Dreamspark – Academic University License

Login

Some Academic Institutes such as schools and Universities have an array of Microsoft Software available to their students and staff in particular University faculties that are scientific or engineering orientated.

I'll demonstrate the login using my researcher creditable from University of Strathclyde, physics department (science faculty).

First searching for the University of Strathclyde, Dreamspark takes me here:

http://www.strath.ac.uk/is/software/microsoftdreamsparkpremium-windows/

In your case perform a Google/Bing search for your University/school and Dreamspark.

Selecting "How do I get it?" takes me to the University of Strathclyde, Dreamspark home page

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This takes me to here:

https://e5.onthehub.com/WebStore/Welcome.aspx?ws=258c9d27-cd98-e311-93fa-b8ca3a5db7a1

I can then select sign in to the top right:

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Then opt for the Single sign in:

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Then I can type in my:

  • DS username and DS password

Other institutions will have their own special sign on system.

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Once I have signed in I may add items to the cart.

Most Popular Products

The most popular products are Microsoft Windows and additional Office programs. I go through an order of the products I'm interested in ordering and I show a screenshot of all the products later.

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Windows 10

First of all Windows 10 and I'm going to write a note regarding these different Editions. Take care to select the Edition you want as you only have a selection of one (although you can download Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 and use these keys to clean install Windows 10 TH2).

The Windows 10 Education Edition is essentially an Academic version of the Enterprise Edition so instead of it being offered for work purposes for employers and employees to be upgraded over Professional workstations. It can be used for academic staff and students and can be upgraded over both Home and Professional workstations. See Compare Windows Editions for Business for more details. Take care Microsoft list English US as English and English UK as English UK. If you opt to get an English UK key instead of English US key by mistake you will be unable to download installation media for English UK and be stuck with an English US .iso although the key itself will work in an English UK .iso.

The Multiple Editions listed is Windows 10 Pro. It appears Microsoft labelled the Edition by the .iso which contains both Home and Pro Editions instead of by the key which they give you is Pro only. Take care Microsoft list English US as English and English UK as English UK. Note if you select the wrong language of Pro its not an issue as you can download the language of your choice using the TH2 Media Creation Tool.

The Debug Editions are test Editions for debugging code and software particularly drivers. I haven't tested these see Checked and Free Build Differences for more details.

N Editions are the same as regular versions except lack inbuilt media capabilities. They are a silly sub-edition Microsoft were forced to make due to disputes with the European Commission… similar to the annoyance of the Browser Choice update that was previously enforced on EU installations. They never forced Apple to sell OS X without Itunes or give a Browser choice screen…

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* No flexibility to change language. The Dreamspark .iso is locked to a language. The Academic Media Creation Tool requires input of the 25 digit product key and automatically selects the language to match that obtained from Dreamspark.

Windows 10 TH2 Retail Media Creation Tool: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

Windows 10 TH2 Academic Media Creation Tool: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/vlacademicwindows10

An illustration of how Microsoft are listing the Editions:

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As mentioned only one of these can be ordered if you try to order two you get the following error message:

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Clicking on each Edition you can see Microsoft's lack of description for each Edition on Dreamspark…

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Windows 8.1

Again take care Microsoft list English US as English and English UK as English UK. Note if you select the wrong language of Pro its not an issue as you can download the language of your choice using the 8..1 with Update 1 or TH2 Media Creation Tool.

 

Again the Debug Editions are test Editions for debugging code and software particularly drivers. I haven't tested these see Checked and Free Build Differences for more details.

Again N Editions are the same as regular versions except lack inbuilt media capabilities. They are a silly sub-edition Microsoft were forced to make due to disputes with the European Commission… similar to the annoyance of the Browser Choice update that was previously enforced on EU installations. They never forced Apple to sell OS X without Itunes or give a Browser choice screen…

Microsoft list .isos with Update 1 and without Update 1. Get the .isos with update 1 wherever possible. If you don't its not a big issue as you can use the Windows 8.1 with Update 1 Media Creation Tool.

Windows 10 TH2 installation media will accept the Windows 8.1 product key.

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Windows 10 TH2 Retail Media Creation Tool: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

Windows 8.1 Media Creation Tool: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/create-reset-refresh-media

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 Windows 7

For Windows 7 English UK and English US are on the same .iso.

Again N Editions are the same as regular versions except lack inbuilt media capabilities. They are a silly sub-edition Microsoft were forced to make due to disputes with the European Commission… similar to the annoyance of the Browser Choice update that was previously enforced on EU installations. They never forced Apple to sell OS X without Itunes or give a Browser choice screen…

Note your Windows 7 key is rejected by the Retail Downloader for Windows 7 (like most Windows 7 keys are with this flawed downloader) so you need to Download the .iso from Dreamspark. Ensure you save the .iso to an external hard drive should you need to reinstall Windows 7. I don't know how much longer they will list Windows 7. Windows 10 TH2 installation media will accept the Windows 7 product key.

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Windows 10 TH2 Retail Media Creation Tool: http://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10

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 Microsoft Access

Access 2016 and Access 2013 are available to Download from Dreamspark. These are standalone licenses and the keys media are not part of an annual subscription.

In my testing the keys didn't work with the retail downloader so you need to download the product using Dreamspark and should keep the installer on an external hard drive:

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 Microsoft Visio

Visio 2016 and Visio 2013 are available to Download from Dreamspark. These are standalone licenses and the keys media are not part of an annual subscription.

In my testing the keys didn't work with the retail downloader so you need to download the product using Dreamspark and should keep the installer on an external hard drive:

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Order and Download

Simply select Checkout after you've added all the items to your cart:

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Type in your first and surname as well as your email address and select proceed with order:

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You will get the following list with all your product keys listed. It is recommended to save this to pdf or print to pdf (depending on your browser):

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When you have done this select download.

Then Download the Secure Download Manager.

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Then open the application to begin the install:

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Select next:

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Select I agree and next:

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Select next:

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Select close:

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After the Secure Download Manager is installed. Download the SDK:

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Then open it.

 

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The Secure Downloader Manager will open the SDK and you will be able to initiate your Downloads.

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Note if you get errors with the Download or unpacking errors simply close Download the Download Manager and open the SDK again. Then reattempt the download.

List of All Software Available on Dreamspark Premium

A screenshot of all the software I'm able to access:

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