Exhibit 31.1
                                 CERTIFICATIONS


I, Paritosh K. Choksi, certify that:

1. I have  reviewed  this annual  report on Form 10-K of ATEL Capital  Equipment
Fund VII, LP;

2.  Based on my  knowledge,  this  annual  report  does not  contain  any untrue
statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to make
the statements made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such statements
were made,  not  misleading  with  respect to the period  covered by this annual
report;

3.  Based  on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
information  included  in this annual  report,  fairly  present in all  material
respects the financial  condition,  results of operations  and cash flows of the
registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this annual report;

4.  The  registrant's  other  certifying  officers  and  I are  responsible  for
establishing and maintaining  disclosure  controls and procedures (as defined in
Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal  control over financial
reporting  (as defined in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(f) and  15d-15(f))  for the
registrant and have:

     a)  Designed  such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures,  or caused  such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
     ensure that material information relating to the registrant,  including its
     consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made  known to us by  others  within  those
     entities,  particularly  during the  period in which  this  report is being
     prepared;

     b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting,  or caused such
     internal  control  over  financial  reporting  to  be  designed  under  our
     supervision,  to provide reasonable  assurance regarding the reliability of
     financial  reporting  and  the  preparation  of  financial  statements  for
     external  purposes  in  accordance  with  generally   accepted   accounting
     principles;

     c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure controls and
     procedures  and  presented  in  this  report  our  conclusions   about  the
     effectiveness of the disclosure  controls and procedures,  as of the end of
     the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control
     over financial  reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent
     fiscal quarter that has  materially  affected,  or is reasonably  likely to
     materially  affect,  the  registrant's   internal  control  over  financial
     reporting; and

5. The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based on our
most recent evaluation,  to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
registrant's   board  of  directors  (or  persons   performing   the  equivalent
functions):

     a) All significant  deficiencies  and material  weaknesses in the design or
     operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably
     likely to adversely  affect the  registrant's  ability to record,  process,
     summarize and report financial information; and

     b) Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves  management or other
     employees who have a significant role in the registrant's  internal control
     over financial reporting.



Date:        3/29/2005

/s/ Paritosh K. Choksi
----------------------------
Paritosh K. Choksi
Principal financial officer of registrant, Executive
Vice President of General Partner