You can no longer do a clean install of Windows 7. Microsoft shut down the Windows 7 update server a few years back. Windows 7 install needs to access the update server to verify that it’s a legit copy of the OS and to download the latest Windows 7 installer.
@prpixel Thanks for that information, which I hadn’t been aware of.
But see this page, though:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7
Did you try entering a product key on that page, and after doing so downloading the installation files from there? And if so, where did the process fail? Did it refuse to verify the key, or refuse to download, or refuse to activate following installation, or did some other roadblock arise during the process?
Regards,
-- Al