Prelude: Last night I was installing windows on one of my machines while watching the installation go through a random thought popped in my head. I quickly went ahead and googled
People running pirated windows, I couldn't find official statistics from Microsoft which is understandable as it will give
bad press to them but I did manage to find some alarming figures... This
article[1] from Indiatimes showed up in one of my search results. According to a Microsoft study in Asia around
91% Of PCs Sold In India Run On Pirated Windows 10, And 85% Of Them Come With Dangerous Malware. The story doesn't end here.
The software piracy levels in some countries is unbelievably high. According to Microsoft's report, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand reported 100% piracy in brand new PCs purchased off the shelves.
India was next in line with 91% pirated Windows coming pre-installed on brand new, box packed computers and laptops. That's not all. In India, 85% of PCs that came with a pirated version of Windows 10 pre-installed were also loaded with dangerous malware, including backdoor software that could be used by hackers and bitcoin miners that secretly utilize your PC's power and performance for someone else's use, according to Mary Jo Schrade, Assistant General Counsel and Regional Director of Digital Crimes Unit in Asia at Microsoft in Singapore.
This totally blew me away... These people don't earn enough already and if they are becoming a victim of a scam through no fault of their own.
The least we can do is warn them. If you are running a pirated version of Windows please do yourself a favour and get at least the Genuine Windows 10 ISO from Microsoft! This guide will show you exactly how you can get the Genuine Windows 10 ISO via a Direct link. Microsoft has been a dick for a few years now and is pushing one of its
download tools for downloading windows 10 but this guide will show you how to work around that and get the ISO file instead. Before someone jumps in and says use Linux, Not everyone can jump platforms overnight. There are countless reasons that have been discussed before and I don't want this discussion to head there.
Things to think over before we begin:- If you have created a wallet on a pirated windows consider it compromised. I will suggest creating a new wallet after installing the new windows and moving your Bitcoins to your new wallet. Bonus points if you upgrade to Segwit.
- Consider all of your passwords compromised aswell. I will suggest creating new passwords for all of the websites you are registered on. Trust me its worth it. Read this guide from @GreatArkansas.
- Consider investing in an OEM Windows key. They usually go for around $5-$10. Stay away from windows activator. If you can't buy an OEM key try to live with the watermark.
- Consider staying away from Cracks, Look for free opensource alternatives for your needs.
- Consider formatting all of your drives/Previous data. A fresh start will only help.
Have a suggestion to add into this list? Feel free to leave it below.
Let's Begin, shall we...1) Goto this URL:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 2) You need to enable the
Responsive Design Mode on your browser. If you are on firefox/Chrome/Opera you can do this by pressing Ctrl + Shift + M after opening your console.
3) Select an Apple Device from the Dropdown menu and refresh the page.
4) Select the Latest Windows Version and choose your appropriate language. Click confirm.
5) Choose the appropriate architecture 64-bit or 32-bit and start your download. Most of the PCs support 64bit architecture these days but you can still make sure your CPU is compatible by googling " ( CPU model ) 64-bit support "
Burning the ISO with Rufus and some thoughts.Once your download has completed. Head over to
https://rufus.ie/ and download the latest version. I won't recommend any other
ISO burners as Rufus is OpenSource. Don't use any other shady ISO burners as they can insert all sorts of malware while
burning the ISO. I will highly suggest following this video:
https://youtu.be/K7SlsJEVSXc?t=60 as it includes everything you need to know while burning the ISO file. I will also suggest putting some time in learning how to install windows by yourself, There are plenty of youtube tutorials/guides around which take you step-by-step through the entire process. In the world of Cryptos, you trust no one except yourself. So don't let anyone install it for you. If you truly believe in Bitcoin then respect the ideas behind it.
P.S Microsoft used to publish their ISO's Checksum but for some reason has abandoned it altogether. So if your network is already compromised then there is no way of verifying the ISO you are downloading from Microsoft is indeed legit. In the long run, you should consider moving to a Linux based Environment.Note: Feel free to translate this thread for your local board.
Source:
[1]
https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/news/91-of-pcs-sold-in-india-run-on-pirated-windows-10-and-85-of-them-have-pre-loaded-malware-355997.html