How do I get my Windows Seven download?

November 1, 2009 6:27 AM

On Friday (23/10) I purchased Windows 7 Professional from the UK Ultimate Steal wesbite. You validate your UK University email address, pay by card and get an email with a link to the download site where there is a download manager. I can get that - and run it - but the three files it is meant to retrieve (Box1, Box2 & the installer) all fail to download correctly and I end up with three files all of 1Kb. I've tried it on my old XP SP3 laptop and my new Vista SP2 laptop (which I am upgrading), but to no avail. Digital River's customer service, is frankly, appalling. I've emailed from their website CS form and you wait two or three days for the same automated response detailing the process I described above. I emailed their main CS address, but got another automated response that due to high levels of spam they were no longer checking it. A quick look around google shows they've had serious problems and the whole thing is a bit of a hash. I don't really want a refund, just the product - but this is driving me nuts! Any ideas?
posted by Blacksun to technology (6 comments total)

They completely screwed up the distribution method and the support is woeful.

There is some advice here, but you may have already followed it.

As I understand it, they're not giving you the ISO to download, but instead a custom installer that performs the upgrade on the pc you're downloading it on - so if you're trying to install windows 7 64 on vista 32, it will fail, and you need the physical DVD option to perform a clean install instead; which is also why it will fail on your XP machine.

I believe you should have had the upgrade key, so you can use that with a standard windows 7 disc to do a inplace upgrade (or clean install) if you can lay your hands on one via a friend etc - or if you get them to ship you a physical disk.
posted by ArkhanJG at 6:49 AM on November 1

Take a look here: Lifehacker
posted by deezil at 7:41 AM on November 1 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the replies so far. I have emailed MS direct from their website - and had a reply, unfortunately it is absolutely no help. They are saying exactly the same as Digital River. I found a way to use the Home Premium image that Lifehacker posted a link too - but I still cannot download the ISO (which is hosted by Digital River) - it just randomly stops and completes way before it should. Any other ideas would be appreciated.
posted by Blacksun at 9:35 AM on November 1

Probably easiest to pirate the disk image and use your legit key. You shouldn't have any issues.
posted by CharlesV42 at 11:08 AM on November 1

I was in nearly exactly the same situation as you (wanted to download the file on my Mac but obviously the .exe didn't work). In the end I used one of the ISO images posted on DownloadSquad which worked fine.

If you're having trouble with the downloading them try using a download manager such as DownThemAll! for Firefox.
posted by sandig at 11:19 AM on November 1

Thanks everyone. I managed to get a disc via memail, so I'm now sorted.
posted by Blacksun at 2:26 PM on November 1