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How to download Windows 10 and create installation media

Windows 10 is finally available and while many users have seen their machines get upgraded automatically to the new operating system, some have reported errors and issues that prevented the upgrade from completing successfully.

This ranged from update servers that were unavailable to specific error codes such as C1900200, 80240020 or the unhelpful "something happened" error.

Solutions have already been found for some issues. For error 80240020 for instance, you need to perform the following operation to start anew:

  • Delete all files in the folder C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
  • Run the command wuauclt.exe /updatenow on an elevated command prompt (Tap on the Windows-key, type cmd, right-click on the command prompt result and select run as administrator).
  • Check Windows Update again and the download should start anew.

Microsoft has released a tool which you can use to create installation media for Windows 10. The main advantage of it is that you create a Windows 10 setup DVD or USB drive using it which you can use regardless of Internet connectivity. Plus, you can use the media to install Windows 10 on systems with unreliable Internet or issues when using Windows Update to update to the new operating system.

To get started, download the appropriate version of the program from the Microsoft website. Generally speaking, if  you have a 32-bit system, download the 32-bit version of it and if you have a 64-bit operating system, pick the 64-bit one.

Please note that you can use the tool to upgrade the current PC as well. If you want to create installation media, select the second option on the first screen popping up after execution of the program on your system.

download windows 10

A click on next opens the language, architecture and edition page. There you select the desired language of Windows 10, the edition (Home or Pro available, the N versions are without Windows Media Player for the EU), and architecture (32-bit or 64-bit).

windows 10 language edition architecture

Click next again and you are prompted to select the type of media you want to create. You may put Windows 10 on a USB flash drive or create an ISO file which you can later burn to DVD or copy to USB.

windows 10 usb dvd

If you select USB, you are asked to pick an appropriate USB Flash Drive with at least 4 Gigabyte of storage as the data will be copied to it during the process. If you select ISO instead, you are asked to pick a location on the computer the file will be saved to.

downloading windows 10

A progress prompt is displayed afterwards that highlights the overall download progress. This may take a while considering that Windows 10 installation media has a size of several Gigabytes.

Once the download completes, a "creating Windows 10 media" progress bar appears on the screen. This copies the data to the USB drive or creates the ISO image based on your selection.

The ISO image created by the operating had a size of 2,529,984 Kilobyte on completion and a Sha256 value of 10d3a66bdfaf11e3785a45ae09997b134a41b957261a0c9f2f48ed2822ff4b0e (US English, Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit).

Some Notes:

  1. You need an USB Flash Drive with sufficient space or a DVD burner and blank DVD.
  2. Sufficient storage space needs to be available on the computer.
  3. Users who install the operating system anew need a Windows 10 product key.

This article was first seen on ComTek's "TekBits" Technology News

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