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I'm looking for advice on slipstreaming. I've never tried it but it interests me because it's about time to reinstall Windows. I have a pre-SP1 disc so naturally that means I'll have to download all the hotfixes again, plus SP1....There has to be an easier way..

The "easier way" I read about uses an app called RT Seven Lite. http://www.rt7lite.com/rt-se7en-lite.html

Assuming all goes well, what will I have when the process is finished? Will I have a bootable .ISO image of Windows 7 Pro SP1?

Just how complicated is this process? I'm starting with a legit copy of Windows 7 Pro 64, a retail disc.

Thanks for any advice, thoughts you care to share.

There is an easier way. Download the official Windows 7 SP1 ISO.

You can't slipstream Win7. Officially: You have to do a reverse integration.

As CrazyBus points out, the easier path is to just use an official ISO.

crazybus wrote:

There is an easier way. Download the official Windows 7 SP1 ISO.

Ha! wow yeah that should be slightly easier thanks. So these Digital River .ISOs have everything that's on the retail Win 7 SP1 DVD? Is that possible? I guess because it only runs for 30 days w/out activation?

So I just burn a data DVD and pop it into an optical drive, and then run setup? Or do I have to create an image from the .ISO?
(sorry, never quite understood what turns a bunch of data into a "bootable" bunch of data).

Thanks again for the link and your reply CB - thank you too RC.

canoli wrote:

So I just burn a data DVD and pop it into an optical drive, and then run setup? Or do I have to create an image from the .ISO?
(sorry, never quite understood what turns a bunch of data into a "bootable" bunch of data).

Grab ImgBurn and burn the ISO as an image to a blank DVD. Insert, lather, rinse, & repeat.

Slipstreaming Win7 SP1 is an utter nightmare - the new method is awful vs XP method.
You're best off locating a version done elsewhere officially - as long as your key is valid that's the important thing.

Also be sure to get one WITHOUT EI.CFG (or learn to remove EI.CFG) - google what EI.CFG does, awful thing.

Captain Ned wrote:

Grab ImgBurn and burn the ISO as an image to a blank DVD. Insert, lather, rinse, & repeat.

Or, if you want a truly free CD/DVD burning suite that can write ISO files to disk, CDBurnerXP is pretty decent - it's as good as Nero was before Nero became bloated with feature-creep.

I had no issues at all slip-streaming Windows 7 SP-1, this little program will do that and only that, if thats all you want, but you can also customize your installation as well.

I tweaked mine and have it set as a complete silent installation.

Getting started with RT Se7en Lite

RT Se7en Lite is developed by Rockers Team to customize windows 7 operating system and to make it lite. You can add wallpapers, Icons, themes, integrate updates, drivers, language packs, applications, remove components, enable or disable features, unattended installation settings, bootable ISO and USB creator , etc. It will be very easy to operate and changing the style of your windows 7 operating system.


http://www.rt7lite.com/

You have to use, RT Se7en Lite - Beta (Build 2.6.0) for slipstreaming, its a beta, but as I said I have done it already and it works.

Keep in mind though, for those using daz or hazars activator, its much more difficult to work with a slip-streamed SP-1 disc, clearly they patched some holes:)

Interesting - thanks for the replies -

Sometimes it seems reinstalling Windows is a snap, easy - other times it looks like it'll involve a long day of google-ing.

I've got ImgBurn - great program, the UI is a little clunky imo but once you're familiar with it it's great.

I read about the ei.cfg file but couldn't find much help on the simple, basic questions like, What exactly is it? Do you need to worry about it with the Digital River .ISOs? It sounds like it's a file that limits what version you can install. That's fine by me, I only want to reinstall Win 7 Pro 64-bit, what I have now. And as I said I have a Win7 DVD purchased from newegg - a retail copy.

So maybe I'm better off just using my original DVD from MS. So it takes forever to download and install the hotfixes....SP1... At least I know it works.

If I was sure the Digital River .ISO has everything and there weren't any "ei.cfg" snags or any other hassles...I'd use it. But it seems like I need to learn more than I have time to learn - about the process...using DR .iso files, ei.cfg, etc.

Thanks again for your replies you guys - I appreciate it.

Use your disc, read up and use the program I linked and go get the service pack from the ms web site, make sure you d/l the right one, 32 or 64 bit.

Just follow the step by step instructions and you will have your own SP-1 disc.