Wednesday, August 19, 2026

Rufus: Microsoft is blocking Windows ISO downloads

Date:

Microsoft blocks Windows ISO download in popular open source tool “Rufus”. The developer is now asking the community for help.

the known open source tool “Rufus” is widely used by many people to create bootable media. This tool is particularly popular among Windows users to download Windows ISO.

Unfortunately, that is no longer possible. Microsoft now appears to have put an end to these downloads. All Windows downloads from Rufus just show an error message.

Rufus – Create bootable USB flash drives in just a few clicks

rufous
rufous

rufous is a of these tools that you will no longer want to do without. Not only does this tool not have to be installed, but it comes as an executable file. No, the tool is also very clear and easy to use, almost self explanatory.

A bootable USB stick in a few clicks? With Rufus, that’s no problem. Simply enter the device as a drive above, then select UEFI below, and then click select or download.

At least that’s how it was until recently. Because now there is only one error message.

Microsoft prevents download

Error message in Rufus
Error message in Rufus

The error message is always the same: “Error: Windows ISOs can no longer be downloaded because Microsoft has changed their website to prevent a download“.

So anyone trying to download a version of Windows 8, 10 or 11 is in bad shape. Only downloading Windows 7 seems to work. Probably only Microsoft can answer why this is so. Although ghacks.net has the software giant I askbut so far there has been no response.

Meanwhile, more and more users are reporting the problem. on GitHub. Developer pbatard confirms the issue and claims to have discovered that Microsoft is intentionally blocking Rufus requests.

Upon closer inspection, it appears that Microsoft intentionally designed their website to be hostile to our script requests.

pbatard

pbatard still doesn’t know how to solve the problem. But apparently it might be a while before we can extract our Windows ISOs with Rufus as usual. Reason enough to ask the community for help.

Troubleshooting will probably take aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, and I could really use some help.

pbatard

Update 08/13/2022 16:55

Apparently, the bug was quickly found by the community. So fast that even the developer of Rufus is surprised.

Oh wow, so he was the benchmark after all. Thank you for this!

In fact, I can confirm that the patch works, so I applied it. And I’ll make sure Rufus uses the updated version of the script as soon as possible.

pbatard

Well, to be wrong is too human. A software developer is no exception. We can only be happy that Rufus continues to function without restriction in the future.

camouflage.info

Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison was a celebrated American author whose novels earned worldwide recognition for their depth, artistry, and cultural significance. Her influential works continue to inspire readers and writers across generations.

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