Download Windows 8/8.1 for free (ISO file) for 32-bit/64-bit PC

Updated by Linda on-Feb 22, 2023 | Home > Data Recovery Resources

A Complete Guide to Downloading Windows 8.1 (With Pictures)

Windows 8.1 – A free upgrade to Windows 8 and a pre-release version is now available. Explore the latest features of Windows 8.1 to personalize your Windows PC with many exciting new apps and games. You can download the Windows 8.1 ISO file online, create a bootable USB or DVD installer for both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

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Best of all, Windows 8.1 ties everything together, letting your services and apps work intelligently and in sync with you. Here, we'll show you how to download the Windows 8 ISO for free. Let's get started!

Also, you can learn how to download Windows 7 ISO, Windows 10 ISO, and get Windows 10 free download full version in simple steps.

What is a Windows 8 ISO file? - Overview

With Windows 8.1, you can achieve greater efficiency, privacy, and mobility. One of these is the ISO file in Windows 8 and 8.1, which contains an image of a disc, particularly CDs and DVDs.

It's usually saved as a ZIP file. You can extract the ZIP file using Windows' built-in compression tools, or with a compression app like WinRAR. However, if you extract data from an ISO image, you lose information about the original disc.

While any program that writes data to media can handle ISO files, the ISO format is specifically intended for creating ISO images. A good free option is CDBurnerXP. In addition to burning an ISO image to a DVD, you can also “mount” it, making it appear on your computer as though it were a physical disc.

How to Download the Windows 8.1/8 ISO for Free (2 Methods)

There are two ways to get the free Windows 8 ISO. One way is to download the Windows ISO from an existing ISO image. The other way is to use the Windows Download Tool to get the Windows 8 ISO for free. Check out the methods below for more details.

Method 1: Download the Free Windows 8.1/8 ISO Image File (32-bit or 64-bit)

Installing from a Windows 8.1 ISO image makes the process much smoother. Here's how to download Windows 8 ISOs for free.

Download the Windows 8 ISO here.

Before you begin, back up important files and information. Make sure you also have enough free space on your hard drive (at least 20 GB).

If you have Windows 8 installed, and you didn't get the RTM ISO from the Windows Store, you can install Windows 8.1 by mounting the downloaded ISO in Explorer.

Step 2: Double-click to start the installation process.

If you're using Windows 7, XP, or Vista, you'll need to burn the ISO image to a USB flash drive or DVD, or use a third-party virtual drive tool.

Step 4: If you already have Windows 8 and are waiting for the official release date, downloading the Windows 8.1 product key will take you to the Windows Store, where you can get the update for free.

For more details, check out this video on downloading Windows 8.1.

• 0:00 Introduction
• 0:10 Downloading Windows 8.1/8
• 3:55 Downloading the ISO File

Option 2: Get the Windows 8.1/8 ISO using the Windows Download Tool for free

If you don't want to burn an ISO file, you can head over to the Windows Downloaders. The tool OS2Go is an amazing utility that downloads Windows 11/10/8.1/8 ISO files and creates a bootable Windows USB drive. With this tool, you can easily get a Windows environment on a USB flash drive and run it on a Windows or Mac device. This ISO downloader has plenty of highlights.

• Create bootable media without burning ISO files for Windows 11/10/8.1/8.
• Migrate Windows 10 to SSD, along with apps, backgrounds, games, and more.
• Restore cloned Windows OS to different computers anytime, anywhere.
• Run Windows 11/10/8/7 on a computer without booting issues.

Download this Windows ISO tool, and download a full copy of Windows 8.

Step 1: Install the tool OS2Go on your Windows computer. Plug in a USB drive or external hard drive that's large enough to hold the distro.

Step 2. Select the third tab, “Windows Installer Creator.” First, choose the version of Windows you want to install; OS2Go supports creating installation media for Windows 11, 10, and 8.1. You can also choose a local ISO file. When ready, click “Create.”

Step 3: You'll see a warning that all data on the selected disk will be erased. Click "Continue" to proceed.

Step 4: The tool will now create the Windows installation media. Downloading the ISO file can take some time, depending on your operating system and internet connection. When it's done, the USB drive should now be bootable.

Step 5. Insert the Windows installation media into your computer and start the installation process.

How to Burn a Windows 8 ISO to DVD

An ISO file, also called an optical disc image, is an exact replica of the contents of a CD or DVD. When you burn an ISO file to a DVD, you're not just copying the data on the DVD; you're creating a perfect copy of the original disc itself, not just its files.

As long as the original system is bootable and contains any copy protection, the clone will be bootable and contain the same copy protection. With that in mind, the remaining steps involve how to take your Windows ISO and burn it to a USB.

Step 1: Insert the CD into your computer's CD drive.

Important: Make sure you choose the same format as the original disc. Do not try to burn a DVD image to a CD-R.

Step 2. To mount the ISO file, select it in the File Manager window, and then click the “Disk Image Tools” tab at the top of the window.

Step 3: You might see a Burn button in the upper-left corner of the screen.

Step 4: Select your “CD/DVD Burner” and click the “Burn” button.

Tip: After burning the disc, you may choose to “Verify disc” to make sure the data was written correctly, though this will add quite a bit of time.

Do you need assistance from an expert?

If you have problems burning the Windows 8 ISO, consider seeking assistance from professionals who offer manual data recovery services with a Data Recovery Wizard Pro Data Recovery Service. Additionally, they can provide free advice on how to burn your Windows 8 ISO file. Contact our experts now for assistance.

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Tool Data Recovery Services

Click here to contact our experts for a free assessment

Consult with Tool Data Recovery specialists for one-on-one manual recovery services. After a free diagnosis, we offer the following services:

• Repair damaged RAID structures, unbootable Windows OS, and corrupted virtual disk files (e.g., .vmdk, .vhd, .vhdx)
• Recover/repair lost partitions and repartitioned drives
• Unformat hard drives and repair raw drives (including BitLocker encrypted drives)
• Fix disks turned into GPT protective partitions

Installing Windows 8 from the Install DVD

After you have everything set up to install Windows 8 from the DVD, follow all of the steps in this section to make sure that the Windows 8 files are installed onto your operating system safely.

Step 1: Insert the Windows 8 installation DVD or Blu-ray disc into an optical drive (internal or external). Press the power button to turn on your computer.

Step 2: Press F12 on your keyboard as your computer is starting up to enter the Boot Menu.

3. When you see the Boot Manager, select the DVD or Blu-ray drive where you inserted the installation disc.

When you see "Restart from DVD or BD-ROM device," press any key on your keyboard to restart the device.

Restart from the DVD and press any key

Step 5: You should now see the Windows 8 installer. Follow the prompts, based on your experience.

Step 6. Click "Install now" to proceed.

Step 7: Before you can use Windows, you'll need to enter your product key. You should be able to find this on the packaging the CD came in.

Step 8: Check the box next to “I accept the terms of the license agreement,” and then click Next.

Step 9. Since this is a fresh install, select "Custom" to proceed.

Step 10: To create a new partition of a specific size, select "New" from the drop-down menu. If this option appears, click "Next" to proceed.

Step 11: If you want to define the size of the new partition, choose "New," enter the partition size in the "Partition Size" field, and click "Apply."

Step 12: Windows will "Reserve 350 MB of disk space for system files." Click OK to proceed.

Click OK to proceed.

Step 13. Partition 2 on disk 0 is the new partition on the hard drive.

Note: In Step 2.11, Windows will automatically allocate 350 MB as System Reserved space (labelled Partition 1) once you've assigned a size to the new partition. The remaining space will then show up as Partition 2.

Step 14: If you have a lot of free space on your hard drive, you can repeat these steps to create additional partitions.

Step 15: After partitioning, select the partition you want to install Windows 8 on and click Next.

Recover Lost Data after Installing on Windows 8.1/8

Installing new files or restoring old ones always comes with many risks. If users experience data loss after installing the system and lose important information, we recommend using professional free data recovery software to quickly and effectively recover data from Windows 11/10/8/7. The Data Recovery Wizard tool can easily restore data from hard disk drives, solid state drives (SSDs), SD cards, flash drives, and USB drives recover hard disk data with ease.

The software is also capable of performing RAW partition recovery, from drives that the computer operating system fails to recognize. One of the notable features of this tool is its Preview option, which can be adjusted for a quick search of lost items or a sector-by-sector scan of the storage space. This lets you preview the data before you recover it.

• Preview the lost files before recovery. • Preview is one of the key features in this process. • The original file system (damaged MBR or partition table) can be retained.

Please follow the below-given steps to recover data from Windows 8.1/8.

Note: To ensure a higher success rate of data recovery, install the data recovery tool on a disk other than the one that originally contained the lost files.

Step 1. Launch the Disk Drill data recovery wizard on your Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7 computer. Select the disk partition or storage location where you lost your data and click “Search for lost data.”

Step 2: The recovery software will start scanning the disk to find all lost and deleted files. Once done, click on “Filter” > “By Type” to specify the lost file type.

Select the type of data to recover

Step 3. Preview and recover lost Windows files. You can double-click to preview the scanned files. Then, select the target data and hit the "Recover" button to save them to another secure location on your computer or an external storage device.

Conclusions

We hope you've learned everything you need to know about how to download the Windows 8 ISO file. You can download this file from multiple sources online. However, when installing Windows, you might lose important data. Therefore, we recommend using the Data Recovery Wizard tool to recover deleted files. The software is highly efficient and user-friendly.

Frequently Asked Questions about Downloading Windows 8 ISO

For more help, see Windows 8 download FAQ.

**1. Can I download Windows 8.1 for free?**

If you're using Windows 8, you can upgrade to Windows 8.1 for free. After installing Windows 8.1, we recommend upgrading to Windows 10 for free.

How can I download the Windows 11 ISO image for free?

To download the Windows 11 ISO image file, click here.

Step 1: Visit the Windows 11 ISO download page.

Step 2: Scroll down and click on Download Windows 11 ISO file.

Step 3: Click the dropdown arrow next to “Download,” and then select Windows 11 (multi-edition ISO).

Once you've confirmed, click on “64-bit download” to start downloading the Windows 11 ISO file.

3. How long can I use Windows 8.1 without activating it?

The installer needs you to enter a valid Windows 8 product key before it will let you continue with the installation.

However, the key is not activated during installation, and the software will run perfectly well without an Internet connection – or Microsoft – ever getting to see it.