

When the tool starts, click “Accept” to accept the license terms. Once the file has downloaded, just double-click it to start the tool and then click “Yes” to give it permission to make changes to your PC. Start by downloading either the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool or the Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool. RELATED: How to Find Your Lost Windows or Office Product Keys

After that, you should be able to do a clean installation of Windows 8.1 using the new product key and won’t have to worry about installing Windows 8 first and going the upgrade route. You can find that product key in a number of different ways and save it for the future. After you do the upgrade, Windows will assign the new product key to the installation. Instead, you’ll have to install Windows 8, then do a free upgrade to 8.1. And the product keys are different for Windows 8 and 8.1, so if you have a Windows 8 product key, you can’t just use it to install Windows 8.1. One caveat you should be aware of up front is that you can no longer download an ISO for Windows 8–just 8.1. RELATED: Where to Download Windows 11 ISO Images Legally

The process for using the tool is largely the same for both versions of Windows, so we’ll be using the Windows 10 Media Creation Tool for our example. If you’ve got access to a Windows machine, the official method for downloading ISOs for Windows 8.1 and 10 is the Media Creation Tool. Download the Windows 10 or 8.1 ISO Using the Media Creation Tool The most important thing is that you have a valid license key. If it won’t activate, you can always install and then call Microsoft to get them to straighten it out and allow your copy to activate. I was about to give up until I came across a simple video on youtube that showed me how to get the latest windows 10 iso directly from the Microsoft website.Note: Depending on the OEM version of Windows that you are running, you might run into an issue using the OEM key with a retail version of Windows. I just needed to download the most recent Windows 10 ISO file (21H1) from Microsoft but there apparently is no direct download for the iso images on the site? Wow! Now, I’m starting to wonder whether this is all a joke, is this a trick Microsoft is playing can’t believe this was this difficult for what should have been a simple thing. However, if you check the links, they don’t take you straight to the Microsoft website thus I was highly concerned. Looking at the searches revealed a number of third-party sites with download windows 10 iso links claiming to direct you to the Microsoft website. Thought this would be easy to find so I turned to google for help, the Microsoft site only offers the May 2021 update and the Media Creation Tool which will download the Windows 10 ISO file for version 1903 (May 2019) but where is the Windows 10 21H1 ISO file hiding? Have trouble finding the latest Windows 10 ISO direct download link?
