Get Windows 7 SP1-U Media Refresh MSDN/TechNet ISO (Download or Convert)

Microsoft has published a new refresh version of Windows 7 with SP1 integrated ISO media on May 12, 2011, which fixes a minor issue which causes Windows 7 SP1 media cannot be used to install on new PC. The Windows 7 SP1-U (Media Refresh version) includes the installation hotfix KB2534111, and nothing else. No other changes have been made to the Windows 7 with SP1 ISO image despite there are tens of updates been released after the Windows 7 SP1 was released.

KB2534111 is a hotfix which fixes “Computer name cannot contain only numbers, may not be identical with the user name and cannot contain spaces. Retype the name of the computer” error when installing Windows 7 by using Windows 7 SP1 integrated installation media. The error happens when user sets the Time and Currency Format setting to a locale other than English, Finnish, German, and Swedish during initial installation, or the locale was selected before the computer is purchased, and then a computer name that contains non-ASCII characters is entered in the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) Wizard.

The error is not considered to be show-stopping though, as end-users can always manually remove any non-ASCII characters from the computer name so that the installation can proceed, and revert the computer name to original preferred name that contains non-ASCII characters after the installation process is complete.

Nonetheless, Microsoft is still updating all distributions and languages of the Windows 7 with SP1 slipstreamed media to include the hotfix, where the new ISO images downloaded from MSDN or TechNet Subscriber Downloads include a “u” in the file name, or known as Windows 7 SP1-U to indicate the media refresh version. Interestingly, Windows Server 2008 R2 with SP1 integrated media is not affected by the issue, and thus has not been updated.

If you’re not affected by the issue, the original Windows 7 with SP1 media is still working perfectly, and what is been installed is exactly similar with Windows 7 with SP1-U media. If you intend to collect all the new updated Windows 7 with SP1-U ISO images, instead of downloading from MSND or TechNet, or from torrents lingering on the Web where an ISO costs bandwidth of around 3GB each, you can also convert the existing Windows 7 with SP1 integrated ISO released back in February 2011 into the Windows 7 with SP1-U version, thanks to binary differential deltas made by Windows enthusiasts such as BitSwitcher and LateShift, which details the differences between two ISO images. The deltas meanwhile have the size of around 100MB each.

Convert Windows 7 SP1 ISO Images Into Windows 7 SP1-U

An original Windows 7 with SP1 integrated ISO of the same edition, same version and same language from MSDN or TechNet is required in order for the conversion to work. For example, convert 32-bit Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate English into 32-bit Windows 7 SP1-U Ultimate English with the corresponding delta, while 64-bit Windows 7 SP1 Enterprise English can be patched to 64-bit Windows 7 SP1-U Enterprise English.

• Windows 7 SP1-U Ultimate English x86 Delta: GSP1RMCULFRER_EN_DVD-GRMCULFRER_EN_DVD.vcd

  Input: en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x86_dvd_619077.iso (SHA1: 92C1ADA4FF09C76EC2F1974940624CAB7F822F62)
  Output: en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x86_dvd_u_677460.iso (SH1: 65FCE0F445D9BF7E78E43F17E441E08C63722657)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Ultimate English x64 Delta: GSP1RMCULXFRER_EN_DVD-GRMCULXFRER_EN_DVD.vcd

  Input: en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x64_dvd_618240.iso (SHA1: 1693B6CB50B90D96FC3C04E4329604FEBA88CD51)
  Output: en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677332.iso (SHA1: 36AE90DEFBAD9D9539E649B193AE573B77A71C83)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Ultimate N English x86 Delta: GSP1RMCNULFRER_EN_DVD-GRMCNULFRER_EN_DVD.vcd

  Input: en_windows_7_enterprise_n_with_sp1_x86_dvd_620372.iso (SHA1: 2503686DC539E5C1DCEED3A1736BE5D154131155)
  Output: en_windows_7_ultimate_n_with_sp1_x86_dvd_u_677597.iso (SHA1: BBF301280FAA00B02F5475CDAA06558F569569E8)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Ultimate N English x64 Delta: GSP1RMCNULXFRER_EN_DVD-GRMCNULXFRER_EN_DVD.vcd

  Input: en_windows_7_enterprise_n_with_sp1_x64_dvd_620165.iso (SHA1: CF70CABACE3E14D68C5A6EAC9A4F024E54DD7864)
  Output: en_windows_7_ultimate_n_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677543.iso (SHA1: E01A55499FE9EBA718B59492E55B567F3D6F4E1B)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Enterprise English x86 Delta: en_windows_7_enterprise_with_sp1_x86_dvd_u_677710.delta

  Input: en_windows_7_enterprise_with_sp1_x86_dvd_620186.iso (SHA1: 4788041EB06E0F49720C112FBD256AC637909D4F)
  Output: en_windows_7_enterprise_with_sp1_x86_dvd_u_677710.iso (SHA1: 4E0450AC73AB6F9F755EB422990CD9C7A1F3509C)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Enterprise English x64 Delta: en_windows_7_enterprise_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677651.delta

  Input: en_windows_7_enterprise_with_sp1_x64_dvd_620201.iso (SHA1: 2C9774A1F48570E749E6D33C642FE8F6F7898CB0)
  Output: en_windows_7_enterprise_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677651.iso (SHA1: A491F985DCCFB5863F31B728DDDBEDB2FF4DF8D1)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Enterprise N English x86 Delta: en_windows_7_enterprise_n_with_sp1_x86_dvd_u_677703.delta

  Input: en_windows_7_enterprise_n_with_sp1_x86_dvd_620372.iso (SHA1: 2503686DC539E5C1DCEED3A1736BE5D154131155)
  Output: en_windows_7_enterprise_n_with_sp1_x86_dvd_u_677703.iso (SHA1: F19B3F9ADB2D4EC08842FA2D3D147E237F9B1D40)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Enterprise N English x64 Delta: en_windows_7_enterprise_n_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677704.delta

  Input: en_windows_7_enterprise_n_with_sp1_x64_dvd_620165.iso (SHA1: CF70CABACE3E14D68C5A6EAC9A4F024E54DD7864)
  Output: en_windows_7_enterprise_n_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677704.iso (SHA1: 3A35801881CB04D537D13479AC4E51510C9771CA)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Professsional VL English x86 Delta: en_windows_7_professional_with_sp1_vl_build_x86_dv d_u_677896.delta

  Input: en_windows_7_professional_with_sp1_vl_build_x86_dvd_623530.iso (SHA1: 85E9767CD50C6083160393F85CB2C4156CD9348D)
  Output: en_windows_7_professional_with_sp1_vl_build_x86_dvd_u_677896.iso (SHA1: D5BD65E1B326D728F4FD146878EE0D9A3DA85075)

• Windows 7 SP1-U Professsional VL English x64 Delta: en_windows_7_professional_with_sp1_vl_build_x64_dv d_u_677791.delta

  Input: en_windows_7_professional_with_sp1_vl_build_x64_dvd_622458.iso (SHA1: 647C756B95EEF95C05EA04EEAFED035E0065EB9E)
  Output: en_windows_7_professional_with_sp1_vl_build_x64_dvd_u_677791.iso (SHA1: 708E0338D4E2F094DFEB860347C84A6ED9E91D0C)

Note: Windows 7 N Edition is meant for EU countries, and has no Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center and Windows DVD Maker.

To use the deltas to change the binary data of ISO images, download latest version of xdelta from http://code.google.com/p/xdelta/downloads/list.

Place the original Windows 7 SP1 ISO image together with the xdelta3 executable (xdelta3.0z.x86-64.exe or xdelta3.0z.x86-32.exe – rename to xdelta.exe for easy usage) and the appropriate delta file for the edition of ISO image into the same folder (directory).

Then, open a Command Prompt window and change directory to the folder with the 3 files, and issue the following command:

xdelta3 -d -s win7sp1.iso delta.vcd win7sp1_u.iso

win7sp1.iso (input) = full file name of original Windows 7 with SP1 ISO image
delta.vcd = full file name of binary diff delta
win7sp1_u.iso (output) = full file name of target Windows 7 with SP1-U ISO image

Remember to verify the SHA1 hash checksum of the ISO image created to ensure that it’s exactly the same with official copy.

Download Windows 7 with SP1-U Media Refresh ISO Images

Several ISO images of Windows 7 with SP1-U integrated which are of May 2011 Media Refresh version have been published on BitTorent sites, which should match the following checksums of official and original (untoched and unedited) Windows 7 SP1-U ISO images from MSDN/TechNet.

Windows 7 Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (x86) – DVD (English)

File Name: en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x86_dvd_u_677460.iso
SHA1: 65FCE0F445D9BF7E78E43F17E441E08C63722657
ISO/CRC: 35511F11

Windows 7 Ultimate with Service Pack 1 (x64) – DVD (English)

File Name: en_windows_7_ultimate_with_sp1_x64_dvd_u_677332.iso
SHA1: 36AE90DEFBAD9D9539E649B193AE573B77A71C83
ISO/CRC: 992B8FCD

As usual, remove the ei.cfg file with ei.cfg Removal Utility to unlock selection of all available Windows 7 editions during setup. In you want Windows 7 SP1-U ISO image of specific edition, use Windows 7 ISO Image Edition Switcher, where there are already updated binary patches for Windows 7 SP1-U ISO.

Update: Download Windows 7 SP1 official ISO (SP1-U version)