I am trying to understand and learn a bit more about windows, so was following the guide to slipstream my x64 RTM disk. I believe I have done this successfully, but cannot get the menu at startup to chose which OS I want. So I deleted the ei.cfg file as per one of the guides and now I get an error message after the install screen saying that install.wim does not exist (I can assure you it does). Strangely, when the ei.cfg file IS present VM Ware will allow me to chose which OS I want, however if I burn an image of this disk there is no option to chose which OS I want - it installs basic.
Looks like I have managed to solve my own problem in the end. 1) I found a copy of win 7 x64 SP1 RTM from this forum 2) I tried removed the ei.cfg by itself, but this did nothing other than break things. So, I did the following: 1) Extracted the contents of the DVD to a folder called DVD 2) Copied the extracted contents to a new folder called AIO 3) In the new AIO folder I went into the sources folder and deleted the following: 4) Following the instructions in the thread to create a x86 and x64 AIO file I started up the WAIK toolkit command prompt and entered the following commands (amend file paths as appropriate) 5) Then I burnt the image that had been created. This has given me exactly what I wanted. A dedicated "almost unmessed with" Win 7 x64 AIO with SP1. Hope this helps someone else.
As far as I was aware, and I could be wrong, that tool only removes the ei.cfg file. This is something that I tried already, however it stopped the installation from working. I will take another look at that tool to see if it does more than I think it does!
You were right, that utility worked. What I don't understand is when I removed that file manually I did manage to break things....hmmmm
hmm, maybe your install media is "funny"in some perspective, i always unpack my iso's with winrar and delete files manually ,i.e. ei.cfg, never had any problem after editing/updating/customizing my installs just my two cents,.. Fig!
Thanks for that info, I will give that a go. Spent too long messing around on this, but at least the light is at the end of the tunnel....well....till SP2
@ threepe, winrar may unpack iso files but believe me use a program like UltraISO for example you can open ISO file delete or edit what you want and burn to dvd or save modified ISO file., winrar cannot save iso files.
how come everytime i remove the ei.cfg file with the tool,it duzzent give me the choice of any version of windows 7 that i wish to install ,only win7 ultimate x64? do i have to re-burn to dvd after extracting ei.cfg file? BTW,i've been using an 8gb flash drive to install win7 and boot from it.
An old thread, but I'm dealing with the issue currently. The ei.cfg tool does not remove the file. That's why it doesn't break the installation. It merely changes some file properties, rendering the file unusable to setup.exe. For some reason, though, the emendation is not working on the downloaded SP1 .iso. I started with an x64 hp image, and apparently that's what I'm going to end up with, as no choice is given.
I agree with you.. even if I deleted the ei.cfg, while installing the os, there is no chance to choose which version of win7 to install. I didnt see this other old iso s. new media refresh iso s have this error.
well, since i do not use dvd's anymore, but rather a USB drive for installing windows, it doesn't matter, to me at least. but still, i can do whatever i want with my install source and still install error free( and yeah, i had a few )