UPDATE: This guide no longer works. We suggest you try the RT Seven Lite tool (free) to create unattended Windows 7 installation and also integrate drivers and updates. Win Integrater is also another free tool with similar set of features.
vLite, which was original released to tweak and customize the setup of Windows Vista operating system supports Windows 7 as well. It’s one of the best free Windows configuration tools around for Vista as well as Windows 7. It lets you integrate hotfix, updates, drivers and service packs into the setup and create unattended bootable ISO file.
Users who would like to remove one or more components from the installation media can also use this tool. For instance, you can remove games, Windows Media Player, Media Center and Windows Firewall features from the setup.
We have already blogged about the vLite for Windows 7, and also how to use vLite to integrate drivers into Windows 7 setup, and create unattended Windows 7 setup. If you have tried the recent versions of vLite software, you probably know this problem.
When you install and run vLite for the very first time, you will be asked to install the WAIK (Windows Automated Installation Kit). Although WAIK is available to download at Microsoft Download Centre for free (thanks Microsoft), downloading the mammoth1.3GB file is not an easy task for low speed internet connection users.
In order to resolve this problem, we have a small trick that helps you to avoid downloading the 1.3 GB file. Note that we recommend installing the WAIK from Microsoft if you are on a good internet connection. Follow the instructions given below to avoid installing WAIK:
Using vLite without installing WAIK in Windows 7
Step 1: Download and install the latest version of vLite from here.
Step 2: Now that you have installed vLite, download this RAR file (this file is no longer available).
Step 3: Extract the RAR file to get a folder and dll file.
Step 4: Copy the wimfltr folder to C:\Program Files\vLite directory (C is your Windows 7 drive), and also copy the wimgapi.dll file to the same directory.
Step 5: Launch the vLite program without any problem.
