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WindChaser
Level 4

Microsoft download links

This is probably a novice question but hey...:o .

I want to rewrite a prerequisite file to include SQL Server 2008 R2 Express with Tools. No big deal but I would need the link from the Microsoft download site. For instance, for SQL Server 2008 SP1, the following link would apply: URL="http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/E/5/8E53FAA8-1129-4621-903F-3F8DB6D066AC/SQLEXPR32_x86_ENU.exe".

Does anyone know where I might find the appropriate references? Thanks!
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HenryL
Level 5

The page for 2008 R2 Express is http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=8b3695d9-415e-41f0-a079-25ab0412424b&displaylang=en&Hash=Zyv%2fIlY0jMJ39QCjdf%2b0z8TewjrbmHFfVWpLFAve3vYc5BYxrjzxoa2JJRvFLWUQVoY%2f%2bqRDGstaHsYzCeQn9w%3d%3d#filelist

You may want to dig into the html source code to find the real url from the hyperlink. Take SQLEXPR_x86_ENU.exe for example you will find the following link in the code:
http%3a%2f%2fdownload.microsoft.com%2fdownload%2f5%2f1%2fA%2f51A153F6-6B08-4F94-A7B2-BA1AD482BC75%2fSQLEXPR_x86_ENU.exe

So its real url should be:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/1/A/51A153F6-6B08-4F94-A7B2-BA1AD482BC75/SQLEXPR_x86_ENU.exe

Seems a little clumsy though, not sure if anyone else has any better idea. 😄 Sometimes the browser will parse the link and display in the address bar, unfortunately it's not the case here.
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WindChaser
Level 4

Thanks HenryL.

Not obvious in many cases where the page is not even accessible for edition to see the HTML behind it.

Is there any way that I could put the files on my firm's HTTP download site and set the URL as appropriate? When I try to do so, the installer always generates an error. I think that it may be that the http://download.microsoft.com/download/ site provides for direct downloads and doens't ask to make a choice between Run or Save which is an unexpected event for the installer....

Otherwise, is there a way to know what are all the links available from the http://download.microsoft.com/download/ site ?
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