Need help finding a link to a 64-bit Win8 ISO.

Okay, it all started innocently and stupidly enough. I wanted to experiment with Linux for a month, and to do so, I decided to wipe my drives totally and install it without any copy of Windows to fall back to. I've got all my drivers and programs backed up, so a reinstall wouldn't take me more than a couple of hours if I got too annoyed with Ubuntu. Installing Windows is old hat to me by now.

...or so I thought. The thumbdrive I had the Windows 8 install on decided to up and die on me. Oh well, I can always hit up the internet and get a raw copy. All I need is my activation key, and I'm good to go.

But nope. Microsoft is dumb. Instead of providing direct links to the appropriate copy of Windows, they make you run through the upgrade assistant. It's pretty cool in the sense that it can automatically write the ISO to a thumb drive for you, but it has one fatal flaw. If you're on a 32-bit OS, it'll ALWAYS download the 32-bit ISO. I didn't figure out this nugget of fun info until I borrowed a laptop to download it on (since I obviously can't do it from Linux), slapped what I got from there on a thumb drive, installed it, then saw I only had 2GB ram available to me on a 32 bit install.

...and I can't run the upgrade assistant again because I'm on a 32-bit OS right now. I'm caught in a loop. MS online tech support wasn't any help. They just gave me a link to the upgrade assistant, said "I DUNNO HEHEH OLOL" when I asked them for a 64-bit ISO, gave me a phone number, then slapped my ass and said good night to me.

Not that I didn't appreciate the slap on the ass, but...you know...it doesn't help me solve my problem.

So my question is, do any of you here know where I can find a link to an official, as it is straight from MS iso of Win8 Pro x64 that I can download without any hassle? I could always hop on Pirate Bay and download a copy there, but...

A. I shouldn't have to do that.

and...

B. I don't know if the ISO I get has been tampered with. I don't want to get any extra bugs.

If not, I can call tech support tomorrow, or in a worst case scenario, go play OS install hop scotch by installing Win7, getting the upgrade, deleting it, reinstalling 8, and BLLLAAAHHH. I don't want to do all that.

I'd rather get a link and be done with it.

Oh well hell. According to MS tech support, the only way I can get a 64-bit ISO is to run the upgrade assistant from a 64-bit OS. Which means I'm stuck with 32-bit until I reinstall from my 7 disc (which I can't do since I don't have a DVD drive at the moment) and go through that whole long process of installing 2 copies of Windows.

This is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my entire life. In this day and age, everyone should have a simple way of downloading a copy of an OS. It's the authentication key you're paying for, the software should be easily accessible. You can grab OSX from the Mac store without any hassle. Linux? Hell. It's all free. Just get it off a distro's website. So why does MS make you go through this convoluted process that isn't convenient at all.

Considering the amount of times they tried pushing me to buy the upgrade disc (which I don't need to do cuz I can back up the ISO to a thumb drive, what happened to me was a freak accident), I think it's so people will give them the extra $40 instead of being able to download it for free. Ridiculous. And annoying.

This has moved me one step closer to getting a Mac.

Yup. That's it. For reasons totally beyond me, MS doesn't allow you to choose between 32 and 64-bit. What it apparently does is looks at the OS you're running it from, and downloads the equivalent upgrade.

And yeah, I wonder why they just don't just tie it to your MS account. I mean you already have to use your authentication key to download a copy through the "upgrade" program, so why don't they just take that one small extra step and make it so you can grab an ISO from an easy to find Purchased Software page instead? It's practically what everyone else is doing these days. Why not MS?

Oh well. I guess I don't have any other choice but to do things the hard way. Thanks for the help anyway. : \