One of the problems with Windows 7 is that the ISO files are A) just available for DVD and B) only for a single edition of Windows (i.e. Home Premium, Professional etc.) So what if you could install Windows 7 from a pen-drive and what if you could then use that pen drive to install any version?

This is actually much simpler than it sounds although you will still need to repeat this process for the 32-bit and 64-bit editions. It does cut down the need for a variety of DVDs or USB Pen Drives to be carried around down to just two. Windows 7 32-bit and Windows 7-64 bit.

So how can we do this? Well there are two software tools available for this task and we’ll look at each one in turn.

Windows USB/DVD Download Tool

This tool was originally released by Microsoft and although they have since withdrawn it you can still find it hosted with third-party providers including here. This useful utility will copy your Windows 7 installation ISO file to a bootable USB Pen Drive so that you can run it from there. You’ll need a pen drive of a suitable size but even 8Gb drives can now be bought for less than £10.

Being able to install and repair Windows 7 from a USB Pen Drive (don’t forget you can also run the Startup Repair options from this) is a boon for everyone with a netbook or tablet PC that doesn’t come with an optical drive. Installing from a pen drive will also be much faster than from a DVD.

EI.CFG Removal Utility

Probably more useful than the USB utility is the ei.cfg removal utility which you can download here. This tool can remove the specific files in a Windows 7 ISO that contain it’s product edition lock-in. You need to run it on a Windows 7 Ultimate x86 or x64 ISO file, but after you do, any DVD burned from that file will ask you which product edition of Windows 7 you want to install.

The upshot of this is that every version of Windows 7, Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate will all be available from a single disc. You’ll still need 32-bit and 64-bit ISOs but it’s far better to only have to have two discs than 12! It also means that if you provide IT-suppport professionally or personally, you’ll be in a much better position to be able to repair Windows 7 installations when you need to.

So these are two really useful and free utilities for creating Windows 7 installers. Hope you have fun with them.