Yesterday I wrote on our sister website Windows7News about a tool called ei.cfg Removal Utility.  This is an excellent tool for removing from a Windows ISO the file that locks it to a specific edition.  By running this tool you can easily create a disc that will allow the installation of any edition.  The downside with this is you still need separate installation DVDs for the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the OS.

So what do you do if you want just an installation DVD the contains every edition of Windows 7 in both x86 and x64 versions, is this even possible?  The good news here is yes it is, though it’s more complicated than just running a program.  I’d like to thank fellow MVP Alexis Zhang for providing the instructions on how to do it.

 What You’ll need

1. Installation ISOs for Windows 7 x86 and x64 (any edition)
2. ISO creation / editing software such as UltraISO
3. Windows 7 Automated Installation Kit

How to Create the Intergated ISO

1. 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
2. Rename these INSTALL.WIM files as x86.WIM and x64.WIM
3. With the Windows 7 AIK installed on your computer run the Deployment Tools Command Prompt
4. Type the following commands in the Command Prompt window adding any folder destinations as necessary…
   1. IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 5 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Ultimate x86″
   2. IMAGEX /EXPORT x64.WIM 4 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Ultimate x64″
   3. IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 4 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Professional x86″
   4. IMAGEX /EXPORT x64.WIM 3 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Professional x64″
   5. IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 3 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Home Premium x86″
   6. IMAGEX /EXPORT x64.WIM 2 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Home Premium x64″
   7. IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 2 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Home Basic x86″
   8. IMAGEX /EXPORT x64.WIM 1 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Home Basic x64″
   9. IMAGEX /EXPORT x86.WIM 1 INSTALL.WIM “Windows 7 Starter x86″
5. This will integrate all the contents from the various version WIM files into a single INSTALL.WIM file
6. Using UltraISO, copy this new INSTALL.WIM into the SOURCES folder in your Windows 7 x86 ISO file
7. From the SOURCES folder delete the file EI.CFG from the same ISO file
8. Save the ISO file

It can take a bit of time but using this method you can create a single installer for every edition and version of Windows 7.  This is especially for people who want to be able to run the installer from a USB Pen Drive (which I also wrote about about in my article yesterday).

The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility has been developed by Microsoft as a tool to clean a computer system after a failed installation of a software program using the Windows installer. The computer program will display a list of all applications that have been installed using Windows Installer giving the user the option to remove their installers properly from the computer system.

It is possible to select one or multiple programs from the list for removal. The cleanup program will then remove the installation files from the computer system so that it can be removed or installed properly. Microsoft advises to not use the program to cleanup Office 2007 installers this way. The reason for this is that it can happen that installers can become corrupted so that it becomes impossible to remove the program from the operating system.

The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility is compatible (via 4 Sysops) with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Windows operating system.

Those users usually install a bunch of crapware on their system because of the way they install software. This includes toolbars, new homepages, desktop shortcuts to tempting offers and basically everything that is not needed to run an application. Yes, that includes the Do you mind if we track your use of our program and transfer the data to our main server to analyse it options.

To make a valid point somewhere in this article. A lot of problems with computers could vanish over night if users would opt for custom installations more often. They would discover a wealth of options and features that they could uncheck before installation to reduce system load, increase system resources and have a overall better computer experience.

So what is it. Are you a next next next guy ?