The other day Martin wrote that Microsoft have made available direct downloads for versions of Windows 7 that contain Service Pack 1 integrated into the ISO file.A These downloads are more important than you might think, as installing service pack 1 on your Windows 7 effectively breaks one of the most useful and important troubleshooting features …
Posted on Windows 7 News & Tips
Many Windows 7 News visitors are first movers who have bought the Windows 7 operating system when it first came out. This could have been a purchase of a standalone version of the operating system, of a new computer that shipped with Windows 7 or an upgrade from an old copy of XP or Vista. The Windows 7 Service Pack 1 was released in February by Microsoft. Up until now there was only one option to get an integrated Windows 7 with SP1 installation if you owned a Windows 7 copy: Slipstreaming. Many users shy away from slipstreaming as it is perceived as technically complicated.
But it was the only option to avoid the following scenario: If you had to re-install Windows 7 you first needed to install the operating system, and then run a series of updates that included the service pack to bring the OS to the latest version. That may work on one computer system, but what if you need to re-install several computers on a network?
If you are not into slipstreaming you can now download the official Windows 7 with integrated SP1 from Microsoft’s distribution partner Digital River. Here are the downloads:
- Windows 7 Home Premium x86 SP1 (bootable) [download]
- Windows 7 Home Premium x64 SP1 (bootable) [download]
- Windows 7 Professional x86 SP1 (bootable) [download]
- Windows 7 Professional x64 SP1 (bootable) [download]
- Windows 7 Ultimate x86 SP1 (bootable) [download]
- Windows 7 Ultimate X64 SP1 (bootable) [download]
The downloads are provided as ISO disc images which you need to burn to DVD first. If you are running Windows 7 you can right-click the ISO after download to do just that. You will need a blank DVD for that.
The downloads can also be handy for users who have not received physical discs of the operating system, for instance if they have bought a PC or notebook with a preinstalled version of Windows.
The operating system needs to be activated after a 30-day free trial period.
Official Windows 7 With Integrated Service Pack 1 Downloads is a post from Windows 7 News & Tips – Latest Microsoft Windows 7 News, Tips, Themes, Wallpapers & Guides. Visit Windows 7 News & Tips for the Latest Microsoft Windows 7 News, Tips, Themes, Wallpapers & Guides.
Mar 142011
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The other day I wrote about a useful tool that can modify your Windows 7 installation DVD ISO file so that you can install any edition of Windows from it. This method, while simple and easy, still meant that you had to have seperate 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) installation DVDs though. Is it even possible to have the x86 and x64 editions of Windows 7 on the same disc? The great news here is yes it is and I’d like to thank fellow MVP Alexis Zhang for providing the instructions on how to do it.
This method, while a little complicated, isn’t too arduous and means that you will have the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional and Ultimate in a single ISO image file. This is great news for anyone who provides onsite tech support and better news for anyone who wants to be able to install the OS from a USB Flash Drive.
What You’ll need
- Installation ISOs for Windows 7 x86 and x64 (any edition)
- ISO creation / editing software such as UltraISO
- Windows 7 Automated Installation Kit
How to Create the Intergated ISO
- Using UltraISO, extract the \ SOURCES \ INSTALL.WIM files from both the x86 and x64 ISO files. If you do not have ISO files you can create them from your DVDs
- Rename these INSTALL.WIM files as x86.WIM and x64.WIM
- With the Windows 7 AIK installed on your computer run the Deployment Tools Command Prompt
- Type the following commands in the Command Prompt window adding any folder destinations as necessary…
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 5 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Ultimate x86″
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x64.WIM 4 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Ultimate x64″
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 4 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Professional x86″
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x64.WIM 3 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Professional x64″
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 3 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Home Premium x86″
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x64.WIM 2 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Home Premium x64″
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 2 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Home Basic x86″
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x64.WIM 1 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Home Basic x64″
- IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 1 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Starter x86″
- This will integrate all the contents from the various version WIM files into a single INSTALL.WIM file
- Using UltraISO, copy this new INSTALL.WIM into the SOURCES folder in your Windows 7 x86 ISO file
- From the SOURCES folder delete the file EI.CFG from the same ISO file
- Save the ISO file
Using this method you’ll now have a single disc on which will be every edition and version of Windows 7. You can also use software such as RT7Lite to integrate service pack 1 into the DVD (I’d do this first to both ISOs) and there’s a free chapter of my book Troubleshooting Windows 7 Inside Out which you can read here that details the convoluted slipstreaming process to do the same thing. You can use this process to install any other software you want into the ISO. Be careful not to end up with a file that’s too big to fit on a DVD though.
Related posts:
- How to create a definitive Windows 7 Install DVD or Pen Drive
- Upgrade Path Revealed for Windows 7
- New Limitations For Some Windows 7 Editions Revealed
- Windows 7 Upgrade Chart
- Convert Windows 7 ISO Image With Binpatcher
One of the problems with Windows 7 is that the ISO files are A) just available for DVD and B) only for a single edition of Windows (i.e. Home Premium, Professional etc.) So what if you could install Windows 7 from a pen-drive and what if you could then use that pen drive to install any version?
This is actually much simpler than it sounds although you will still need to repeat this process for the 32-bit and 64-bit editions. It does cut down the need for a variety of DVDs or USB Pen Drives to be carried around down to just two. Windows 7 32-bit and Windows 7-64 bit.
So how can we do this? Well there are two software tools available for this task and we’ll look at each one in turn.
Windows USB/DVD Download Tool
This tool was originally released by Microsoft and although they have since withdrawn it you can still find it hosted with third-party providers including here. This useful utility will copy your Windows 7 installation ISO file to a bootable USB Pen Drive so that you can run it from there. You’ll need a pen drive of a suitable size but even 8Gb drives can now be bought for less than £10.
Being able to install and repair Windows 7 from a USB Pen Drive (don’t forget you can also run the Startup Repair options from this) is a boon for everyone with a netbook or tablet PC that doesn’t come with an optical drive. Installing from a pen drive will also be much faster than from a DVD.
EI.CFG Removal Utility
Probably more useful than the USB utility is the ei.cfg removal utility which you can download here. This tool can remove the specific files in a Windows 7 ISO that contain it’s product edition lock-in. You need to run it on a Windows 7 Ultimate x86 or x64 ISO file, but after you do, any DVD burned from that file will ask you which product edition of Windows 7 you want to install.
The upshot of this is that every version of Windows 7, Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate will all be available from a single disc. You’ll still need 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs but it’s far better to only have to have two discs than 12! It also means that if you provide IT-suppport professionally or personally, you’ll be in a much better position to be able to repair Windows 7 installations when you need to.
So these are two really useful and free utilities for creating Windows 7 installers. Hope you have fun with them.
Related posts:
- How to Create a Windows 7 x86/x64 Install DVD
- Windows 7: Clean Install Vs Upgrade
- What’s The First System You Will Install Windows 7 On?
- How To Create Custom Windows 7 Themes
- How to Create and Configure a VHD in Windows 7
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