Let’s say you’ve just installed Windows 7, and you notice that Windows Photo Gallery is now missing. That’s because it was pulled out of the OS and plopped into the Windows Live Essentials 2011 suite.

Well, that’s not so bad, because Windows Live is free. You need to download the Live installer, which will then allow you to download only the apps you want. The problem comes when you have to do this on multiple machines with a limited internet connection.

Windows updates can be downloaded in standalone form, so why not Windows Live? It’s just not very convenient. Surely there is a standalone installer that you can download once and install later on multiple machines??

In fact, there is. It’s just a huge pain in the arse to find it, especially on Microsoft’s web site.

Not to worry! I found it for you. Watch out, though: it’s 138MB! You can still install only the apps you want, but no internet connection is required and it’s perfectly friendly for low-bandwidth connections.

UPDATE: It’s now called Windows Essentials 2012. Click the button below to download!

Have fun!