Windows 7 Beta Installation – Access All Editions from One Installation Disc
Filed Under (Tips & Tricks) by admin on 10-09-2009
We’ve already seen how the activation keys for Windows 7 will not work across the different editions of the client OS. So to make the most of the money you shell out on the license keys for the Windows 7 Beta version, you should install and activate the version which you eventually plan to work on.
What happens if you wanted to work with the Windows 7 Ultimate edition but have installed the Windows 7 professional edition? Did you know that the Windows 7 installable package of any edition can be tweaked to offer a standard menu listing all Windows 7 versions?
On deleting one configuration file ei.cfg from the installation DVD of any Windows 7 edition – Home, Professional or Ultimate, the windows installer utility will by default launch a Standard menu from which you can install any Windows 7 version of your choice.
You could have installed Windows 7 either from a DVD created from the contents of a downloaded .iso file, or directly from a physical DVD. Here’s how you can edit the contents from both the sources.
If you still have the .iso file, you can directly open the file and either rename or delete the “\sources\ei.cfg” file using any utility that allows you to manage .iso contents. Burn the modified copy of the .iso to a new DVD.
If you have a pre-packaged physical Windows 7 installation DVD, rip the DVD to create an .iso file, and then carry out the previous step.
To invoke the Windows 7 installer, configure your PC to directly boot from the DVD or launch an existing Windows setup.exe which will trigger the installer for the new version. Select the required edition of Windows 7 from the menu and go ahead with the installation.
You could use a 30-day trial copy of the gBurner utility to edit as well as burn the contents of the Windows 7 installation .iso file to a DVD. The utility can be downloaded from CNET.
What happens if you wanted to work with the Windows 7 Ultimate edition but have installed the Windows 7 professional edition? Did you know that the Windows 7 installable package of any edition can be tweaked to offer a standard menu listing all Windows 7 versions?
On deleting one configuration file ei.cfg from the installation DVD of any Windows 7 edition – Home, Professional or Ultimate, the windows installer utility will by default launch a Standard menu from which you can install any Windows 7 version of your choice.
You could have installed Windows 7 either from a DVD created from the contents of a downloaded .iso file, or directly from a physical DVD. Here’s how you can edit the contents from both the sources.
If you still have the .iso file, you can directly open the file and either rename or delete the “\sources\ei.cfg” file using any utility that allows you to manage .iso contents. Burn the modified copy of the .iso to a new DVD.
If you have a pre-packaged physical Windows 7 installation DVD, rip the DVD to create an .iso file, and then carry out the previous step.
To invoke the Windows 7 installer, configure your PC to directly boot from the DVD or launch an existing Windows setup.exe which will trigger the installer for the new version. Select the required edition of Windows 7 from the menu and go ahead with the installation.
You could use a 30-day trial copy of the gBurner utility to edit as well as burn the contents of the Windows 7 installation .iso file to a DVD. The utility can be downloaded from CNET.
It was a great help regarding installation all versions from single cd. Great!!!