Download Windows ISO or ESD
Download an official Windows 10 or 11 ISO or ESD straight from Microsoft in NTLite, verified against the checksum Microsoft publishes, and add it to the image list.
The Download Image dialog fetches an official Windows ISO or ESD straight from Microsoft, checks it against the checksum Microsoft publishes for it, and adds it to the Image list, ready to load. There is no separate tool to run and no download page to click through.
The file comes straight from Microsoft's servers, unchanged. NTLite does not host Windows images.
Open the Dialog
On the Image page, open the toolbar Add drop-down and choose Download. The same button shows when hovering the Images header in the list, beside File and Directory, and the Tools tab carries it as Image.
Pick the Release
Four drop-downs narrow the list, top to bottom:
- Windows - the release, newest first. Windows 11 lists the current release and the older ones Microsoft still serves; Windows 10 goes back to 1703.
- Platform - x64, ARM64 or x86, whichever the release exists for. It starts on your last pick, or on this PC's own architecture.
- Language - every language Microsoft publishes for that release. It starts on your Windows display language.
- Edition set - Consumer (Home, Pro, Education and their variants) or Business (the volume-licensed editions, Enterprise included). Only the sets that exist for the pick are offered.
ISO or ESD
The Images list below the drop-downs shows the files that match, each expandable to the editions inside it:
- ISO - the installation disc Microsoft offers on its Windows download page. Consumer editions only, since that is all the download page carries.
- ESD - one row per build, the compressed install media Microsoft serves to its own Media Creation Tool. It is usually the newer build and the smaller download, and the only source of the Business editions.
An ESD is not a repack or a third-party format. It is Microsoft's own file, fetched from Microsoft's servers and checked against Microsoft's published checksum exactly like the ISO is. The difference is only the container: an ESD is compressed harder and is read-only, so NTLite converts it before editing.
The Downloaded column marks each file's state - Available, Downloading, Incomplete, Downloaded, or Not verified - with the word on the icon's tooltip. Right-click a row to open its file location or delete it; delete also removes it from the Image list.
Existing Copies
When the dialog opens, it scans the ISOs and ESDs already in the Image list and in the download folder, and recognizes any that match one of the offered files, even when renamed. While Scanning existing local images runs, Download waits, so a click cannot fetch a copy you already hold. Skip stops the scan if you do not need it.
A match turns the button into Locate: it closes the dialog and adds the file you already have to the Image list, or selects it there if it is listed. Nothing is downloaded.
Download and Verify
Download saves the file to the Download folder of the Edit cache, keeping an existing file of the same name rather than overwriting it. Progress shows in the status line and on the row; Cancel becomes Stop. A stopped or broken download is kept as Incomplete and continues from where it left off the next time.
Once the file is complete, it is verified against the checksum Microsoft publishes for it. A file that does not match is deleted and reported, so a corrupted or tampered download never reaches the Image list.
When Microsoft Refuses
- Microsoft refused the request - many downloads in a short time, a VPN or a proxy can trigger it. Try again later or from another network.
- Microsoft no longer serves this file - the build was retired; pick another release.
- Could not read the download list from Microsoft - a connection problem. The button turns into Refresh to try again.
Where the other format exists for the same pick, the message says so, so an unavailable ISO can fall back to the ESD and the other way round.
After the Download
The dialog closes and the file is added to the Image list as downloaded, then selected. The copy in the download folder stays exactly as Microsoft served it; edits work on a copy, so the original remains a clean reference.
An ESD shows as Packed in the list - it carries a whole install media, setup files included. To turn it into a bootable ISO, tick Convert to ISO in the dialog before downloading, or pick Create ISO on the ESD later. One popup writes the setup files and the editions you tick into an ISO beside the ESD, keeping the ESD, or deleting it when you choose Convert image. Loading an edition straight away works too: the ESD is unpacked into an editable image folder first.
From here the image behaves like any other - see the Image Management guide for edits and ISOs, and the Export & Convert guide for format conversions.