Ei.cfg For Windows 11

[Lacy Tortelli]

Since I am going to install the Windows 10 operating system on several different machines with different configurations, I would like to minimize the number of downloads I have to do in order to save bandwidth and time.

I found that the Windows 10 does not have a ei.cfg file like in Windows 7 and Windows 8. Microsoft however provides two "All Editions" versions in 32-bit and 64-bit flavors. Also, due to the layout of the disc, it is possible to combine both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of both of the "All Editions" discs in order to create a "Universal Install Disc"

If having an all-in-one .iso containing Windows 10 Home and Pro 32-bit and 64-bit is what you want, this is fairly easy to do with the updated Media Creation tool that was released along with the November 2015 update.

I installed each version (W10 home & W10 Pro both 32 and 64 bits) on virtual machines, made my few customisations (like an OEM would do) in oobe mode, then captured each one in a install.wim file with dism, then appended them all into one install.wim file.

When you try to clean install Windows 11, the Windows Setup utility will not offer any option to select the operating system edition. Instead, it will automatically install one of the Home, Pro, or Education editions of the operating system.

So, how do you force Windows 11 Setup to show the select edition screen during installation? You can achieve this by modifying the bootable media or the ISO image to include the EI.cfg file. Here we show you how to select the Pro edition while installing Windows 11.

To fix this problem, you can include a Windows Setup configuration file to force Windows Setup to display the select edition screen during installation. It is an optional setup configuration file that you can add to automate the edition selection and product key verification steps during Windows installation.

Alternatively, you can also automate the edition selection process by configuring the EI.cfg file to install your preferred edition of the OS. For example, if you want Windows Setup to automatically select the Windows 11 Pro edition during installation, use the following format for the EI.cfg file.

Save the file as ei.cfg and move it to the Sources folder of your USB installation media. During installation, Windows Setup will automatically select the Windows 11 Pro edition and skip the select edition step.

So, if you are trying to install the Pro edition on your PC that is activated for the Home edition, then Windows 11 will show the not activated message or the error code 0xc004c003 in the Settings panel. Microsoft also limits some customization features on inactivated computers.

One of the biggest frustrations when installing Windows XP was making sure you had the correct CD for your license key. Windows Vista fixed this problem by having a universal CD that contained all versions (all 32bit versions or all 64bit versions, not both) and simply installed the version that the key matched.

Now that Windows 7 is out, Microsoft have reverted back to needing a separate disk for each version which is annoying for us computer technicians. However, the only difference between each DVD is a small 51 byte configuration file called ei.cfg which tells the installer what version disc it is. If you were to turn your DVD into an ISO, remove this ei.cfg file and write it back to a DVD, that DVD would become a Universal DVD.

ei.cfg Removal Utility will make this easy for you. Just create an ISO with your legitimate Windows 7 DVD, run this tool, choose the ISO and let it run. Once it has finished, just write the ISO back to a DVD again and you would only need to carry one 32bit version and one 64bit version to support any Windows 7 install onsite.

Removing the ei.cfg does work but one will need your original disk Windows 7 disk to do it
1: boot your original after it gets to the install screen.
2: Remove the original disk and then place in your Hybrid re manufactured disk.

The ei.cfg Removal Utility is a simple tool that will remove the ei.cfg file from any Windows ISO disc image, thereby converting the image into a "universal disc" that will prompt the user to select an edition during setup. This tool works by toggling the deletion bit in the UDF file table, eliminating the need for unpacking and rebuilding the ISO, which means that this is extremely fast (the process of patching the ISO to remove ei.cfg takes only a fraction of a second), and the process is easily reversible (running the utility on a disc image patched by this utility will restore the disc image to its original state).

The cversion.ini Removal Utility is a tool that will remove the cversion.ini file from Windows ISO disc images, thus enabling the option for in-place upgrades that preserve user settings and programs. This is very useful for upgrading from release preview versions of Windows to the final version (e.g., Windows 8.1 Preview to Windows 8.1 RTM) while preserving your data, settings, and programs. This tools works in the same fast, efficient manner as the ei.cfg Removal Utility, so there is no need to unpack and rebuild ISOs, and the process can be trivially reversed.

[obsolete and no longer maintained] The Windows 7 ISO Image Edition Switcher is a set of small binary patches (and a tool to apply these patches) that will convert an official Windows 7 ISO disc image into an official Windows 7 ISO disc image of another edition. The resulting ISO images are bit-for-bit identical with those posted on MSDN or TechNet, and their SHA-1 hashes should match the official hashes posted by Microsoft.

This guide is meant to walk you through the process of using ei.cfg and pid.txt files to choose which version of Windows to install from a USB Windows image. This guide will also specify the locations of where these files should be saved and detail the different possible values for EditionID in ei.cfg.

There are several situations where using the ei.cfg and pid.txt method can be advantageous. This is especially true if your system had a previous version of Windows installed, like Windows Home, and you wish to upgrade to a higher edition, such as Windows Professional. By default, during the installation process, the installer tends to automatically install the same version of Windows that was previously installed. This could be due to the pre-existing product key that is tied to your hardware (specifically the motherboard). This feature was designed for convenience and to prevent accidental mis-installation of the wrong version. Therefore, by specifically stating which version you intend to install in the ei.cfg file, you can override this automated selection process, enabling you to install a different version like Windows Professional, provided you have the appropriate license key.

Copy ei.cfg and pid.txt Files to USB Drive
Copy the ei.cfg and pid.txt files to the sources folder in your USB drive. This folder is present at the root of the USB drive and contains the installation files for Windows.

One great feature Windows 7 was possibility to install them without needing a key. Instead of entering 25-digit key, you could just select skip and Windows would give you 30 days after install to setup everything before requiring valid product key.

I found this really useful during setup of a new machine when I would have multiple reinstalls while trying out various drivers and performing their troubleshooting. Only once I was perfectly satisfied with machine, I would activate it.

More than once I also used this feature to reproduce a bug in different OS language (e.g. German). Mind you, I did have keys for that particular version (MSDN subscription is a great thing) but I was regularly too lazy to look key up for a version that would essentially get installed and deleted within a day.

Once copy operation has completed, we need to create ei.cfg in C:\Windows81\sources directory. In my case I wanted to specify Professional edition expecting retail key so I created file with following content:

Only thing missing is creating new ISO file that we can burn on DVD. While this is not strictly necessary if you are creating bootable USB, I find having pre-prepared image an useful step. If nothing else, it is easier to backup a single ISO file than over a writable USB.

For bootable image creation we need Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (or Windows ADK) for desired Windows version. Since I wanted to adjust Windows 8.1, I downloaded Windows ADK for Windows 8.1 but Windows 8 ADK is also freely available. Only thing that you really need to install for this guide are Deployment Tools. All other stuff you can uncheck.

This will create bootable Windows81.iso image in a root directory of your second drive. If you have a single drive, place file into a subdirectory. Otherwise file will be written in Virtual store (usually at %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\VirtualStore).

PS: This also means that you can use your Windows 8 key to activate Windows 8.1 after installation is done. While Windows 8 key won't work during installation, it will work nicely once everything is fully installed.

Simply use default windows 8.1 pro generic keys XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX or if it did not work find other generic keys from google or forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/47480-windows-8-1-generic-keys

Sorry Josip medved but your method to skip button was not simple. I Tried your method but fail to do so. After that i found pirated keys method that works fine. After installation just use other pirated keys from net and activate through skype.

after realizing that your command line referred to an x86 frame rather than my 64 bit i redirected my pathway to amd section and that took care of everything. just got done installing, cd key, and updating without a hitch. nice work dude. thanks for the info.

I need your help im running windows 7 home primium and i want to updgrade to windows 8.1 .I have downloaded windows 8.1 setup , windows setupbox and also windows 7 usb dvd bootable tool .Here is my promblem when i run windows 8.1 setup and input my product key XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX which i obtained at v-pistolero blog and it checks out correct after clicking next windows will tell me to wait and then it says windows 8.1 is not available for online purchase in your country / religion. I dont now what to do guyz please help i realy need windows 8.1. Please

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