If you have a MSDN or TechNet-Plus subscription, you probably know that today the downloads for the latest version of the Windows client operating system were released.
Windows 7 comes in a number of flavours, targeted/marketed at different audiences. Starter (for NetBooks and the like), Home Basic (for emerging markets), Home Premium (the primary candidate for home users), Professional (for most common business uses) and Ultimate (all the features). There is also Enterprise edition which is the same as Ultimate, but with a different licensing mechanism.
Like Windows Vista, Microsoft use a common install media (DVD) which has all the bits required for any of the installation versions on the same disc. Which bits to install is determined by the edition selection/configuration.
With the Windows Vista downloads from MSDN / TechNet, you had a single disc and when you started the install process, you picked which edition you wanted/had the key for. You then entered the key. This was easy, except when you didn’t know what edition the key you had was designed for.
Windows 7 downloads are different this time round, because Microsoft have created a DVD for each edition, not giving you the choice of which edition to install at run-time.
That means if you want to test different configurations using Home Basic, Home Premium and say Ultimate, you need to download 3 different DVD images (at 2.4 or 3GB each)
BUT. There is a was to bring back the selector. HOWEVER, it requires a bit of time and a few tools. The tools I use in this description are ones I used, but there are alternatives available.
- Download an ISO for the desired platform (x86 or x64). I recommend the Ultimate but it makes no difference (except possibly the enterprise edition, due to it’s different licensing system)
- If you want, burn the ISO to disc. Remember that this disc will only be for that particular edition.
- If you didn’t burn a DVD, then you can use a virtual drive software (Daemon Tools, Virtual Drive, etc..) to mount the ISO as a drive.
- Otherwise, use a archive extraction tool like 7Zip or WinRAR to open the ISO like an archive file
- Copy the contents of the ISO/disc to a temp folder on your hard-drive. Be sure to copy all subfolders.
- Now navigate to <temp>\sources and delete ei.cfg. This config file tells the installer what edition the disc has been classified as. Removing it enables the edition picker.
Right. That’s it. Now you just need to make a bootable media so you can do some installs. I prefer to use a USB drive. There are a number of good tutorials on how to do this, such as http://www.intowindows.com/how-to-install-windows-7vista-from-usb-drive-detailed-100-working-guide/
Otherwise, if you want to make a DVD, you will need to create a bootable ISO image. Again, there are a number of packages out there. I use a Microsoft (internal) tool called CDImage
cdimage –lGRMCULFRER_EN_DVD –m –u2 -b<temp>\boot\etfsboot.com <temp> <dest>\Windows7.ISO
Give it a while and you’ll have a ISO file that can be burnt with any standard burning software (or even Windows itself if you’re using the RC)
Let me know if you have any problems and I’ll try and help where I can…