CrustyWindows:File hosts
Part of the reason we strive to preserve these ISOs is because of the fragile nature of file hosts. To make it easier for people to search for bootlegs and not waste their time, we've compiled a list of different file hosts commonly used for bootlegs, categorized by if they're still alive and if there's any special steps or caveats to downloading from them.
Dead
Fileserve
The site was shut down in 2012 (less than a year after it started), it is most common with bootlegs posted in 2011.
FileDefend
It died in less than a year. I guess they didn't defend your files very well. Because it was so short-lived, most people didn't upload here, but there's a few bootlegs (all posted in 2012) that did.
Hotfile
The site shut down on December 4, 2013. The site now redirects to a MPAA "watch it legally" propaganda campaign, due to Hotfile being taken down for, obviously, copyrighted content involving pirated movies and music. Very common in bootlegs posted in 2007 to 2013.
JumboFiles
Dead, dead, dead. Shut down on December 31, 2015.
Letitbit
Let it bit (rot). Oddly shut down by ICANN in April 2016, though most of its files were purged by then anyway due to legal requests. Extremely common in bootlegs posted between 2009 and 2014
MegaUpload
Infamously had its servers seized by the Department of Justice in 2012. Usually only old bootlegs (2007 to 2010) use Megaupload links.
Plunder
The site is still technically online, but has had all of its files purged. Luckily, it's extremely uncommon.
The site shut off on March 31, 2015 (though most links were dead well before then). Most common between 2009 and 2014.
Uploaded/Uploaded.net
The site shut down on November 30, 2022 after giving users less than 24 hours to get their stuff. Purged all Windows ISOs long before that anyway, so it didn't matter much. Most common in 2012 to 2015 posts.
Uploading/Uploading.com
The site shut down in late 2016 and is now replaced with a garbage clickbait blog. Very common with bootlegs posted in 2009 to 2012.
Storage.to/Kickload.com
Storage.to changed into Kickload in October 2011, then died in 2012 for an unknown reason.
Kickload.com also died in early 2012 for also unknown reasons. Domain expiry?
AnonFiles.com, and others
All dead. Shut down on August 16, 2023 due to extreme volumes of users abusing the service and their proxy provider shutting them down. Other sites that AnonFiles manages (like FileChan and BayFiles) went down with it.
Common for newer bootlegs posted between 2021 and 2023.
GOZO Finder
Seemingly defunct as of February 2024. Website is still online but files cannot be searched.
FileRio
Dead as of April 2024, exact shut down date unclear
Active sites that purge files for inactivity
DepositFiles
Still active as of April 7, 2024. However, files are purged if they are not downloaded within 90 days, so most links are long dead.
TurboBit
Still online. Like FileRio, it has a link checker tool that you can use to see if the files are still available, which can save a lot of time. Very common on Russian websites.
Premium sites
Chomikuj
Chomikuj is a file sharing website based in Poland. There's a lot of bootleg ISOs here (mostly Windows XP and 7), but you'll have to pony up the money and buy download points if you want to download more than 1 MB (50 MB if you register an account). Of course, it isn't a normal website where you can use PayPal to buy the points, or anything like that. Instead, the site seems specifically designed to make it next to impossible for anyone who isn't Polish to give them money, making bootlegs from here hard to obtain even if you're willing to pay up.
Fortunately, there are a few options:
The easiest way is to use a Telegram bot which lets you download files from Chomikuj easily. You can add it here. You need to type "/start" then paste the link to the file. (example:Bot is dead as of April 2024.http://chomikuj.pl/polonista2233/Systemy+Operacyjne/WindowZ+v2+2010/WindowZ+v2+2010,6660974000.iso(archive))- If the bot is down or you can't use Telegram, you will have to a premium downloader. LeechAll is able to download up to 2 GB from Chomik per day, but you'll have to battle through Adfly chains, malicious redirects, and many distractions, to get the file.
- Finally, if you happen to live in Poland and have a carrier that still allows Premium SMS, you can pay for the download points through that and download the file.
Active sites
Not to be confused with 4shared. It's a Vietnamese file upload site. The speeds aren't great and there aren't a lot of bootlegs here, but worth checking if you have an ISO name.
One of the most popular file hosts of the mid-late 2000's, along with MegaUpload and Rapidshare. It is also one of the longest lasting file hosts from back then as well. Still online as of September 14, 2024. 4shared shadowbans the word "Windows" from their search, although the downloads are usually still available if you can find a link.
Google Drive
Google Drive is an extremely popular cloud storage provider owned by one of the biggest companies in the world, with thousands if not millions of files hosted. Despite Google Drive's overwhelming simplicity and ease of use, and its longevity compared to other fringe file hosts, people rarely ever host their bootlegs on Google Drive, unfortunately.
NOTE: If you're on an old blog (such as Linthit, which fun fact is where most of the original Crusty Windows bootlegs were sourced from, as well as 3almalt9nia) with a Google Drive link, it's possible that the link might be using the old googledrive.com format. This has been deprecated and no longer works, but the download may still be available. You just need to convert the URL to the new format. To do so, first copy the URL, which should look something like this:
https://eaedbf0a00b3a37019819d280c9e3a86d86e0d85.googledrive.com/host/0B4fL3ZBm6JwHeDBDNUpXSWQyWUk/Windows%208.1%20MeeGo%20Edition%20-%20X64%20-%20DiLshad%20Sys%20-2015.part01.rar
Take the folder code (after /host/), and convert it to the new format like so:
https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B4fL3ZBm6JwHeDBDNUpXSWQyWUk
Just don't forget to remove the filename at the end.
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive, AKA archive.org is a non-profit organization, well-known for the Wayback Machine, a project dedicated to preserving the Internet since 1996. In the Internet Archive, you can find archives of movies, books, newsprints, audio, video, music, and especially games, software and ISO images, including Crusty Windows bootlegs.
While the vast majority of bootlegs you will find there are mostly just Windows Never Released projects, bootlegs with minimal changes and nothing else interesting, bootlegs already in the archive, Windows Vista recolors (such as Windows Vienna) which are similarly uninteresting, and lite ISOs which don't try to be anything more than that and are largely unnotable in most cases, you can find some interesting ISOs there. We usually don't accept most of the ISOs found on here, due to the reasons as disclosed beforehand.
Fun fact: Most of the original Crusty Windows bootlegs that were included when the collection was first starting were taken from the 136GB Arabic Windows Mod Collection, which is on the Internet Archive. The site 3almalt9nia.com was also heavily sourced from in Crusty Windows's early days. There's actually a lot of mods from the Arabic collection that are still pending to be added into the collection and be documented on this wiki. It'll eventually happen one of these days though.
MediaFire
MediaFire is still active with lots of files, however, Microsoft bots are known to scan the website for ISOs and submit DMCA claims to get them taken down, sometimes right when you download the file, so it's not extraordinarily common to find links that work.
MEGA
MEGA is the successor of MegaUpload, and like its predecessor it's free to download from. Semi-common for bootlegs. However, it has a 5GB/day download limit. To get around this, you can use MEGAbasterd. However, MEGA is known to remove Windows ISOs and take the account that uploaded it along with it.
SendSpace
Still online as of August 14, 2023. Most old files seem to be purged though.
TeamOS
While TeamOS is not really a file host, rather a forum, it's a place for people to share Windows ISOs, some of which are crusty bootlegs. It has been active since 2014.
Aside from the Registered Users section, almost all of the bootlegs on here are distributed via torrent. Per site rules, you must seed these torrents for 72 hours (3 days) or else you will receive a "hit and run" infraction. Receiving too many in too short a timespan will disable your account.
In addition, you will also need to watch your "ratio", which is determined by how many GB you've downloaded and uploaded. Downloading too much without uploading will also result in a penalty, and going below 0.4 disables your ability to download torrents completely until it goes back up.
There are two ways to get the ratio up: uploading a torrent to other users, OR by redeeming upload credits with a "seed bonus", which you get for simply seeding a torrent. A good method for getting a very high ratio is to download and seed a dozen or so small (1-50 MB) torrents and redeeming the seed bonus every day. Threads labeled "freeleech" don't count towards GB downloaded, so if your ratio is getting low, you can download these and get it back up.
Yandex Disk
Very active cloud storage service. Somewhat common for modern Russian bootlegs, alongside torrents and TurboBit. If you're looking for a Russian bootleg, searching on Yandex should be your first stop.
Uloz.to
Active, but they purged everything without any warning in January 2024. It's been replaced by their new service, Uloz.to Disk.
DepositFiles
Still active as of April 7, 2024. However, files are purged if they are not downloaded within 90 days, so most links are long dead.