Neowin: Microsoft has prohibited downloading Windows ISO images through third-party means.
Microsoft Corporation has prohibited downloading Windows images for installation through third-party services. This was noted by the publication Neowin.
Windows Insiders users complained about the issue. On February 12, a forum visitor under the nickname ChronoVore stated that he could not download the Windows ISO image from the Microsoft website to install the operating system (OS) on his computer. The author was supported by several users.
The presence of the problem was also confirmed by the developer of the Rufus service, Pete Batard — his utility can create bootable flash drives from Windows ISO images. According to media journalists, the ISO image can be freely downloaded from the Microsoft website, but many users are more accustomed to doing this using third-party programs like Rufus. Apparently, the company has temporarily or permanently closed this popular method.
Batard noted that it is not difficult for Microsoft to break the tool for creating bootable flash drives with Windows, as independent projects have open source code. "I’m almost sure that Microsoft paid one of its employees to come up with a way to do this," said Pete Batard.
The corporation has not yet responded to user complaints. The problem has been registered on the Microsoft feedback site. Neowin journalists suggested that Microsoft wants users to download Windows using proprietary tools.
Earlier, journalists from ZDNet reported that Windows 11 and 10 have a free backup creation tool. The "Windows Backup" program is no longer supported by updates but continues to work.
