Hey kOld.
Yeah, I have an older RNS-E. Listen mate, I have done the Win7 installs about 5 billion times and I have the process completely sorted. Keep in mind I am putting a website together for the project, and hope to help a wider audience that way, so this information would be being put there.
To get Win7 installed and the custom res running, follow these steps:
1) Before you do anything take your VGA cable and pull pin 12. This breaks the data communication between Windows and the monitor, and you need this so Windows isn't getting supported modes from your monitor. This is essential to do this as the first step.
2) Clean install Windows 7.
3) Get networking running by installing your networking drivers and connecting to your home wireless, etc.
4) Install the Intel video driver. Whatever you start with in Windows will have " - WDDM" on the end of the name of the device. The driver has been installed correctly when the name does NOT have "- WDDM" on the end of the device name. You may have to do a "have disk" driver install if Windows doesn't want to load the Intel driver because it might be older than the one that ships with Win7.
5) Install DTD calculator.
6) Install TightVNC - This is necessary to be able to remote control windows. Choose no password when prompted. (I had troubles with RealVNC not connecting.. so I went with TightVNC).
7) Make sure Windows is configured so it logs in automatically. (No user password, for example) and also turn off power saving, hibernation, so on.
5) Apply the registry file I have created to "patch" the Intel video driver with the RNS-E custom video mode. (I can supply this to you - PM me your email address).
6) Check the video mode is present in DTD calculator. This is only necessary because the video card may appear under a different ID in the registry, but I think this should be fine. Worst case, you can just edit the reg file with the location the card appears in the registry. It should be HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
7) If the video mode is present in DTD calculator, you dont need to do anything, so restart the PC and connect the RNS-E video cable that goes through the custom circuit board.
8) When Windows loads, you will lose the display on your normal monitor (unless you are really lucky, I could still see it with a Dell 2009W.) Remote control Windows and you will notice it is in 640*480 @ 25Hz. Right click the desktop - Screen Resolution and choose 960x540. Apply, etc.
Note:
* Forget Powerstrip - you don't need it. So this saves a license.
* When you remote control Win7 with MCE in full screen mode, you will only see a black screen. Click from the top right corner repeatedly, each click go a bit down and left, and you will close MCE and see the desktop.
I assume you have built the necessary circuit board, and also have a Intel 945 chipset board? I have tested handfuls of board types, and only had success with the 945 chipset. The D945GCLF2 is by far and wide the best board for this project, anything else is too big/powerful.