Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft
How to make a DVD of that student-only Windows 7 you bought for $29.99
by Sebastian Anthony Oct 22nd 2009 at 5:00PM
To start with, make sure your downloaded Windows 7 files (the 'expandedSetup' directory) is unzipped into C:\ -- it'll make things easier later.
1. Download this tool -- alternatively you can obtain the official pack from Microsoft, but that's a whole darn gigabyte.
2. Unzip and move oscdimg.exe to your System32 directory (likely to be C:\Windows\System32)
3. Open an elevated command prompt. In Vista you do this by typing 'cmd' into your 'Start Menu' and hitting ctrl+shift+enter. In XP, just type 'cmd' into the Run dialogue (Windows Key+R or from your Start Menu).
4. Type (or copy and paste) the following into your command prompt (this will vary a little, depending on where you've put your expandedSetup folder):
oscdimg.exe -u2 -b"C:\expandedSetup\boot\etfsboot.com" -h "C:\expandedSetup" C:\WIN7.ISO
5. Ta'da! You've got a burnable ISO!
All you need to finish the job is a good burning application like ImgBurn, CDBurnerXP, or InfraRecorder. For this particular task I'd recommend ImgBurn - then just right click the ISO file and start the burn from your context menu. Or launch ImgBurn and choose "write image file to disc" -- your choice!
No DVD burner? If you have a 4GB USB flash drive handy, check out this app!
Big thanks to Brian Wasylkoski, who was kind enough to let me harass him while he went through this process at the University of Manitoba. --Lee.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Richard Frisch said 6:01PM on 10-22-2009
Link to oscdimg.exe zip files appears to be borked.
Reply
pinoytutorial said 2:54AM on 10-25-2009
Thanks for this tutorial, college studs will surely take advantage of this offer from Microsoft. But for ordinary users, some may find upgrade from vista to windows 7 quite impractical.
For new PC buyers a windows 7 is a great OS in terms of speed, performance and security compare with vista and XP. Here are my findings about the advantages of Windows 7.
http://pinoytutorial.com/techtorial/windows-7-official-suite-why-should-you-get-it/
Dach said 6:05PM on 10-22-2009
Or, you can torrent the ISO, ignore the hack tools that come with it, but use the product key that you got in the email to register it
Reply
Mysterius said 10:51PM on 10-22-2009
The key they email you also works for Anytime Upgrade within Windows 7, in case anyone like me is already running Windows 7 Home Premium. (I was running it unactivated while waiting for the manufacturer's copy to come through the mail; guess I'll install it on another machine now.)
Sebastian Anthony said 10:53PM on 10-22-2009
Thanks for the tip :)
Korangulation said 10:42AM on 10-24-2009
Mysterius, thanks for the tip. I had a copy of Home Premium from the pre-order offer, which I thought I can just use the disc to install the Pro by plugging in the CD key. Woe and behold, it actually told me the cd key doesn't match the disc's SKU! So I installed without a cd key and started the Win 7 Pro download and was googling how to make it a DVD when I came across your comment. Just went to anytime upgrade and voila!
pat_boy2008 said 6:09PM on 10-22-2009
Wow your timing couldn't have been more prefect. I just finished downloading it and was like "WTF is this!?! This isn't an ISO file! How in world will I burn it?"
But the link to the tool is broke and I really don't feel like waiting for 1GB to download.
Reply
pat_boy2008 said 6:15PM on 10-22-2009
UPDATE: Here is good link to the tool: oscdimg.zip
Sebastian Anthony said 6:18PM on 10-22-2009
Thanks for the alternative link!
I couldn't find a link to the tool itself on an official website.
(Edited your link so that it's not shortened -- and I checked it too -- seems safe.)
pat_boy2008 said 6:37PM on 10-22-2009
No problem. Just found a huge thread about an unpacking problem and found the link.
http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7install/thread/aedb1245-f8f9-42ec-9a0c-1aa932363bbb
And it works too!
http://i34.tinypic.com/fu813d.jpg
RHD said 6:14PM on 10-22-2009
Did this last night around 3am, works great.
There is an issue others have had unpacking the 64 bit versions of the operating system on a 32 bit version of windows, whereby the unpacker gives an error at the very end of unpacking. You can still use this trick to burn a bootable DVD if you receive that error.
I haven't had this happen to me personally, but those who have had it happen report that this works regardless.
Reply
brandon said 9:00PM on 10-24-2009
i have the 64 bit version but i was only able to download an exe. after running the exe it says unpacking the box, and then there are two files in the same directory as the exe that are called setup1.box and setup2.box.
i have no unpacked files for an expandedSetup directory. i'm just really happy when i ordered i added the disc copy to my order.
maf teechr said 6:18PM on 10-22-2009
I was running W7 RC and decided to try out the installer it provided in the download. I chose custom install, selected my current partition, and it installed W7 Home Premium with no issues. It saved all my files in a WINDOWS.OLD folder and I never had to input a Vista or XP product key.
Reply
Trace said 6:28PM on 10-22-2009
I've had no problems when I virtually mounted the ISO in Vista...allowed me to upgrade straight to Windows 7.
Reply
cubanresourceful said 6:55PM on 10-22-2009
GUYS! YOU ARE CRAZY! Yes, this is Home Premium on the cheap for college students, but why settle for Home Premium for 29.99$, when you can get Windows 7 Professional for the same price? Here's the link:
http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx
It's towards the bottom, all you need is a university email. They try to add a disk set for 13$, but if you're at a university like me, you can just deselect it, and save the 13$.
Reply
Sebastian Anthony said 7:01PM on 10-22-2009
Hot tip! Cheers!
cubanresourceful said 7:16PM on 10-22-2009
Hell yeah! Don't forget, Windows 7 Professional has XP Mode, and a lot of other goodies Windows 7 Home Premium lacks.
Mysterius said 10:48PM on 10-22-2009
Both 741 and Ultimate Steal offer Windows 7 Pro for $29.99. You just need to make sure to select Pro while you're going through 741 (it's highlighted in yellow, so it's not hard to spot, and the text now explicitly states "Windows 7 Professional" instead of eluding to it with "network support").
Anyways, a good chance to pick up a few copies of Windows 7 Pro, until January 10, 2010 I think.
master811 said 8:56PM on 10-22-2009
You actually want this link, as the one posted doesn't support 7.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=696DD665-9F76-4177-A811-39C26D3B3B34&displaylang=en
Reply
Sebastian Anthony said 8:58PM on 10-22-2009
I imagine the tool is the same in both packs -- but thank you for the correction, even if it's 1.7GB... :)