EPC (electronic parts catalog) allows you to look up schematics and part numbers, and WIS (workshop information system) has repair instructions for any Mercedes-Benz vehicle, bus or Unimog vehicle.

Now updated instructions to include Windows 7 64-bit as well as Windows XP. 

The EWA, EPC and WIS software can be installed onto any Windows-based system (or virtual Windows-based system) and will allow any networked machines with Internet Explorer to access the system. Both EPC and WIS are Java-based software and should theoretically work on any OS and browser platform. However my limited testing has shown that it only works properly with Internet Explorer. If you known of any other tips and tricks to make it work with ie. Safari or Firefox, please let me know.

The basic EWA system requires about 1.3GB of storage. Fully installed with both the EPC and WIS database it requires just above 23GB.

Unless you have the optical media (DVDs) I recommend using WinCDEmu 3.6 to mount the disc images as virtual DVDs. This software is free from Microsoft.

This document uses the EPC/WIS 2009-08 release which comes on 5 DVDs, 3 for EPC and 2 for WIS. I assume newer/older versions have a fairly similar way to be installed.

My machine is a P4 3GHz with 4GB RAM and Windows XP SP2 (yes, not up to date). I also use it for BMWs GT1 diagnostics system. 

For my Windows 7 machine I've used a Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz with 4GB RAM and all the latest patches. 

There are several ways to deploy EPC/WIS onto your machine / network. For the average home user I believe this stand-alone setup should suffice. As mentioned, you can access EPC/WIS from any networked machine also without any further software installed on them. Only Java is required on the clients.

Insert or mount the first EPC disc (EPC_0908_1OF3.iso or similar).

Open the X:\EWA folder and right-click on SETUP.EXE and choose "Properties". In the "Compatability" tab click "Change settings for all users" and then choose to set Win XP SP3 compatability mode, and set "Run as Administrator". Apply the changes.

Right-click SETUP.EXE again and choose "Run as Administrator".

Choose your preferred language

I opted to install onto E:\EWA net, but if your C partition has enough space just use the default setting.

After installation finishes, click Start > Favorites > EWA net > EWA Admin Tool

Check that both Core and User database is started (green light).

Download and install the latest Java 6 32-bit from www.java.com unless you already have it.

After Java is installed open Internet Explorer and enter the following URL:

http://localhost:9000/EWA-net

This connects to your machines webservice for EPC/WIS and when asked for username and password both are "admin".

You will be prompted to change the admin password, so supply a new password of your choosing. Make a note of it so you do not forget it.

In the left menu select Administration, then Server, and then "Edit server StartKey".

You will now need to supply a couple of serial numbers. You can use the EWAkeygen package and run EWAKEYGEN.EXE to generate some. You will need to supply the LANID (Current MAC address) from the EWA webpage to the keygen. The LANID (12 digits) is unique for your machine, so you usually cannot use serialnumbers from another machine or user.

To get EWAKEYGEN.EXE running you'll need MSVCP71.DLL and MSVCR71.DLL installed into either C:\Windows\system32 (32-bit Windows) or C:\Windows\SysWOW64 (64-bit Windows). 

The EWAkeygen also allows you to specify the number of users the system will allow simultanously to use it. Remember to also set an expiry date before you generate the serial numbers.

When you do click Generate in the keygen a webpage will open, but I suggest navigating back to your EWA-net webpage so you can supply the generated keys to the EWA system. Copy and paste the serial keys into the webpage and click Save. The system should verify the keys and let you know that they are ok. If not, check that you supplied the correct LANID that the EWA page shows you. 

You should now create a regular EWA user. Remember the password you set for the user will have to be changed the first time you login with that user. The "admin" user will not see the EPC or WIS/ASRA icons, so that's why you'll need at least one other regular user to access EPC/WIS with. 

I first created a regular group before creating the user. That might not be necessary. 

Now you will need to set all the EWA program bits to run as Win XP SP3 compatibility mode before you continue. Otherwise the installation of the EPC and WIS database will fail.

Click Windows Icon and type in "cmd" in the command line. Right-click it and choose "Run as Administrator"

cd \"Program Files (x86)"\"EWA net"\database\"TransBase EPC"

for %x in ("*.exe") do reg.exe Add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers" /v "%~fx" /d "WINXPSP3" /f

cd \"Program Files (x86)"\"EWA net"\database\"TransBase EWA"

for %x in ("*.exe") do reg.exe Add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers" /v "%~fx" /d "WINXPSP3" /f

cd \"Program Files (x86)"\"EWA net"\database\"TransBase WIS"

for %x in ("*.exe") do reg.exe Add "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers" /v "%~fx" /d "WINXPSP3" /f

Restart your PC to make sure the EWA service is running in Win XP SP3 mode. 

Click Start > Programs > EWA net > EWA Admin Tool

Choose the "EPC net" tab

Click Install and when asked either use the default value (if your C partition is large enough). Otherwise specify the same drive and path used earlier.

When asked for the next disc, insert it or mount up "EPC_0908_2OF3.iso".

When asked for the next disc, insert it or mount up "EPC_0908_3OF3.iso".

When asked to restart the webservice, acknowledge this.

EPC is now installed and ready to use.

If you also wish to install the WIS database click on the "WIS net" tab in the EWA Admin Tool window.

Insert or mount "WIS_0908_1OF2.iso"

Then click Install and choose the same drive and path to install to as EPC above.

When asked for the next disc, insert it or mount up "WIS_0908_2OF2.iso".

When asked to restart the webservice, acknowledge this.

WIS is now installed and ready to use.

To use these systems, open Internet Explorer and enter the following URL:

http://localhost:9000/

(You can also use Start > Programs > EWA net > EWA net (or Windows Icon > Your username > Favorites in Windows 7))

Login with your regular newly created user and choose either EPC or WIS/ASRA to launch the applications. 

NOTE! You must allow Java to run "harmful or potentially dangerous components" for EPC or WIS to fully work. Do not block anything in Java when asked to do so or not.

To access this system from other machines in the network, make sure they have Java installed first. Then obtain the IP for your EWA machine. This can be done several ways. I suggest opening a command prompt: Start > Run > cmd

Then type "ipconfig" and press ENTER.

Make a note of the IP address to your machine. Typically 172.16.1.123 or 192.168.0.123 or similar.

On another networked machine open Internet Explorer and enter the URL:

http://192.168.0.123:9000/

Substitute 192.168.0.123 for your EWAs IP address.

I've been unsuccessful to run this package in Safari or any other browser for Mac or Unix.