Slipstreaming Windows 7

Hi

I'm currently slipstreaming SP1 and hopefully all security updates (to date), possibly some other minor modifications (FF install, etc.) to a Windows 7 x86.

So far, it seems to be a very slow process, even though my computer is fast at everything else. I'm currently using RT 7 Lite beta 2.60. Does anyone know a faster program/method of doing this?

The reason I'm doing this is I install Windows 7 a lot on machines when I fix them... I've done a ton of installs already. It's just become more and more of a patience thing for me to have to install (now) HUNDREDS of updates AND SP1 every single time. And then there's the machines that I have to install it multiple times, because of whatever reason. A slipstreamed copy will obviously be much faster and more efficient.

If anyone has tips, I'd really appreciate it. The best info I've found so far is from this link:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ows-7-sp1-into-installation-dvd-iso-file.html

 

Just integrating the service pack has taken several hours so far. This thing is slower than frozen molasses!

 

lol, have you tried vlite yet? I used to like nLite by the same author. Supposed to work with W7.

 

Oh, I thought vlite was only for Vista. I loved nlite. I'll look it up, then!

Of course, for some reason, I had to force restart my machine... so all my LONG progress was lost on this (&@#($& anyway.

EDIT: Ugh, it's (RT) at 20% of the "preparing" phase (of slipping SP1 in), which is phase 1 of 3. And there's no way to cancel/end it without having to unmount the WIM, which takes 20 minutes. I'm gonna cross my fingers and hope it doesn't take as long... and if it does, it's close to midnight here... I'll let the sucker run overnight.

 

Update: Letting the sucker run all night worked. Heh.

I'm currently downloading the WAIK for vLite (RT doesn't need it, which is nice and slightly disconcerting). I thought I'd already installed the WAIK, but it wants the Vista SP1 WAIK, not the W7 WAIK.

Anyway, what prompted me to do this NOW instead of procrastinating more, is that I have a machine that (with a brand new hard drive, fresh install of Windows 7) would NOT install SP1. It would get halfway, and then stall indefinitely. I've successfully installed W7 with SP1 integrated, onto the machine now (with a few security updates integrated as well).

 

It APPEARS vLite is working (with the Vista SP1 WAIK installed) so far. It took awhile to load the ISO image, and I'm currently using WSUS to download all updates/patches in order to integrate them. I'm also doing the normal presets like disabling autoplay, etc. I'll update with whether this thing is successful or not.

 

Well, I think I'm sticking to RT. VLite wasn't able to integrate the updates/patches, and then a few minutes after that (while doing the "remove components" step), it crashed.

They need to make a 7lite.

 

Sorry to have given you a bum steer man, I couldn't get it running either but when I saw your WAIK post, I had hope. I even have a WAIK DVD from when W7 was RTM'd.:-o

Oh, removing components was always iffy for me with nlite so I just used it to create an SP disk. I think this will be my weekend project. I don't really need all the niggling post SP updates as I only have two machines.

 

I was considering slipstreaming SP1 into Win7 with vlite and had no luck. For me it was just simpler to install and update on two machines then work through the learning curve. I got the impression that vlite had never gotten to the foolproof stage that nlite did.

So you had success using the method in your first post from the seven forums?

 

Yes, RT 7 Lite beta 2.60 works, though it IS very slow. I'm guessing it took 6+ hours from start to finish, JUST integrating the service pack and some Windows security updates. Sometime I might mess with it more and see what else I can do to lessen the configuration time after installation.

It was worth it to me, as I install Windows on a regular basis on a bunch of machines that come in.