User who only wants to download Windows 7 installation files via official and verified source can choose to download the ESD files instead, which contains setup1.box, setup2.box and a edition-specific Windows 7 setup installer, and not in ISO format, although it’s easy to make a bootable Windows 7 DVD or ISO with the unloaded Windows 7 setup files.

Users who do not want to download Windows 7 ISO images which widely available on Bit Torrent (BT) network can download the ESD version of Windows 7 setup installer instead. Normally, Windows 7 setup installer that is downloaded via ESD channel is meant for upgrade version license or product key, and hence no ISO for burning to DVD or USB flash drive is provided.

Now the direct download links to the Windows 7 operating system distributed via digital software distribution channel online have been leaked. The installation files of Windows 7 is hosted on the server on domain msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net owned by Digital River, one of the delivery partners for Vista and also the brain behind Windows Marketplace e-commerce store.

Similar to 32-bit (x86) Windows 7 setup installer, each editions of Windows 7 has its own different and separate download links, and the setup installer package comes in 3 parts, which is an executable that starts the extraction or unpacking and installation process, plus setup1.box and setup2.box. After extracting all content to a folder named ExpandedSetup, the installation files should be the same with what contains on a DVD.

Windows 7 Direct Download Links