Windows 7 All-in-One ISO Creation Guide

Guide to creating an up to date All-in-One ISO using your Windows 7 x86 and x64 Discs

Requirements before we begin:

  1. Slips7ream by RealityRipple Software
  2. Windows 7 x86 and Windows 7 x64 ISOs or DVDs or what have you...
  3. Windows 7 Enterprise editions optional (not included in steps, but easily inferred. If you can't figure it out, maybe you should learn more about basic computer usage before installing Windows 7 Enterprise).
  4. Plenty of hard drive space. You're going to have images of around 9 operating systems (compressed and partial, but still over a GB each at least) in one folder, and then all of them in a single file at the end. This can easily take 30 GB.

Before we start, note that this guide does not include a means of attaining keys for any versions of these operating systems, and is designed entirely to allow computer geeks like myself to provide fresh, untainted installs of any copy of an up-to-date version of Windows 7 for whatever edition/processor the person we're helping has, or a trial version while they get a key themselves (or whatever you do).

This used to be a complicated procedure, but as I needed a method to get this done quickly every month myself, I created a program to handle the whole thing, Slips7ream. The process is now very simple.

  1. Slips7ream makes building an All-in-One ISO extremely simple. For the first build, it's best to use the Windows 7 x86 ISO file directly, so Slips7ream can manipulate files in the ISO itself, allowing for modifications like Unlocking All Editions and Language Pack selection during Install. If you prefer to work with WIM files directly, you can select your source 32-bit WIM. Slips7ream will extract the WIM and load its package list.
  2. Check the Merge WIM checkbox and select your 64-bit WIM or Windows 7 x64 ISO image. Slips7ream will load the packages to be merged into its list as well. If you would like to remove packages from the Image, you can uncheck the ones you don't want. Double-clicking a package will give you a list of its properties, including lists of Updates, Drivers, and Windows Features. You can also change the package name, but this will not show up in the Windows 7 Installation process.
  3. If you need to add Service Pack 1 to your Windows 7 installer, check the Service Pack checkbox. If you have both 32 and 64-bit packages, you will be given fields to add both. If you only need one, you don't need to add both, just add the one you do need to the x86 Service Pack field.
  4. Next, you can add Windows Updates to your packages. Slips7ream will automatically take care of both 32 and 64 bit Windows Updates, adding them to the correct packages.
    Besides standard Updates, you can also add special package types:
    • Multilingual User Interface
      You can add Language Packs in the form of MLC files, Language Pack Installer EXEs, or raw lp.cab files. Language Packs for various languages can be downloaded from Microsoft:
           
      Please note that Slips7ream uses the final image to populate the Lang.ini lists for language selection during Windows Setup, so languages that are only in other images will not show up there.
      It's best to have the same languages in all the images in your WIM to avoid confusion and potential installation chaos.
    • Internet Explorer 10
      Internet Explorer 10 is no longer available from the Microsoft website because it is insecure and outdated. Please use Internet Explorer 11.
    • Internet Explorer 11
      If you'd like to upgrade to Internet Explorer 11, you can simply throw their installers in thanks to the changes in Slips7ream 3. You don't even need to worry about the order anymore, as the program recognizes prerequisites.
      The following instructions detail adding IE11 to your Updates:
      1. Download and include the prerequisites for your copies of Windows 7 (if making an All-in-One, get both x86 and x64):
        1. KB2729094
        2. KB2731771
        3. KB2533623
        4. KB2670838
        5. KB2786081
        6. KB2639308
        7. KB2834140
        8. KB2888049
        9. KB2882822
      2. Download Internet Explorer 11 for your copies of Windows 7 (again, both x86 and x64 for an All-in-One). This must be the Full Installer (for IT Professionals and Developers). When you add the installer, you'll notice that it contains three updates, and that two will show up blue in the list. The two blue updates are the Spelling and Hyphenation packages for Internet Explorer. They're whitelisted to allow installation on either 32 or 64 bit packages the same, because there's no separate package for x64, so if you're making an All-in-One package, don't worry about the "Update already added" error messages.
      3. (Optional) Language Packs for Internet Explorer 11 should be added last, if required.
    • Drivers
      Slips7ream 3 now supports driver integration for automatic installation of hardware. Just include the INF file containing the installation information and Slips7ream will take care of the rest. You may need to extract the drivers from an installer beforehand - see the driver package's readme file for details.
  5. Once you've added all your updates, you're ready to proceed. If you want to save the All-in-One image to an ISO, make sure Save to ISO is checked and choose an ISO to insert the image into. It's best to make a copy of your Windows 7 x86 ISO and choose that copy to save to, for compatibility. You can also choose an ISO label to name the image.
  6. When making an All-in-One ISO, you'll also be able to select the Unlock All Editions checkbox, which automatically deletes ei.cfg and the various catalog files that prevent installation of any version. You can also choose a destination File System. For All-in-One packages, I suggest using UDF to accommodate large files, but if you want to split the WIM File or ISO, you can choose a legacy File System like ISO 9960.
  7. Now that you have your source x86 and x64 ISOs selected, your image packages checked, your Service Packs added, your Windows Updates organized and ready, and your ISO ready to be rebuilt, you can press the Begin button. Slips7ream will start the task of extracting, merging, building, and saving your new image. When it's complete, your WIM or ISO will be ready for use! If you're making Flash drive installer, simply copy the new INSTALL.WIM to a Bootable flash drive. If you're making a disc, burn the ISO to a dual layer DVD (if it fits).

After your All-in-One image has been created, you can use Slips7ream to update it quickly. Just select your Image, toss in the new updates, configure the ISO's settings if you want to make any changes, and hit Begin again.

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