mirror of
https://github.com/pbatard/Fido.git
synced 2025-09-16 14:18:02 +02:00
82 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
82 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
Fido: Full ISO Download Script (for Windows retail ISOs)
|
|
========================================================
|
|
|
|
[](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html)
|
|
[](https://github.com/pbatard/Fido/releases)
|
|
|
|
Description
|
|
-----------
|
|
|
|
Fido is a PowerShell script that is primarily designed to be used in [Rufus](https://github.com/pbatard/rufus), but that
|
|
can also be used in standalone fashion, and whose purpose is to automate access to the official Microsoft Windows retail
|
|
ISO download links.
|
|
|
|
This script exists because, while Microsoft does make retail ISO download links freely and publicly available (at least
|
|
for Windows 8 and Windows 10), it only does so after actively forcing users to jump through a lot of unwarranted hoops,
|
|
that create an exceedingly counterproductive, if not downright unfriendly, consumer experience and that greatly detract
|
|
from what people really want (direct access to ISO downloads).
|
|
|
|
As to the reason one might want to download Windows __retail__ ISOs, as opposed to the ISOs that are generated by
|
|
Microsoft's own Media Creation Tool (MCT), this is because using official retail ISOs is currently the only way to
|
|
assert with absolute certainty that the OS content has not been altered. Indeed, because there only exists a single
|
|
master for each of them, Microsoft retail ISOs are the only ones you can obtain an official SHA-1 for (from MSDN, if you
|
|
have access to it, or from sites [such as this one](https://msdn.rg-adguard.net/public.php)) allowing you to be 100%
|
|
sure that the image you are using has not been corrupted and is safe to use.
|
|
|
|
This, in turn, offers assurance that the content __YOU__ are using to install your OS, which it is indeed critical to
|
|
validate beforehand if you have the slightest concern about security, does match, bit for bit, the one that Microsoft
|
|
released.
|
|
|
|
On the other hand, regardless of the manner in which Microsoft's Media Creation Tool produces its content, because no
|
|
two MCT ISOs are ever the same (due to MCT always regenerating the ISO content on the fly) it is currently impossible to
|
|
validate with absolute certainty whether any ISO that was generated by the MCT is safe to use. Especially, unlike what
|
|
is the case for retail ISOs, it is impossible to tell whether an MCT ISO may have been corrupted after generation.
|
|
|
|
Hence the need to provide users with a much easier and less restrictive way to access official retail ISOs...
|
|
|
|
License
|
|
-------
|
|
|
|
[GNU General Public License version 3.0](https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0) or later.
|
|
|
|
How it works
|
|
------------
|
|
|
|
The script basically performs the same operation as one might perform when visiting either of the following URLs (that
|
|
is, provided that you have also changed your `User-Agent` browser string, since, when they detect that you are using a
|
|
version of Windows that is the same as the one you are trying to download, the Microsoft web servers at these addresses
|
|
redirect you __away__ from the pages that allow you to download retail ISOs):
|
|
|
|
* https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/Windows8ISO
|
|
* https://www.microsoft.com/software-download/Windows10ISO
|
|
|
|
After visiting those with a full browser (Internet Explorer, running through the `Invoke-WebRequest` PowerShell Cmdlet),
|
|
to confirm that they are accessible, the script then queries the web API from the Microsoft servers to first request the
|
|
language selection available for the version of Windows selected by the user, and then request the actual download links
|
|
for all the architectures available for that specific combination of version + language.
|
|
|
|
Requirements
|
|
------------
|
|
|
|
PowerShell 3.0 or later is required. However the script will detect if you are using an older version and point you to
|
|
the relevant PowerShell 3.0 download page if needed (which should only ever occur if you are running a vanilla version
|
|
of Windows 7).
|
|
|
|
Also, because Internet Explorer is being invoked behind the scenes, if you haven't gone through the first time setup for
|
|
Internet Explorer, you may receive an error about this when running the script. If that is the case, then you should
|
|
make sure that you manually launch IE at least once and complete the setup.
|
|
|
|
Note however that, if you are running the script elevated, you can work around the above annoyance by using the
|
|
`-DisableFirstRunCustomize` option which basically __temporarily__ creates a key of the same name in the registry __if__
|
|
it doesn't already exist, to bypass the first time setup error.
|
|
|
|
Additional Notes
|
|
----------------
|
|
|
|
Because of its intended usage with Rufus, this script is not designed to cover every possible retail ISO downloads.
|
|
Instead we mostly chose the ones that the general public is likely to request. For instance, we currently have no plan
|
|
to add support for LTSB/LTSC Windows 10 ISOs downloads.
|
|
|
|
If you are interested in such downloads, then you are kindly invited to visit the relevant download pages from Microsoft
|
|
such as [this one](https://www.microsoft.com/evalcenter/evaluate-windows-10-enterprise) for LTSC versions.
|