Downloading Windows 10 ISO Images
Occasionally at work I provide some nominal Windows support. I emphasize occasionally. I work hard to limit such annoying moments. To support a possible project I wanted to download the latest ISO image to run in a virtual machine (VM).
The Microsoft download page is straightforward. The result is a link to a download ISO with some kind of unique hashed file name. I have no idea for that purpose. According to the web page, the file link is valid for 24 hours only. Perhaps the gimmick is some kind of bot blocker.
Most of my work is remote. I did not want to download the ISO image on my connection at home and then play sneaker net to copy the ISO image to the office NAS. I wanted to download the ISO directly at the NAS. Also the connection speed at the office is faster than my home connection.
I did what I always do: copy the URL and run wget.
Except the command continually failed.
After much head scratching I learned that wget was failing because of an ampersand in the URL string. Enclosing the URL string in quotation marks resolved the problem.
I don’t know why wget parses like that, but really Microsoft, just letting people directly download the ISO without a goofy hashed file name is too much to ask? Why are users unable to confirm the download integrity by checking the md5sum? I'm guessing the hashed file name prevents any such sane checking.
Such is the nature of proprietary thinking.
Posted: Category: Usability Tagged: Windows
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