanks to Microsoft Community 'MVP' Andre Da Costa's post here (http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-win_upgrade/free-windows-10-upgrade-creating-installation/72135878-bf38-4a79-aba6-216136fc3036), I thought I would re-post the technique he outlined concerning how to create a full Windows 10 .iso from the .ESD that can be found in the C:\Recovery image folder (your location for this file may be different, depending on the drive-letter Windows is installed on) after the July 29th upgrade. Very useful for those who might want to do a clean-install of Windows 10, and for recovery/re-install. This knowledge may be old-hat to some of you uber-techies, but will surely be helpful to many others.
Without further ado, here's the method to creating a Windows 10 .iso using the .ESD that'll be placed on your hard-drive after the upgrade.
Download ESD Decrypter 4.7 (http://1drv.ms/1HeQkW0)
You can use NTLite (https://www.ntlite.com/) as an alternative to convert the .ESD file into a .ISO
Extract esd-decrypter-wimlib-4.7z to a folder.
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Put the appropriate .ESD file you downloaded into that same folder.
Right click decrypt file in the same folder and click Run as administrator
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Select option 1
Hit Enter
Wait
When complete, burn to a blank DVD or create a bootable copy on a USB thumbdrive.
Preparing the .ISO file for installation.
See these instruction (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Burn-a-CD-or-DVD-from-an-ISO-file)s (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Burn-a-CD-or-DVD-from-an-ISO-file) for burning .ISO files in Windows 7 or later
You can also use the Microsoft USB/DVD Tool (http://wudt.codeplex.com/), which is recommended for Windows XP users.
After obtaining the .iso file you use the Microsoft .iso to USB/DVD tool to create a bootable DVD or USB (requires a blank DVD or USB flash stick of at least 4 GB).
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For UEFI based systems
If your computer is UEFI based, these are normally systems that come pre-loaded with Windows 8 or later, you will need to prepare the ISO file for such a configuration or you will receive an error message during setup. The thumbdrive needs to be formatted as FAT32 and use the GPT partitioning scheme. To do this, you need to use Rufus (http://rufus.akeo.ie/), a small tool you can download for free.
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After you have installed Rufus:
Launch it
Select ISO Image
Point to the Windows 10 ISO file
Check off Create a bootable disk using
Select GPT partitioning for EUFI firmware as the Partition scheme
Choose FAT32 NOT NTFS as the File system
Make sure your USB thumbdrive in the Device list box
Click Start
Close when complete
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* Concerning license-key for non-OEM installs/upgrades (as far as I can gather from official sources):
You start with a valid licensed copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8 on your computer.
You upgrade to Windows 10 either by Windows Update or by offline ISO.
At this point, the ID of your computer, the one that Windows normally uses for activation, is registered on the Microsoft activation system. They know from this point forward that your computer, with that ID, is allowed to run a copy of Windows 10
If you want a clean install at this point, you can simply boot from the ISO, erase what you already have there and install. The activation will happen automatically since the ID of your computer is already registered as a valid Windows 10 computer. No need for a key.
And since the ID of your computer is registered as a valid Windows 10 computer, you can reinstall even after the offer expires. The only important thing is to upgrade during the 1 year free offer so that your computer is ID'd.
Without further ado, here's the method to creating a Windows 10 .iso using the .ESD that'll be placed on your hard-drive after the upgrade.
Download ESD Decrypter 4.7 (http://1drv.ms/1HeQkW0)
You can use NTLite (https://www.ntlite.com/) as an alternative to convert the .ESD file into a .ISO
Extract esd-decrypter-wimlib-4.7z to a folder.
70248
Put the appropriate .ESD file you downloaded into that same folder.
Right click decrypt file in the same folder and click Run as administrator
70249
Select option 1
Hit Enter
Wait
When complete, burn to a blank DVD or create a bootable copy on a USB thumbdrive.
Preparing the .ISO file for installation.
See these instruction (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Burn-a-CD-or-DVD-from-an-ISO-file)s (http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Burn-a-CD-or-DVD-from-an-ISO-file) for burning .ISO files in Windows 7 or later
You can also use the Microsoft USB/DVD Tool (http://wudt.codeplex.com/), which is recommended for Windows XP users.
After obtaining the .iso file you use the Microsoft .iso to USB/DVD tool to create a bootable DVD or USB (requires a blank DVD or USB flash stick of at least 4 GB).
70250
For UEFI based systems
If your computer is UEFI based, these are normally systems that come pre-loaded with Windows 8 or later, you will need to prepare the ISO file for such a configuration or you will receive an error message during setup. The thumbdrive needs to be formatted as FAT32 and use the GPT partitioning scheme. To do this, you need to use Rufus (http://rufus.akeo.ie/), a small tool you can download for free.
70251
After you have installed Rufus:
Launch it
Select ISO Image
Point to the Windows 10 ISO file
Check off Create a bootable disk using
Select GPT partitioning for EUFI firmware as the Partition scheme
Choose FAT32 NOT NTFS as the File system
Make sure your USB thumbdrive in the Device list box
Click Start
Close when complete
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* Concerning license-key for non-OEM installs/upgrades (as far as I can gather from official sources):
You start with a valid licensed copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8 on your computer.
You upgrade to Windows 10 either by Windows Update or by offline ISO.
At this point, the ID of your computer, the one that Windows normally uses for activation, is registered on the Microsoft activation system. They know from this point forward that your computer, with that ID, is allowed to run a copy of Windows 10
If you want a clean install at this point, you can simply boot from the ISO, erase what you already have there and install. The activation will happen automatically since the ID of your computer is already registered as a valid Windows 10 computer. No need for a key.
And since the ID of your computer is registered as a valid Windows 10 computer, you can reinstall even after the offer expires. The only important thing is to upgrade during the 1 year free offer so that your computer is ID'd.