Embedded Enabling Features

Article
10/07/2008

In addition to providing the same binary functionality as Windows XP Professional, Windows XP Embedded includes Embedded Enabling Features (EEFs) that address specific embedded device scenarios. By using EEFs, you can deploy your run-time image to read-only media, such as CD-ROM, update and manage your device remotely, or detect the hardware running on your device.

For more information about EEFs, see the following topics:

Bootable CD-ROM
Provides the ability to create a run-time image that you can deploy onto a bootable CD-ROM.
Booting from USB Devices
Supports booting from USB flash devices. Given the wide availability of external USB ports on PC boards and the rapidly falling cost of USB devices, USB boot media are a cost-effective alternative to compact flash.
BootPrep
Provides MS-DOS formatted-media to boot into Windows XP Embedded.
CompactFlash
Provides the ability to deploy your run-time image onto flash-based devices.
CompactPCI
Provides hot swap capabilities for Compact PCI systems. The cPCI standard defines a more reliable version of the PCI bus.
Device Update Agent
Provides the ability to update a deployed run-time image with fixes, patches, or new software.
Enhanced Write Filter
Provides the ability to have the OS boot from any read-only media such as flash media, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), or a protected hard drive while maintaining the appearance of read/write permission to the OS. It protects the content of a volume on the target media by redirecting all writes to another storage location, called an overlay. The overlay may reside in RAM or on non-removable media such as a hard drive.
File-Based Write Filter
Allows Windows XP Embedded to maintain the appearance of read and write access to write sensitive or read only storage. By filtering write requests at the file level, FBWF provides applications with transparent file and directory management, selective write through, selective commits and restores, and improved overlay memory use.
First Boot Agent
Performs any run-time tasks that could not be performed offline with the development tools. These tasks include security installation, COM catalog registration, Plug and Play detection, network configuration, dynamic-link library (DLL) registration, and profile initialization.
Hardware Detection with Target Analyzer
Detects the hardware available on a device and saves the information to a file. You can use this file to create a baseline run-time image.
Message Box and Balloon Pop-Up Interception
Provides the ability to intercept messages boxes on headless or unattended systems.
Mass Deployment
Provides the ability to create and clone a master run-time image that can be copied to mass systems, and then assign a separate system ID and computer name to each individual system.
Power Management Application
Adds standard power management functionality through a DLL called Xpepm.dll. This DLL allows you to utilize the shutdown, restart, standby, and hibernate power management features even if your configuration does not include the standard Start menu UI that is otherwise required to access power management functionality.
Registry Filter
Supports persisting specific registry changes across reboots without requiring all registry changes in a file to be persisted. Specifically, Registry Filter provides selective persistence of licenses and device domain participation secrets across reboots. Configure Registry Filter using Target Designer.
Remote Boot
Allows a device without persistent storage to boot from a network.
System Deployment Image
Enables you to create file-backed virtual disk drives that can be used as a staging area for your run-time images. When the drive is taken offline, a disk image (.sdi) file can be deployed to your device.

Embedded Enabling Features

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Additional resources