Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007 Community Technology Preview (August 15, 2006)

**Chat Topic:**Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007 Community Technology Preview
**Date:**Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Please note: Portions of this transcript have been edited for clarity

Wendy_MS (Moderator):
Welcome to today’s chat. Our topic today is Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007 Community Technology Preview.

*Introductions

Wendy_MS (Moderator):
We are pleased to welcome our Experts for today’s chat. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Weijuan (Wendy) Shi. I am a Program Manager of the Embedded Windows team. I will have the Experts introduce themselves now.

Nick [MS] (Expert):
G'morning - I'm Nick - a member of the Embedded Windows Test team.

mikemoin_MSFT (Expert):
Hello. This is Mike Moini. I am a developer for Microsoft working on XP Embedded.

lyallen_MSFT (Expert):
Hi, I'm Lynda Allen. I am a tester on the XP Embedded team, focused primarily on Componentization and Component Integration.

jimmedd_msft (Expert):
Hi, I'm Jim Medding. I'm a SW development engineer with the XPe test team.

kwonus_msft (Expert):
Hi, I'm Kevin Wonus. I'm a Program Manager for XP Embedded, focusing mostly on tools.

mikehall_ms (Moderator):
Hi, I'm Mike Hall, Senior Technical Product Manager in the Embedded group

MS_RandySi (Expert):
Hi, I'm Randy Sikes a PM working on Vista and I suffer from fat finger!

Andy [MS] (Moderator):
Hi, I'm Andy Allred, Test Mgr for the Embedded Windows team

Thomasy (Expert):
I am a PM handling componentization in XPE team

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Milong Sabandith. I'm a developer on the Windows Embedded team.

Shweta [MS] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Shweta Garg, a developer with the Embedded Windows team.

Khalidsa_MS (Expert):
Hello, I'm Khalid Sabri, a support professional on the XP Embedded Product Support Group

Wonhee Lee [MS] (Expert):
Hi, I am Wonhee Lee. I am a developer in Windows Embedded Team.

Shayna [MS] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Shayna Begun and I am a Program Manager working on Customer and Partner programs in Embedded Windows.

cuong [MS] (Expert):
Hi, I'm Cuong Pham. I'm a Program Manager on the Windows Embedded team.

Debbie [MS] (Expert):
Hello, my name is Debbie and I'm the project/release manger for Windows Embedded.

Steffen [MS] (Expert):
Hello I'm Steffen Schreier a Program Manager in the XPe team.

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Hi, I'm Shabnam Erfani, XP Embedded Program Manager

wanghong [MS] (Expert):
HI, I am Wanghong Yuan, a developer on Windows Embedded

kamurthy_MS (Expert):
Hi - I'm Kalpana Murthy, Group Program Manager for Embedded Windows

shivks_MSFT (Expert):
Hi I am Shiv. I am a SDET on the embedded windows team.

markcli_ms (Expert):
Hi, I'm the product unit manager for the XPe team.

johndoy_MSFT (Expert):
John Doyle - Product Manager for Windows XP Embedded

*Start of Chat

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Can you tell us if the XPE 2007 Feature Pack will be a free update for current XPE users?
A: Yes, FP 2007 is a free update for current XP Embedded users.

Thomasy (Expert):
Q: Quick question, is Thomasy a Product, Project, or Program Manager?
A: I am a program manager.

Khalidsa_MS (Expert):
Q: I need to get my product key code but I lost that years ago, and never installed it in 2003.
A: Is this a product key to install the XP embedded toolkit suite?

Khalidsa_MS (Expert):
Q: is there anybody who can help me with the product key code?
A: Is this a licensing product key for XP embedded?

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will the update be available download and CD, or just download off the secure site?
A: We are planning on making the product available off the secure site and possibly on CD. Do you have a preference?

Q: The preference is a download for me, but CD is also welcome
A: OK, thanks for your feedback

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Some OEMs seem to want a CD along with the ability to download.
A: If we provide an ISO image for download, would that suffice for these OEMs?

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will the update be available download and CD, or just download off the secure site? As in I was thinking you either did one or the other but when I added both components it didn't give me a conflict.
A: The update will be available as a download and most likely as a CD. I'm not sure what you mean by "when I added both components it didn't give me a conflict". Can you clarify?

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: When will FP 2007 finally be available? Can you already tell that? (I suggest to wait and combine with Internet Explorer 7, and Windows Media Player 11 :) )
A: The released version of FP 2007 will be available in Q4 2006. We will consider your suggestion.

lyallen_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Will some of the broken dependencies from the introduction of SP2 be fixed in the FP2007 release?
A: For FP2007 we are working to identify and correct some of these broken dependencies. In addition we are also doing some work to better break out some binaries into smaller components so as to improve footprint, as well as removing stale dependencies that are no longer required.

lyallen_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Mainly Firewall, leaving this out requires that Firewall Files to be copied manually if you wish to continue to use Networking
A: In FP2007 you still have the option to check or uncheck the checkbox under Core Networking > Settings if you want to including or exclude the Windows Firewall feature. However we have made some other changes to networking components like File Sharing so that that will function without Windows Firewall.

Thomasy (Expert):
Q: It should be great if you can make IIS independent from Outlook Express. Also good dual core should be great, or a good separation of the tasks over the cores, as I do much with high performance graphics.
A: We are looking at this soon.

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Can you also make a feature which makes it easy to remove the mouse pointer if no mouse is connected to the device. Or is this already possible?
A: This is most likely a feature that the Windows XP team would provide, and/or a device manufacturer via a third-party driver. It's not a feature that would be XPe-specific. To my knowledge, no such feature exists, though if you do not install a mouse driver in the first place, the runtime should come up without a pointer.

Nick [MS] (Expert):
Q: Ok, but is it possible in a scenario where the mouse is removed by USB to remove the pointer, and it will come back if the mouse is connected? This should be great.
A: Unfortunately there is no easy way to do this. To make it work involves getting a null.cur (which I've found to be apart of the ELo Touch Screen Driver package - https://www.elotouch.com/support/dnld.asp, placing it in %windir%\Cursors\, and then setting the registry key "Value" located at HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Cursors to point directly to null.cur. When the registry key and file are in place there is no way to make it detect whether the mouse is plugged in or not.

Khalidsa_MS (Expert):

A: A good place to ask about such issues is the XP General newsgroups since it's not XPe-specific: https://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/newsgroups/reader.mspx?dg=microsoft.public.windowsxp.general⟨=en&cr;=US

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Q: So, just as a FYI, the feature pack install went a whole lot better then the SP2 upgrade :-) Thank goodness!!
A: That's great! Thanks for the feedback - it's good to know that it's working smoothly for folks. :)

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: If we load today's test release of XPe FP2007 and another test release is made later, or the first public release is made, do we just install the later releases on top of the existing database + toolset? Is a total reinstall off CD-ROMs ever needed?
A: You do need to uninstall the CTP (test) builds and reinstall the released version of the feature pack on top of the existing SP2 database and toolset, assuming that you back up and restore your SP2 database manually.

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: When you configure File based EWF, do you also load the "regular" EWF component?
A: File based Write Filter will normally be used without EWF on a system. You do however have the option to use both EWF and FBWF on the same system protecting different volumes.

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: And does the file-base EWF work with RAM (Reg) EWF mode?
A: File based Write Filter (FBWF) can be used on the same system with EWF. They must however be protecting different volumes.

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Is it currently possible to export a tree view of the current build which will create a simple text file of all the components selected?
A: Please let me know if I'm not quite on the same track as your question. Target Designer does not provide the capability of exporting a text list of your configuration's components. However, you can use the new XPeCon.wsf (located in the bin folder after you apply the FP2007 Tools Update) to output a list of components that way, and you can direct this output to a log file (use the /log switch when launching XPeCon). Also, XPeCon provides a function called DEPTREE, which allows you to examine component dependencies - for a specific component, you can output its dependencies and (optionally) all dependency chains below that component. DEPTRACE allows you to go the other direction, seeing which components depend on a specific component. Does this help?

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Q: It would also be nice if you arrange the components better in Target Designer, like hardware more separated from software components. Is this an idea?
A: Actually, in Target Designer, you can switch between a list view (Alphanumeric list of components) and a Tree View (organized by category). The tree view organizes components by categories, and hardware components are in their own category, separated by device type, and separate from software components.

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Q: I have a shut down problem. My screen becomes blue and a message appears. Each time this happens it is a different message appearing on my screen. I wrote all of them. Can anyone help me?
A: You're getting a blue-screen on shutdown? Are they different STOP codes each time?

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Yes, I wrote them down.
A: Can you give me a sample of some of the messages you're getting? Just one or two would be helpful. I'm suspecting that you either have a severe configuration error, or that your hardware has failed.

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Q: 0x00000050 (0x85400000,0x00000000,0x8054AE2D,0X00000000)
A: This STOP message can be caused by faulty system services, anti-virus software, or (most commonly) faulty hardware. I experienced a problem like this on my personal computer some time back, and it turned out that my CPU had failed - replacing the CPU fixed the problem in my case. Any piece of hardware (RAM, motherboard, CPU, etc) could cause this problem.

Khalidsa_MS (Expert):
Q: What should I do to solve it?
A: https://support.microsoft.com/kb/244617/EN-US/. You can also check the knowledge base at MS site for potential causes of this bluescreen: https://search.microsoft.com/results.aspx?q=0x00000050&l;=1&mkt;=en-US&FORM;=QBME1.

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: When can we expect FP2007 to be released (or when can we reliably build from it?)
A: The plan is to release FP 2007 in Q4 2006, and you can build using the released bits.

Andy [MS] (Moderator):
Q: Will the license stickers change when you move to FP2007 as they did with the move to SP2?
A: The COA stickers will not change. FP2007 is basically an enhanced version of SP2, any runtime product keys you've purchased that are associated with COAs you've obtained from your distributor are *still* valid from SP2 to FP2007. You should not need to change anything wrt PIDs, COA stickers or Licensing behavior from SP2 to FP2007.

lyallen_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Shabnam reports that the SP2 database is backed up and Then Restored after installing CTP (test) builds; won't that overwrite some improvements to the Database that is part of the FP2007 upgrade?
A: The database is not backed up by default when you install FP2007. Rather it is suggested that you backup your own database before applying FP2007 so that you ensure you can always reattach your SP2 database and retain all your custom components or updates that you may have imported. If you do not do a back up and then remove the FP2007 CTP later in order to apply the next version of FP2007 you will have to re-install the full product again and will have lost all your updates or other custom components that you previously imported.

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Where do I look in the FP2007 CTP for information on the File Based Write Filter? I didn't see it mentioned in the EEF section of the help file...
A: Download the file xpehelp.chm. Under Getting Started, expand the Installation Guide and click on What's New. You will see links to help for all the features in FP 2007.

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: File Based EWF - Still, I'm puzzled. If I currently use RAM Registry Mode, and I want to keep the same functionality of RAM Reg Mode, except to be able to write specific files. So I remove Ram Registry Mode and include File Based EWF?
A: File based Write Filter (FBWF) is RAM based. So all data is cached in RAM and discarded on reboot. For your scenario you can remove EWF and add FBWF. This will allow you to have write-through files. BTW, FBWF does not have a disk overlay mode, just RAM.

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: So, it acts like Ram Registry Mode and does not require a second partition?
A: Yes. FBWF acts like RAM Registry mode in that it does not require a second partition. The configuration is actually kept in a file at the root of your system drive.

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Is there a step-by-step tutorial on implementing USB boot? Are their any known limitations on USB boot?
A: There are step-by-step instructions for configuring USB boot in the xpehelp.chm->Getting Started->Installation Guide->What's New->Booting from USB devices. The CTP bits have two limitations: hibernation does not work, and we can not have EWF disk overlay on USB media. We are investigating solutions for both of these for our release. If you are interested in using USB boot feature, you can also find troubleshooting steps at https://blogs.msdn.com/embedded/articles/687872.aspx.

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: I have a system where the C: drive is NTFS Compressed, and currently it is EWF RAM Reg protected. Will FBWF work in this scenario? Does XPe use file locks or any of the other "Non-supported" features?
A: For this CTP release, you might run into compatibility issues with compressed NTFS. It currently does not allow you to write compressed files but does allow you to read them. We are currently looking at adding this support. For your scenario, do you expect to compress the whole drive or just some files? For the file locks question, can you elaborate what you mean?

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: The help file lists several items that are supported by EWF but not FBWF: File locks, quotas, file compression and encryption, fileID in NTFS, etc. Does this mean that you can't use it on the Windows volume?
A: You can use FBWF on a windows volume. There are some advanced NTFS features that are not available when FBWF is protecting the volume but it does allow windows to run properly. Before you mentioned compression, but are there other NTFS features you are using? BTW, for this CTP release, you can read compressed files with FBWF enabled but you cannot create new files that are compressed.

mikemoin_MSFT (Expert):
Q: In a system with CF boot volume AND hard drive: can a disk based EWF volume with overlays be used to write protect the CF boot volume? It was disallowed in pre-FP2007.
A: Disk based EWF needs a free partition on the disk to use as a scratch pad and also to keep its data structures. This "EWF" partition has to be on the same device as the boot partition, though. See https://msdn2.microsoft.com/library/ms940184.aspx.

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Regarding Overlay protection of CF boot volume-- The CF boot volume is more reliable than HD, but I want overlays if the HD is functioning. If the HD breaks, I hopefully still have the CF boot volume(?).
A: Thanks.

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: FBWF - I have not found much detail on it, so if this is a basic question, I apologize. Can FBWF cover entire folders or does each file have to be committed individually?
A: You can find detailed help on FBWF in the product help file (xpehelp.chm) that was shipped with the CTP. FBWF can not commit a folder. Each existing file must be committed. Also note that in the CTP bits, new files can not be committed. We are working on adding and testing that functionality for final bits.

Nick [MS] (Expert):
Q: If I understand FBWF correctly, you can protect an entire volume but specify certain files that are straight pass-through to disk... Right?
A: Yes - you are correct. By default FBWF protects the whole volume specified; however, it can be configured to exclude files or folders from this protection, e.g. , a write-through.

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: The answer in the previous question says that entire folders can be excluded from protection, however in an earlier answer I was told no.???
A: Entire folders can be excluded from protection and caching in RAM, however, if you want to commit changes to disk, you need to do that one file at a time. You can not commit folders to disk.

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: Does anyone plan to use EWF with FBWF? For example do they plan to protect one volume using EWF and another with FBWF? What is the scenario? Thanks!

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
I would also like to get everybody's feedback on FP 2007, overall, do you see the features in FP 2007 useful?

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: We would investigate using EWF Ram on the Boot volume (CF) and FBEWF on the Removable USB Device which hold configuration data and storage.
A: Thank you for your feedback! Can you tell me why you would use EWF Ram on the boot volume? FBWF can be used to protect the boot volume as well as the removable USB device. As a note, the new EEF is File Based Write Filter (FBWF). Thanks.

Milong [MS] (Expert):
Q: Yes, since I just learned that I would tend to do both as FBWF
A: Thank you for the feedback. Using FBWF to protect both drives would make sense. You would need to read the documentation to make sure FBWF can replace EWF in your scenario. For example, FBWF does not support HORM.

johndoy_MSFT (Expert):
Q: My company is a Certified Partner with ISV Competency. We have been relatively unable to get XPe support through this channel... Is there a similar program within the Embedded group?
A: Yes please use https://www.mswep.com/ for more information on Embedded Partner Ecosystem

Steffen [MS] (Expert):
Q: Are you planning to upgrade existing devices currently deployed in the field with features from the Feature Pack or do you plan to use the Feature Pack upgrade only on new devices currently under development?

Shabnam_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Does anybody use HORM on their devices?

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Q: Has anyone tried the Console Application for XP Embedded yet? (XPeCon)

Andy [MS] (Moderator):
Q: Feature Pack 2007 feedback - So far I really like it. I have to do some more playing around, but from what I see, I like it. REALLY like the File based EWF. Would love a solution to a smaller image with .NET framework added :-)
A: Thanks for the feedback. Regarding .netfx footprint, we did some refactoring in the FP2007 Community Tech Preview by removing the netfx dependency on the Internet Explorer component. While the size of the framework is the same, at least we've been able to have a positive effect on its dependencies. Please check it out and let us know in the private newsgroup for FP2007 if you have any more footprint requests on your "wish list". Thanks again!

Andy [MS] (Moderator):
Please file that 'FBWF deploy to devices in the field' request as a bug request at the MS Connect site.

Wendy_MS (Moderator):
Thank you for joining us today with the Embedded Windows Team to talk about Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007 Community Technology Preview. If you have further questions, we’d certainly welcome you to post in the Microsoft.public.windowsxp.embedded newsgroup.

If you would like further information on this topic, please visit the following URL(s): https://connect.microsoft.com and sign up. The instructions can be found on our team blog site: https://blogs.msdn.com/embedded/archive/2006/07/10/660998.aspx.

A link to the transcript will be posted to the neswsgroup shortly.

Thanks everyone for coming. We hope to see you again for a future chat!

MattKell_MSFT (Expert):
Have a good day!

Nick [MS] (Expert):
Have a good day everyone!

*End of Chat

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