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=== Hotfile ===
The site shut down on December
=== JumboFiles ===
Dead, dead, dead. Shut down on December
=== Letitbit ===
Let it bit (rot). Oddly shut down by ICANN in April
=== MegaUpload ===
=== Rapidshare ===
The site shut off on March
=== Uploaded/Uploaded.net ===
The site shut down on November
=== Uploading/Uploading.com ===
Kickload.com also died in early 2012 for also unknown reasons. Domain expiry?
=== AnonFiles.com, and others ===
== Sites that purge files for inactivity ==▼
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.
While uncommon for bootlegs, a few bootlegs were posted there. Common from 2021 to 2023. <!-- todo: scour the internet for the oldest anonfiles links to bootlegs !-->
=== 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
=== 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 ===
== Premium sites ==
=== Chomikuj ===
Chomikuj is a file sharing website based in Poland. There's
Fortunately, there are a few options:
An alternative to this is a Telegram bot that allows you to download files from Chomikuj easily. You can add it [https://t.me/CzomikBot here] and you need to type "/start" then paste the link to the file. (example: <code>http://chomikuj.pl/polonista2233/Systemy+Operacyjne/WindowZ+v2+2010/WindowZ+v2+2010,6660974000.iso(archive)</code>)▼
▲
* If the bot is down or you can't use Telegram, you will have to a premium downloader. [https://leechall.com/ 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.
MediaFire is still active with lots of files, however, Microsoft bots are known to scan the website for ISOs and submit DMCA claims on them, so its not extraordinarily common to find links that work. ▼
===
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 August 14, 2023. Although they purged every file with the word "Windows" in it, it's still worth trying, but quite a few bootlegs have managed to slip through the cracks, for example a bootleg once considered lost, named [[Windows XP Vosten]], turned out to be on 4shared the whole time.
Still online as of December 18th, 2022. Most old files seem to be purged though.▼
=== Google Drive ===
Google Drive is an extremely
'''NOTE''': If you're on an old blog (such as [https://llinthit.blogspot.com Linthit], which fun fact is where most of the original Crusty Windows bootlegs were sourced from, as well as [https://3almalt9nia.com 3almalt9nia]) with a Google Drive link, it's possible that the link might be using the old <code>googledrive.com</code> format. This has been deprecated and no longer works, but the download may still be available. We just need to convert the URL to the new format. To do so, first copy the URL, which should look something like this:
<pre>https://eaedbf0a00b3a37019819d280c9e3a86d86e0d85.googledrive.com/host/0B4fL3ZBm6JwHeDBDNUpXSWQyWUk/Windows%208.1%20MeeGo%20Edition%20-%20X64%20-%20DiLshad%20Sys%20-2015.part01.rar</pre>
Take the folder code (after <code>/host/</code>), and convert it to the new format like so:
<pre>https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/0B4fL3ZBm6JwHeDBDNUpXSWQyWUk</pre>
Just don't forget to remove the filename at the end.
=== Internet Archive ===
The Internet Archive, AKA archive.org is a non-profit organization,
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.
==== Notes ====▼
Fun fact: Most of the original Crusty Windows bootlegs that were included when the collection was first starting were taken from [https://archive.org/details/windows-mod-collection-arabic-pack the 136GB Arabic Windows Mod Collection], which is on the Internet Archive. The site [http://3almalt9nia.com 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
=== MEGA ===
MEGA is the successor of MegaUpload, and like its predecessor it's free to download from.
=== SendSpace ===
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.
===
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.
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