[deanhills]

Possibly @"Hidden Refuge" knows this. What is the best and most up to date version and source for a Windows 10 Enterprise ISO image download?

I've been studying Windows 10 Enterprise notes that I took down a couple of years ago or less - which Hidden so generously provided in the Forum at that time. I seem to remember that the Windows 10 Enterprise versions were not all equal and some better than others. Is this still the case, and which one is recommended?

Then of course I need to find a way to get a Volume Product Key. I guess the key in this tutorial must be long dated!
https://www.howtogeek.com/250503/how-to-...g-windows/

It's a very old tutorial dating from 2017 when Microsoft was still encouraging existing users to upgrade to Windows 10.

[Mashiro]

There are four Windows 10 Enterprise versions that are available and can be considered as recent or the latest versions.

Windows 10 Enterprise (Build 1909)

• Windows 10 Enterprise
  
• Windows 10 Enterprise N
  • Basically you can't play an media like music, video or similar at all on this version.
    

Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC (Build 1809)

• Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC
  
• Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC N
  • Basically you can't play an media like music, video or similar at all on this version.
    

N versions are special versions that Microsoft is obliged to provide due to several laws in different countries. Basically they removed the whole media stack and other features out of this.

Read more: https://www.howtogeek.com/322112/what-is...f-windows/

Mind how it says "Quite a Few Things Will Break". I did install Windows 8.1 Pro N once by accident. I was spending hours on getting audio on the system to work when listening to videos, music or playing something in the browser (or even games). Had absolutely no luck. All time was wasted. I did more research and my only way to go was to reinstall normal Windows 8.1 Pro. After that everything was working normally again. Microsoft actually has a thing called media codec pack or something similar that is supposed to install all the codecs and etc to play media. Guess what... it wasn't supported by Windows N or the media pack itself didn't support Windows N versions.

LTSC (formerly called "LTSB") versions of Enterprise are Windows 10 versions that only receive security updates and have a very long period of support and extended support. These versions come without most Windows 10 apps and without the Windows 10 Store. However you can install all of this yourself with a few simple tricks afterwards. Media works on this versions unlike with N versions. LTSC versions cannot be upgraded from one to another. A fresh installation of the next LTSC version is required. This is basically meant for business environments where you require a very stable OS and one that won't get updated and completely reinstalled every few months or gets new feature updates that break stuff. See usage fields such as hospitals, manufacturing plants and etc.


About licensing. All Windows 10 Enterprise versions are all volume license products that are meant for companies (hence why they're called Enterprise). To activate them you need a KMS server in your company network where a Windows 10 KMS key is installed. Clients in the company domain will connect to that KMS server and get their license for a period of 180 days. After that runs out they will connect again and extend their license for another 180 days and on and on. I'm not sure if there is a OEM or Retail license version of Enterprise is available. I doubt though.

So if you have no connection to a company and a device from them there is no way to activate Windows 10 Enterprise I guess. There is a flaw inside Microsofts activation system though that allows to simulate a Windows 7 upgrade to Windows 10 and grants you a valid digital license bound to the hardware you use. I have observed that this worked with Windows 10 Enterprise, too. It's all probably against Microsoft terms and agreements of course. Antiviruses will pick it up as a virus while it is clean. Not going to provide any links or any additional information but the software is called "HWIDGEN".

You may wonder how I obtained licenses for Enterprise or Enterprise LTSC. Well, that's a perk of my job. I sometimes work from home and thus use a VPN connection to our company network. So I just joined my computer into our domain and use our KMS server to activate my Windows copy. And that's all legal of course since I work for the IT department and our boss has given us green light to do so as long as the device the license is used for is used to work for the company (which I do at least a few times during a month).


If you can however get a license for Windows 10 Enterprise consider getting one for the normal Enterprise. While LTSC might be nice with things like only receiving security updates and nothing else there are many disadvantages that follow quickly. Certain software or other type of applications might not support this version (games sometimes for example). These versions will lack new features and will never receive them until a brand new version of LTSC is released. Even Microsoft themselves are planning to drop support for certain software on LTSC versions. They clearly don't want people to go for LTSC because it is so good (no pesky apps, no damn feature upgrades that reinsall your Windows, no updates that break stuff, more control over the OS and etc). However due to the nature of their business clients (that's how Microsoft makes most of their profit) they still provide LTSC as there are companies that need all of the good things that LTSC brings and can easily forget the disadvantages that would hurt a normal user or a normal employee working in their office.

For example LTSB based on Windows 10 1607 which is what I used for some years... I had to stop using it in favor of actually being able to use certain applications or play some games I wanted to try. Drivers for graphics card stopped supporting LTSB with warning messages. Games wouldn't run because they were not supportin LTSB. So as a normal user your quickly feel left out of the sudden after using LTSC for a few years because everything that is mainstream moves on with the normal release flow.

A positive thing about Windows 10 Enterprise is that you can much longer delay upgrades to the next major build like the next version (2003 probably or so). That's basically a goody from Microsoft because it is never easy in a company to update hundreds or thousands of computers to a new version of Windows. Heck I have to maintain over 300 computers in my company (that is the administrative part of the company). And I also have to maintain another 400 - 800 computers in our education department. We are still using Windows 7 while we transition to Windows 10 Enterprise based on 1809. We have Windows 7 ESU Year 1 licenses for another year of Windows 7 updates and support.


About the tutorial you mentioned. Well, Windows or rather said Microsoft allows to perform Windows version upgrades. This switches your OS from lets say Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Pro. It at the same time unlocks features that are not available in the previous version. Now you can do this without actually owning a license key for the version you upgrade it to. Which of course means when you do it your Windows 10 installation will run without a license. Which at some point will start to bug you out with messages and etc. Also with Windows 10 running without a licenses means that a part of settings and customizations cannot be changed until a license is installed.

More information:
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...n-upgrades
- https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...-line-tool

Hint: You can use KMS Client Keys to perform such upgrades without owning an actual license.

--> https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows...clientkeys

I used this method once (while using our KMS server though) to upgrade a preinstalled Windows 10 Pro version to Windows 10 Education in our education department because I didn't want to reinstall Windows but needed Education to match it to our general guidelines of the education department IT.


... Well, here goes another wall of text.

[humanpuff69]

Ltsc is windows 10 without any bloatware . It doesnt have any uwp apps (except setting) , no cortana , telemetry can be fully disabled , longer update and no feature update

the term lts also mean it is long term support that mean if you dont care about new feature you can still get update longer than normal windows counterpart

[tryp4vps]

..... For example LTSB based on Windows 10 1607 which is what I used for some years... I had to stop using it in favor of actually being able to use certain applications or play some games I wanted to try. Drivers for graphics card stopped supporting LTSB with warning messages. Games wouldn't run because they were not supportin LTSB. So as a normal user your quickly feel left out of the sudden after using LTSC for a few years because everything that is mainstream moves on with the normal release flow....

I did not know that the LTSB Build 1809 is based on Windows 10 1607. Thanks for posting this. I have been looking for a 1607 ISO and am interested in trying it, to see if this version is better than my current Windows 10 version.

I seldom play games on Windows 10 anyway, so lacking of newer games support should not be an issue for me.

[Mashiro]

I did not know that the LTSB Build 1809 is based on Windows 10 1607. Thanks for posting this. I have been looking for a 1607 ISO and am interested in trying it, to see if this version is better than my current Windows 10 version.

I seldom play games on Windows 10 anyway, so lacking of newer games support should not be an issue for me.

You seem to be misunderstanding a few things into the wrong direction.

Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB has had two version:
- 2015 (Build 1507)
- 2016 (Build 1607)

LTSB is no longer being made. Microsoft renamed it to LTSC and now it is based on new Windows 10 builds.

LTSB = Long Term Servicing Branch
LTSC = Long Term Servicing Channel

Both are the same but LTSB is the old name and LTSB versions are all based on very old Windows 10 builds (as listed above).

There is currently only one LTSC version and that one is based on Windows 10 1809. That's Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019.

- https://www.ghacks.net/2017/07/28/window...s-10-ltsc/
- http://woshub.com/faq-windows-10-ltsc-explained/

If you want to mix up the old name with the new name you need to mention the year notation that is 2015 (LTSB 2015), 2016 (LTSB 2016) and 2019 (LTSC 2019). Thanks to Microsoft... for renaming it and bringing confusion for many people.

If you want to try LTSB 2016 you can do so easily. Here is a copy of a MSDN ISO of Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 64 Bit in English ( GB ): https://the-eye.eu/public/MSDN/Windows%2...060114.iso (nothing illegal, this is a ISO straight from Microsoft just mirrored on another site for archive purpose - comes without any illegal activation tools or similar).

Or English (US I pressume): https://the-eye.eu/public/MSDN/Windows%2...059483.iso

[deanhills]

If you want to try LTSB 2016 you can do so easily. Here is a copy of a MSDN ISO of Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB 2016 64 Bit in English ( GB ): https://the-eye.eu/public/MSDN/Windows%2...060114.iso (nothing illegal, this is a ISO straight from Microsoft just mirrored on another site for archive purpose - comes without any illegal activation tools or similar).

Or English (US I pressume): https://the-eye.eu/public/MSDN/Windows%2...059483.iso

Anything mirrored for 2019 (LTSC 2019) ?

I've got the 2016 LTSB still from last time when it was recommended but obviously it is now past its life cycle. Looks as though 2019 is more restricted to get hold off. Almost as though it's off the normal charts and limited to KMS Clients only. I've come across a few instances of "not so kosher" 2019 LTSC and how to activate it. I'm tempted to go for one, but am holding my breath at the same time. Probably not such a good idea, but then again Microsoft is the cause of this, like not allowing people an easy way to get a license legitimately and forcing them to go for Windows 10 Professional instead. For me that is not right either. So it's logical that operators who do have access to the KMS keys through their places of work will be flogging those in their spare time - because they can do it. Only problem is one can't verify whether the downloads are virus free. I have to think twice before taking that chance.

[humanpuff69]

Anything mirrored for 2019 (LTSC 2019) ?

I've got the 2016 LTSB still from last time when it was recommended but obviously it is now past its life cycle. Looks as though 2019 is more restricted to get hold off. Almost as though it's off the normal charts and limited to KMS Clients only. I've come across a few instances of "not so kosher" 2019 LTSC and how to activate it. I'm tempted to go for one, but am holding my breath at the same time. Probably not such a good idea, but then again Microsoft is the cause of this, like not allowing people an easy way to get a license legitimately and forcing them to go for Windows 10 Professional instead. For me that is not right either. So it's logical that operators who do have access to the KMS keys through their places of work will be flogging those in their spare time - because they can do it. Only problem is one can't verify whether the downloads are virus free. I have to think twice before taking that chance.

if it is a vanilla iso (unmodified) it is probably doesnt have any virueses in it . the download site probably just get it from microsoft and share it for pirating purpose maybe because legit enterprise user will use the cd or digital iso download from microsoft

where virueses may (and mostly) exist is in preactivated iso . it apply to all version not just enterprise it is a pirated software and you get a virus on top of the windows and because the virus is in the installer level it cannot easily detected and remove . you better go with activate watermark than your data stolen by hacker

[tryp4vps]

If you want to mix up the old name with the new name you need to mention the year notation that is 2015 (LTSB 2015), 2016 (LTSB 2016) and 2019 (LTSC 2019). Thanks to Microsoft... for renaming it and bringing confusion for many people......

Cool. Thanks for pointing out the difference between LTSB and LTSC, which I was not aware of.

And much appreciated you also direct me the exact URLs for downloading the necessary ISO files of the old version LTSB 2016 from the archive site.

I have already downloaded the required ISO file and will certainly give it a try.

[Mashiro]

@deanhills

Unfortunately I only have the German version of the Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC ISO on my MEGA Cloud account. That's probably no help for you as it would be a hassle to get through the installation and make it English later on (possible through language addon packages) if you don't know a single word of German.

I found a mirror that has what you are looking for though. Windows 10 Enterprise 2019 LTSC Feb 2019 Media Refresh:

Code: (Select All)

https://moeclub.org/onedrive/MSDN/Windows%20Desktop/en_windows_10_enterprise_ltsc_2019_x64_dvd_5795bb03.iso

^ It's also a MSDN ISO. I checked it by comparing hash values. This mirror seems to be hosted by someone on their Microsoft OneDrive account since all the downloads happen from Microsofts Sharepoint servers.

[rudra]

I would like to mention that, i think HWIDGEN works by faking an OEM certificate which usually resides in bios of a oem system and provides activation for oem versions. that is why it is flagged as a virus.

A big flaw of N versions is you won't be able to connect your Android devices to it using usb data cable. only charging will work. that driver and support is part of the media package that is not on it. some people install addon packages/ solutions later. but often see that those don't work predictably.

dean. get that iso from the link by HR or get it from anywhere you like. then check the hash. that is always the most important part.

they often hide Trojan in ISO s found in the wild. but you can't make the hash match if you modify it thus.