How to make a bootable Windows 7 ISO file from Setup1.box and Setup2.box files

Oct

2009

How to make a bootable Windows 7 ISO file from Setup1.box and Setup2.box files

If you buy Windows 7 from Microsoft online store you will be able to download the operating system as ISO file. In this case , read this guide in order to make a bootable DVD or USB drive and install Windows 7 on your computer in a couple of easy steps. However, for those customers who bought it from other online stores such as Digital River, the matter can be quite different. As a matter of fact, in these cases there won’t be any ISO file, but electronic digital distribution files (.EXE and .BOX). Let’s see how to proceed in order to install Windows 7 on your machine by using such files.

Electronic digital distribution files are nothing else than three files. Here is an example:

Windows 7-HP-Retail-en-us-x64.exe
Setup1.box
Setup2.box

If you want to create a single ISO file out of these three files (by the way, here is the article containing the direct links to download them aka Windows 7) , here is the easy procedure to make a bootable ISO image:

As a first step, group these files in the same location or folder.
Now, right-click each file, click Properties, and click the Unblock button to make them readable.
Click the .EXE file with Administrator rights. You will see that it will start unpacking its content creating at the same time a new folder called expandedSetup.
Download Oscdimg CD/DVD Premastering Utility from this link oscdimg.exe
Now, move Oscdimg.exe to the %SystemDrive%\Windows\System32 folder.
Access the Command Prompt with administrator rights and run this command: oscdimg.exe –bC:\expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com –u2 –h -m -lWIN_EN_DVD C:\expandedSetup\ C:\Win7.iso
Keep in mind that the above command assumes that the expandedSetup folder is located in C:\ if it not, so change the location or it won’t work!
Keep also in mind that if the path contains any space, you will have to use quotation mark (“) to enclose the right path.
At this point a bottable Windows 7 ISO file (Win7.iso) will be created in C:\ . Burn it and you are done!

Important Note: Stop worring how to make a bootable file out of Setup1.box and Setup2.box! Download the official Windows 7 ISO file now!

Tags: hack, Windows 7

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24 Comments to “How to make a bootable Windows 7 ISO file from Setup1.box and Setup2.box files”

» Windows 7 - Digital River - Unloading the Box Error Says:
October 23rd, 2009
[...] was hoping to create a bootable iso disk using these seemingly excellent instructions but for some reason I get an error when ‘Unloading the Box’, which I guess is the [...]
Steve Says:
October 23rd, 2009

I have xp 32 bit and when I type that command into the prompt, nothing happens. please help! I have the oscdimg.exe file in my system32 and everything.
Web Talk Says:
October 23rd, 2009

Try this: oscdimg -bC:\expandedSetup\boot\bootsect.exe -h -u2 -m -lWIN_EN_DVD C:\expandedSetup\ C:\win7.iso Also, make sure the path is correct, like I said in the instructions above. Also, you can try this: oscdimg -bC:\expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com -h -u2 -m -lWIN_EN_DVD C:\expandedSetup\ C:\win7.iso
or
oscdimg.exe –bC:\expandedSetup\boot\bootsect.exe –u2 –h C:\expandedSetup C:\Win7.iso
Steve Says:
October 23rd, 2009

@webtalk- Nothing happens, it seems that it could be a problem with my command prompt. I can not run it as administrator and I don’t know the password for it.
Tim Says:
October 24th, 2009

I recently performed this custom install and also had problems with the command prompt method. One the other hand I am typing this with Win 7 Pro 64 installed. So here is the method I used, which is functionally the same thing as above, however, I used MagicISO.
Perform the same steps as in this article, except do not go to command prompt. Open/Download MagicISO (must have full version, get it here http://www.mediafire.com/?1y2wxmxgypm).
Then place the contents of the C:\expandedSetup folder into the white box on the middle right, which are the files to be added into the .iso file.
At this time the button bar will say “Non-Bootable.” In order to make this a bootable disk click “Load boot image…” (This is all the way on the left, two buttons below the “File” menu.
This will open a window. Select the third option “From Bootable Image File” For the path type in (or browse for) C:\expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com
Then the the Status will change to “Bootable” and you can save the session as a .ISO.
Then burn the .iso to a dvd by clicking the “Burn CD/DVD with ISO…” button (just below the “About” menu).
Then whenever you’re ready (and your computer is thoroughly backed-up) boot from the disk, and you’re on your way to Windows 7 64 bit in no time!
The reason I know this works is because yesterday I was viewing this site in Vista 32 and now I’m typing this from Windows 7 64.
I was actually very surprised that it worked and was certain that something would be missing or go wrong. However everything is in order and all my drivers work.
Note: Once you have windows installed. Go to your device manager and update all of your drivers. Windows did a fantastic job of finding these and installing them from the web. I didn’t need to download any drivers from device vendors.
Web Talk Says:
October 24th, 2009

Thanks Tim for such a wonderful insight. I am reading some forum right now and for some reason the command/commands I posted above do not work for everybody. I think that this is due to some mistyping or because users don’t perform operations with administrator rights.
Thanks again…for helping me and us all
Gary Brown Says:
October 24th, 2009

I am running windows vista 32bit and the original command did not work. I assume this is because the file structure is not the same as above. However I ran the second one you posted and it worked fine. Also there should be no reason for mistyping simply copy and paste it into command prompt.
I think it may be useful to tell people that they need to start in the correct directory so start by typing ‘cd C:\windows\system32′ into command prompt.
Buster Gonad Says:
October 24th, 2009

does this come with a license key and how do you activate it?
William Says:
October 24th, 2009

I am also interested to know if the download comes with a valid product key number?
Rajeev Says:
October 24th, 2009

Webtalk ,
The first command of your post number -3 worked for me.
Thanks a lot
Win7 f Says:
October 25th, 2009
[...] http://www.webtlk.com/2009/10/23/how…up2-box-files/ __________________ Rechner i7 …habe fertig Vista DVD nachbestellen! Mein Blog [...]
David Turner Says:
October 25th, 2009

When I was doing this command I got the message “cannot use -ut without -uv. So I put -uv in front of -uv. I ran the command again and got the message. “cannot use -uv without -u1 or -u2″ So I put those in there as well before the -uv. It then created the .iso file. Do you think this worked or did I do something wrong.
thanks for posting the article.
I am running xp 32 bit version windows. I put the 3 files in folder and put it on c root. I put the other file oscd.img file in the system 32 folder.
Thanks,
David.