EI.cfg and OEM SLP

[Philip Yip]

The Windows ISO Download Tool has an EI.cfg removal utility... For the Dell Windows 7 ISOS this breaks OEM SLP.

Could the EI.cfg removal be updated to change the EI.cfg in the sources folder as well as the slp.cmd file found in D:\sources\$$\$OEM\setup\scripts 

The EI.cfg file should have the options:

Starter:
starter
Home Basic:
homebasic
Home Premium:
homepremium
Professional:
professional
Ultimate:
ultimate

The slp.cmd contains the 25 digit OEM SLP key:

Starter:
36T88-RT7C6-R38TQ-RV8M9-WWTCY
Home Basic:
36Q3Y-BBT84-MGJ3H-FT7VD-FG72J
Home Premium:
6RBBT-F8VPQ-QCPVQ-KHRB8-RMV82
Professional:
32KD2-K9CTF-M3DJT-4J3WC-733WD
Ultimate:
342DG-6YJR8-X92GV-V7DCV-P4K27

I spent some time working on this:

https://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/converting-a-dell-windows-7-professional-reinstallation-usb-to-another-edition/

It works when the user manually changes these files on USB via NotePad++.

 

Also when loading the Dell ISO via the ISO Tools, the SHA1 is not recognised even though the tool has this on the Download section when the ISO download is selected.

Edited March 24, 2019 by Philip Yip

[SnowBall]

I think you could make an utility to simply replace the ei.cfg and slp.cmd from the ISO. It only require you to patch out a few bytes... I've done one for official Windows 7 ISO but it would need the user to rebuild the ISO using CDIMAGE and I am still working on it.

For slp.cmd, it is very easy, replace the key. ei.cfg will be in different size and it would require a bit of workaround.

Quote

Also when loading the Dell ISO via the ISO Tools, the SHA1 is not recognised even though the tool has this on the Download section when the ISO download is selected.

Well, the checksums were from MSDN...

Edited March 24, 2019 by SnowBall

[Jan Krohn]

That looks like a challenging project. I'll put it on my research list for later this year, but can't promise anything.

10 hours ago, Philip Yip said:

Also when loading the Dell ISO via the ISO Tools, the SHA1 is not recognised even though the tool has this on the Download section when the ISO download is selected.

 

9 hours ago, SnowBall said:

Well, the checksums were from MSDN...

The real problem is SHA-1 vs. SHA-256.

Calculating the SHA-1 is already so sluggish for large files (thanks MS for this inefficiency in the .NET framework). Calculating both SHA-1 and SHA-256 would take really too long.

[SnowBall]

I made a patch, it can recognize the Dell image edition and give you the list of editions you can change it to. Very buggy and it corrupts the ISO easily so I can't share it now. Replacing the key is very easy but ei.cfg is the problem.

8 hours ago, Jan Krohn said:

Calculating the SHA-1 is already so sluggish for large files (thanks MS for this inefficiency in the .NET framework). Calculating both SHA-1 and SHA-256 would take really too long.

You could put a message saying that the tool does not support Dell ISO files...

Edited March 25, 2019 by SnowBall

[Philip Yip]

Okay no worries, thanks for trying. It is easy enough to modify the USB to maintain the OEM SLP.

I have been working on guides involving the Dell ISOs and have created in depth written guides and video instructions for Downloading the ISO and making a Bootable USB:

• Download Dell Windows 7 Pro Multi-Lingual ISO (Media Refresh January 2016) from Dell and Make a Bootable USB

Put together a list of the ISO checksums and details (still working on it),

• Dell OS Recovery Tool ISO Checksums

Made a slipstream script with DISM to bring them up to Media Refresh March 2019. The 32 Bit guide needs a bit of work still as I've mainly been focusing on the 64 Bit guide:

• [64 Bit] Slipstream Updates (Media Refresh March 2019) and Drivers to the Dell Windows 7 Pro Bootable USB
• [32 Bit] Slipstreaming Updates (Media Refresh March 2019) and Drivers to the Dell Windows 7 Pro Bootable USB

Converting the Edition from Dell Windows 7 Pro to Dell Windows 7 Home Premium. This conversion maintains Dell OEM SLP:

• Convert Dell Windows 7 Pro Bootable USB to another Edition e.g. Dell Windows 7 Home Premium

Removing all Dell OEM customisation to make a Microsoft Multi-Lingual, Multi-Edition Bootable USB for all other Retail and OEM Licenses. Instructs are also provided to provide OEM SLP for the other OEMs:

• Convert Dell Windows 7 Pro Multi-Lingual Dell Bootable USB to a Microsoft Multi-Lingual, Multi-Edition Retail or non-Dell USB (Covering all Retail and non-Dell OEM Licenses)

Finally converting the Slipstreamed Bootable USB back into an ISO for use with VMware:

• Convert Updated Bootable USB to a ISO

These set of guides should cover almost all languages and all editions of Windows 7 for both OEM and Retail licenses.

[SnowBall]

The Dell images are really for computer repair, especially on Dell computers. I think it is good enough make a bootable USB, edit ei.cfg and slp.cmd for re-installation which only occur once or twice (unless you are a virus tester that does all the testings on a physical computer) and it is not terribly hard to do that if you follow the steps right.

The problem of using the Dell images as retail ones are:

1. It has other things pre-installed into the WIM images.

2. It is much bigger because of being multi-lingual and doesn't support most Asian languages.

3. You made a mistake in the "Converting the Dell Windows 7 Professional Reinstallation USB to a Multi-Edition, Multi-Lingual Windows 7 Bootable USB for All Retail and OEM Licenses" post. Reread the sentense below, you will find an extra word that makes the meaning opposite.

Delete the $OEM$ folder. This will remove no Dell logos or Dell backgrounds.

Regards,

SnowBall

[Philip Yip]

Thanks, I've fixed that error. There is a Dell Windows 7 Reinstallation ISO for China but I don't know if it supports the other Asian languages. I haven't done much testing with it.