Windows 7 was launched officially last week amidst launch parties and fanfare. As always, Microsoft gave its customers an option to get the Windows 7 DVD from retail stores or download the Windows 7 ISO directly from its servers online. But the catch is, Microsoft never makes available, the official download links that allow retail customers to download setup installer or ISO image of Windows 7, despite digital downloads have been the sole distribution channel for many who purchase from online store or via MSDN or TechNet subscriptions.

Though the Windows 7 installation DVD or ISO image is freely available on Bit Torrent sites, it carries the risk of getting fake, incorrect, malicious or infected images instead.

Now the direct download links to the Windows 7 operating system purchased 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 Windows 7. The Windows 7 installation files are meant as a way of ESD (Electronic Software Distribution).

Each editions of Windows 7 has its own download link. The Windows 7 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.

I would personally suggest you to use a download manager to download these files to ensure proper downloading of these huge files.

Windows 7 Direct Download Links

32-bit Windows 7 Professional x86

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-79643/Win7-P-Retail-en-us-x86.exe
File Size: 69.78 MB
MD5: 204D02EA3AB587B70621A7EC99B3F1B8
SHA-1: 60BA243A05261AA7A3AF9A3ADF509E8069B6E891

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-79643/setup1.box
File Size: 2.04 GB
MD5: D5CC1E45D6EB57B8500DBCF622F39637
SHA-1: EDAA9BA294EA7E49D4FE731E81CDD1E3C6168F51

http://msft-dnl.digitalrivercontent.net/msvista/pub/X15-79643/setup2.box
File Size: 137.59 MB
MD5: FAB28838A97E875D27E4E7239F42131C
SHA-1: 78D8ED22DF4FCDA102B72D41420D9854DC0DF7B4

After downloading the files, simply double click on the executable, e.g. Win7-P-Retail-en-us-x86.exe to start unloading the box and to install Windows 7. Note that 3 files must be put together in the same directory. You still need a product key to activate installed Windows 7.

Also Available : Direct download links for Windows 7 64-bit (x64)

[via]MDL