Headless System

5/10/2007

A headless system does not require a keyboard, mouse, or video graphics adapter (VGA) card during operation. Therefore, you must be able to gain access to the headless system so that it does not require user interaction at a local console.

Note

Because the user cannot directly respond to interactive message boxes, dialog boxes, and service messages, Windows XP Embedded provides message box interception. You use this to suppress and respond to these messages programmatically. You can also hide certain system messages and balloon pop-ups. For more information, see Message Box and Balloon Pop-Up Interception.

You can use remote administration tools to interact with your headless system.

Note

Your headless system requires a target device BIOS that does not require a video card.

In This Section

• Adding Support for a Headless System to your Configuration
  Describes the components to add to your configuration to support a headless system.

• Headless Device Video Driver Processing
  Describes how video drivers are processed during system startup, and how video drivers impact headless systems.

• Using a Kernel Mode Debugger During Boot
  Describes how to use a kernel mode debugger on a headless system.

Related Sections

• Deploy a Run-Time Image
  Describes the process of transferring a run-time image to a variety of media types and the components and tools that are used for this purpose.

• Message Box and Balloon Pop-Up Interception
  Describes how to disable or capture shell message boxes and balloon pop-ups.