windows embedded standard 7 preparation kit...

i

Windows Embedded Standard 7

Not for resale.

Certification Exam PreparationPreparation Kit

CTSMExam 70-582

Automation

Contents at a Glance

1 Product Concepts

2 Building a Base Operating System Image Using Image Builder Wizard

3 Advanced Installation using Image Configuration Editor

4 Customizing an Image using Image Build Wizard

5 Advanced Image Creation

6 Preparing and Deploying an Image

7 Servicing an Image

13

Chapter 2

Building a Base Operating System Image Using Image Builder Wizard

Under the previous versions of Windows Embedded Standard, you created operatingsystem images off-line on a development computer. Windows Embedded Standard 7,in contrast, implements an on-device build process, letting you work directly on thetarget device, so creating embedded operating systems has never been easier. You canapproach the undertaking in two ways. The simplest, which we cover in this chapter,is to use IBW. Later in this Preparation Kit we’ll go into the second method—usingICE, which gives you more flexibility in customization and lets you create automatedinstallations.

Exam objectives in this chapter:

■ Becoming familiar with packages and learning how to select them

■ Understanding the process for resolving dependencies

■ Knowing how to choose and prepare boot media

■ Learning about analyzing the target environment

■ Using IBW to create and install a Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating system

14 Chapter 2 Building a Base Operating System Image Using Image Builder Wizard

Before You BeginTo complete the lessons in this chapter, you’ll need:

■ A target device (also called the reference device when cloning) that meets therequirements listed in the introduction

■ A bootable Windows Embedded Standard 7 DVD appropriate for the device’sarchitecture (x32 or x64)

Cross ReferenceIf you’d like to study material related to a specific exam objective or test yourknowledge of the objective, use Table 2-1 to find the relevant section in the chapter.

Table 2-1 This table lets you quickly get to information about particular tasks and exam objectives.

Practical Task Exam Objectives Chapter Lessons

Practical Exercises

Install a Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating system using the interactive Image Builder Wizard

Select the packages

Choose and prepare the boot medium

Lesson 1 Lab 2

Create a new configuration based on a template

Select packages Lesson 1 Lab 2

Lesson 1: Image Builder Wizard 15

Lesson 1: Image Builder WizardImage Builder Wizard guides you through building an image in a step-by-step fashion,letting you choose the operating-system options you want from lists and easily addand remove capabilities. Once you’ve made all your choices, IBW builds the operatingsystem image and installs it on the reference device automatically.

Even after the process completes, you can further customize the image manually,performing tasks such as installing and configuring software and device drivers,adding language packs, modifying the registry, and adjusting the settings of operatingsystem components. You can also generalize the installation, capture it to a WIM file,and deploy that to multiple identical devices.

IBW nicely illustrates the steps you follow to develop a Windows Embedded Standardoperating system. You first select the device architecture of the target system, and thenanalyze its hardware. That sets the stage for creating the configuration, a process ofboth adding functionality (using feature sets and packages) and removing unneededfunctionality. Next, as part of customizing and building the operating system, youresolve dependencies, and finally, you deploy the build by initializing the target bootmedia and installing the operating system. Because IBW is so easy to use, it’s ideal forperforming quick installations when you need to do testing or performdemonstrations.

After this lesson, you will be able to:

■ Understand the process of building a Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating system using IBW.

■ Identify the various options in IBW and understand their roles.

■ Identify missing device drivers.

Estimated lesson time: 15 minutes.


Starting Image Builder WizardIf your reference device has a DVD-ROM drive, you can start IBW simply by bootingfrom the IBW DVD that’s appropriate for the device architecture (x32 or x64).Otherwise, use the tools in the Windows Embedded Standard Toolkit to create abootable USB flash drive, CD-ROM, or hard drive. You can then use that device to runImage Builder Wizard, and of course, to run utilities and other software.

MORE INFO Instructions for creating bootable media

The Windows Embedded Standard CTP2 Lab Manual included on the Windows Embedded Standard7 companion CD offers step-by-step instructions for creating the bootable media just described.

Building an Image Using Image Builder WizardAs shown in Figure 2-1, the opening screen of the Image Builder Wizard presentsthree options:

■ Build an Image

■ Deploy an Answer File or WIM

■ Launch WinPE Command Prompt (located in the lower left-hand corner of the screen)

Figure 2-1 and others in this chapter may be slightly different from the final releaseversion of the product.

Figure 2-1 The opening Image Builder Wizard screen


The Build an Image SelectionThis option starts IBW, which enables you to choose packages, drivers, and languagesto include in your operating system. If you want, you can base your configuration onone of a number of templates (found in the default distribution share on the bootableIBW DVD), then modify the configuration as you progress through the wizard. Thedefault distribution share includes these templates:

■ Application Compatibility

■ Digital Signage

■ Industrial Automation

■ Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, Remote Desktop

■ Minimum Configuration

■ Thin Client

TIP

You can select only one template in IBW. In ICE, you can merge multiple templates to create anew configuration.

Alternatively, you can create a configuration from scratch by selecting specific featuresfrom the wizard process. Whether you use this or the former method, once you’vefinished making your selections and adjustments, you must use the wizard to resolvedependencies (unless you based your configuration on a template and made nofurther additions or deletions).

The Deploy an Answer File or WIM SelectionChoosing Deploy an Answer File or WIM in the Install Windows screen installs aWindows Embedded Standard 7 operating system in an automated manner, usingone of two sources and methods (Figure 2-2). The file will have the extension WIM oris an XML answer file, and must be included on the bootable DVD, network share orconnected storage.


Picking an unattended answer file previously created in ICE can partly or fullyautomate the image-building process. Depending on the configuration created andthe settings included, you may be able to bypass at least part of the wizard process.The answer file may use a distribution share other than that on the bootable DVD.

The WIM file contains a complete working operating system image, previously capturedfrom a reference device using Microsoft ImageX. The WIM file can be deployed to thereference device in a single process with or without user intervention. As in the otherinstallation methods presented deploying a WIM file uses Image Builder.

Figure 2-2 Selecting WIM or an answer file in IBW

NOTE Distribution Shares on the bootable IBW DVD

The distribution share on the bootable IBW DVDs is identical to those that the toolkit installationputs on the development system. You can also add packages, templates and third-party driversto your distribution shares.


The Launch WinPE Command Prompt SelectionThis option (the third on the Install Windows screen) enables you to easily start aninstance of WinPE, as shown in Figure 2-3. From the WinPE command prompt youcan copy files, connect to network shares, and execute the Target Analyzer Probe(Tap.exe), which provides an inventory of the hardware on the reference device andstores the information in a Devices.pmq file. WinPE creates a read/write RAM systemdrive (drive X:) and puts Tap.exe in the %SystemDrive%\Sources folder. Data storedon this drive does not persist between reboots, but WinPE lets you transfer files you’dlike to save to removable media, such as a USB flash drive.

Figure 2-3 The WinPE Command Prompt in IBW

NOTE Starting the Windows Preinstallation Environment from IBW

You can create multiple instances of WinPE by repeatedly clicking Launch WinPE CommandPrompt in the Install Windows screen. You can also create a new WinPE instance at any time andat any screen, by pressing Shift+F10. You may also need to initialize the WinPE environmentsuch as the networking stack using the command Wpeinit. Wpeinit is automatically executedfrom the Launch WinPE Command Prompt but not from a Shift+F10 shortcut. Wpeinit onlyneeds to be run once per WinPE session and is required to be able to perform a variety of tasks,such as connecting to a network and mapping drives to a network share.


Lesson SummaryImage Builder Wizard (IBW) provides an interactive interface that guides you throughthe configuration and installation process directly on the target device. The easiestway to start IBW is by using the bootable Windows Embedded Standard 7 bootableDVD (x32 or x64 version as appropriate for the hardware). If necessary, though, youcan use the provided toolkit to create bootable removable media, include IBW and adistribution share and start the IBW from that.

The wizard enables you perform three basic tasks. Build an Image starts IBW, whichenables you to choose packages, drivers, and languages for your operating system.You can also base your configuration on one of several templates, and then modify theconfiguration as you go through the wizard. Deploy an Answer File or WIM lets youselect an answer file, which can automate the image-building process. Launch WinPECommand Prompt enables you quickly start the Windows PreinstallationEnvironment when you want to carry out tasks such as building a Devices.pmqhardware inventory file using Tap.exe, the Target Analyzer Probe utility.

Lab 2: Building an Image Using Image Builder Wizard and Templates 21

Lab 2: Building an Image Using Image Builder Wizard and Templates

In this lab we’ll create a Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating system imageusing IBW and the Thin Client template included in the Default Distribution share.

After this lab, you will be able to:

■ Identify the various options in Image Builder Wizard and understand their roles.

■ Uncover missing device drivers.

■ Create a Windows Embedded Standard operating system using IBW.

Estimated lesson time: 40 minutes.

1. Start IBW on your reference device either by booting from the WindowsEmbedded Standard 7 DVD (x32 or x64 as appropriate), or as mentioned in theStarting Image Builder Wizard section, booting from an ISO image on removablemedia.

NOTE Booting from a Source Other than the DVD

If you can’t boot into IBW from the DVD, you’ll find instructions on how to boot fromalternate media in the Windows Embedded Standard CTP2 Lab Manual included on theWindows Embedded Standard 7 companion CD.

2. On the first screen, select the Build an Image option. This starts IBW and enablesyou to choose packages, drivers, and languages to include in your image. In thislab we’ll use a template as the base.

3. Accept the End User License Agreement.

4. The next screen (see Figure 2-4) asks whether you want to create your imageusing a template. If you do, you can select one from the current distributionshare or click the Browse button to search attached media or a network share foranother template. Clicking the View template selection enables you to see (butnot alter) the feature set and packages of the template currently highlighted inthe pick list. You would select the Do not use a template radio button if youwanted to create an entirely new configuration. (We won’t.)


Figure 2-4 In this dialog you can tell IBW not to use a template or choose one to base your image on

5. For this lab select the Thin Client template, and then click Next to continue.

6. In the next dialog, you choose the primary language, time, and currency formatfor your image as well as the keyboard or input method to install on the finalimage. You can add additional languages later. When you’ve made your choices,click Next to continue.

7. A screen displays, showing a summary of the drivers to be installed, detecteddevices, and feature packages in your thin client template. Figures 2-5 and 2-6illustrate the two different views of the information you can select. Any detecteddevices for which the distribution share has no device drivers are shown in thedisplay tree as a node labeled Unmapped Devices along with a warning icon, asyou can see in Figures 2-5 and 2-6.

Figure 2-5 Summary of drivers and features—category view

Figure 2-6 Summary of drivers and features—list view


8. Near the bottom right-hand corner of the window you’ll see an estimate of theoperating system’s image size (its footprint). The approximation is based onyour current selections.

TIP Check for unsupported drivers

IBW provides two views—list and category—of drivers and features. Be sure to switch tothe list view and inspect the Unmapped Devices node in the display tree, which may beout of view. Depending on your lab setup, you may or may not have unmapped devices.

9. To install additional device drivers, which include those that resolve unmappeddevices, mark the Modify Drivers check box. To change features of theconfiguration, also mark the Modify Features check box. For this lab, check bothoptions, and then click Next to proceed.

10. The Find and Select Drivers dialog window presents three options for installingdevice drivers:

■ Automatically detect devices uses the selection that was just presented in theSummary of Drivers and Features screen. This is the easiest option, but it stilllets you modify drivers and resolve unmapped devices by adding additionaldevice drivers only. With this option detected drivers cannot be removed.

■ Choose a .pmq file enables you to select a PMQ file you previously created forthe device. This option will cause IBW to replace the list of automaticallydetected devices with the devices listed in the .pmq file. As with previous ver-sions of Windows Embedded Standard, you generate this file with theTap.exe utility.

■ Do not Select additional drivers You won’t be able to include additional driversor resolve unmapped devices. IBW will include only the drivers in the Embed-ded core. Your image will still be bootable, but drivers for non-boot-criticaldevices may not be installed.

11. For this lab, select the first option, Automatically detect devices. To continueclick Next.

NOTE Dont see this screen?

If you didn’t select the Modify Drivers check box in the previous screen, you won’t get thisscreen or the following three. Click the back button at the top left of the dialog to bringback the previous screen and choose Modify Drivers.


12. Besides listing the device drivers IBW will install, the Confirm drivers to be installeddialog presents you with any unmapped devices the utility detected and for whichit found no drivers. To install additional drivers, click the Browse button and findthe valid Windows 7 drivers. As you can see from Figures 2-7 and 2-8, you canswitch between list and categorized views. To proceed, click Next.

13. You should be at the Select the packages to include in your image screen. Here youcan add additional features to your configuration. Since we started thisconfiguration with the Thin Client template, IBW has already selected severalappropriate packages (indicated by the checked boxes). Once again, you’ll findthe current footprint estimate at the bottom right corner of the dialog. You canroll the configuration back to the original template by selecting the Revert tooriginal option.

CAUTION Revert to original issues no warning

Selecting Revert to original causes you to lose any configuration selections you’ve made,but the utility does not issue a warning or ask for a confirmation before returning the con-figuration to that of the original template.

14. As with previous screens in the Wizard, the Switch view option enables you tochoose a list or categorized view (Figures 2-9 and 2-10).

Figure 2-7 Confirm drivers to install dialog—category view

Figure 2-8 Confirm drivers to install—list view


TIP

In list view you can locate a package quickly by entering the first letters of its name.

15. Near the bottom of the window you’ll see two check boxes, Resolve optionaldependencies and Include applicable updates, which are both checked by default.The first, by having IBW include optional dependencies in the resolve-dependencies step (which comes next) ensures that the installed operatingsystem will function as intended. Though you can choose not to resolve optionaldependencies, unless you must due to physical image size requirements ordeliberately as part of your design it is a best practice to resolve them.

16. If you’ve checked the second box, when you click the Resolve Dependenciesbutton, IBW will look in the Updates folder of the selected distribution shareand apply any updates it finds. For this lab, be sure both options are checked.

NOTE The Disabled Next Button

Until you have IBW check for and resolve dependencies, the utility grays out the Nextbutton, so you have to click the Resolve Dependencies button. When the process finishes,you can click Next.

17. In practice, when you have IBW resolve dependencies, it may find a dependencyon a set of packages known as dependency group that it can’t resolve. When IBWfinds such dependencies, it displays dialogs asking you to resolve them inaccordance with the dependency type specified (ie. Requires at least onepackage from the group). Because of the template we chose for this lab, IBWwon’t actually find anything to resolve. Click Next to continue.

Figure 2-9 Select packages to include—category view

Figure 2-10 Select packages to includelist view


NOTE Resolving dependencies changes the estimated footprint.

For a 64-bit installation, the footprint will increase by nearly 50 percent.

18. You should now be at the Summary of drivers and features screen, which gives youa final overview of packages and drivers included in your configuration. At thispoint you can’t make any changes. If you need to, you must go to the previousscreens using the back button. Again, you have a list and category view andshould use them to look for any unmapped devices. Once you’re satisfied withyour selections, click Next to continue.

19. The Where do you want to install Windows dialog, as shown in Figure 2-11,displays a list of the currently installed disks and partitions. You can select oneas the destination drive. You can also see the total size of each disk, its free space,and its type.

Figure 2-11 Basic installation-destination dialog

CAUTION Back up data you want before formatting or deleting partitions

Both processes destroy all existing information on the selected disk.


20. If you install additional drivers and disks, clicking the Refresh option updates thedisplay to show them. To install an additional device driver needed to access ahard drive, you can use the Load Driver selection. Drive options (advanced) opensanother dialog (Figure 2-12), with selections that let you delete or format anexisting partition.

Figure 2-12 Advanced installation-destination dialog

21. The advanced installation-destination dialog offers five options not available inthe basic dialog. Format and Delete enable you to initialize a partition and removeone, respectively. And if unallocated disk space exists, you’ll see two otheroptions enabled: New enables you to create a partition, Extend lets you give anexisting one more capacity. Finally, if you check the Create separate systempartition box, IBW will create a system partition that contains the hardware-specific files needed to start Windows. The Windows operating system foldersand files are installed to another partition known as the boot volume (partition2 in Figure 2-12). Separating the system partition from the operating systemallows the system to boot in the case of operating system corruption. Althoughnot considered a requirement for an embedded system, a system partition is alsorequired for encryption of the operating system using BitLocker and supportingmultiple, bootable operating systems on the one system. By default the systempartition is set at the minimum of 100MB.


22. In this step in the lab, you need to select the disk or partition you want to holdthe image. Letting IBW manage the partitioning and initialization is the easiestway, but the ability to do so depends on the disk on which you’ll be installing theoperating system. For a drive with existing partitions, the most reliable methodis to first delete all the drive’s partitions, which you do from the advanced dialog.IBW will do the required partitioning and formatting, after which you simplyselect the disk and click Next.

NOTE Windows 7 Disk Structure

The organization of a bootable Windows 7 disk is different from that of previous Windowsversions. Since Windows Vista, the Microsoft recommended partition structure is to createa separate system partition to contain the files necessary to start Windows. When usingthis structure the %SystemDrive% is always C: no matter what partition the boot volume isinstalled to.

The Boot.ini file in Windows XP has been replaced with BCD (Boot Configuration Data)and is an improved mechanism for describing boot configuration data. With the develop-ment of new firmware models (for example, the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI)), anextensible and interoperable interface is required to abstract the underlying firmware.

Later chapters in this Preparation Kit provide more information.

23. When you click Next in the previous step, the wizard will take the WindowsEmbedded Standard 7 configuration you created and install it on the referencedevice. During the process, the device will restart at least twice, and you’ll see theprogress dialog shown in Figure 2-13. Completion may take some time. On ourVirtual PC installation it required over 20 minutes.

24. By default, the first time a user starts the Windows Embedded Standard 7system, the Windows Welcome (or OOBE), shown in Figure 2-14, begins. Thislets the first person to run the embedded device customize the installation.During the process, the user must accept the Microsoft software license terms,can create user accounts, and can set the preferred language and time zone. Youcan customize or even eliminate OOBE by running it in what Microsoft callsAudit Mode, but you must do so from ICE.


Figure 2-13 IBW installation progress dialog

Figure 2-14 The first screen of the Windows Welcome process


25. In our Lab Windows Welcome will guide you through the following steps:

■ Enter a username and computer name for the system.

■ Create an optional password and password hint.

■ Enter a Windows product key (PID). For our Lab, do not enter a PID andselect Next.

■ Select Security functionality.

■ Select time and date settings.

■ Select your computers current network profile – if unsure select the PublicNetwork option.

NOTE Product Key Entry

Not entering a product key will result in the Windows installation being designated as atrial image that will expire after 30 days. After that point, the operating system will rebootevery 20 minutes. See the Activation topic in a later chapter.

26. On completion the system starts and the process of building a Thin Client usingthe Image Builder Wizard is complete.

TIP

You can build a Windows Embedded Standard 7 image that contains just the Embeddedcore, which is called a miniboot image. In this lab, you would have done so by selectingthe Minimum Configuration template in step 4.

Chapter 2 Review 31

Chapter ReviewThe Image Builder Wizard—which runs on a target (or reference) device instead of adevelopment system—provides a guided, interactive method for creating andinstalling a Windows Embedded Standard 7 operating system. The easiest way tostart the IBW process is via the bootable Windows Embedded Standard 7 IBW DVD(x32 or x64, as appropriate).

In the Wizard you can create a configuration by basing it on one of several providedtemplates (which we did in this chapter’s lab). Alternatively, you can build an entirelynew image by choosing functionality and device-driver options from those offered bythe wizard. To install the image, from within the wizard you select a drive or partitionand IBW carries out the request using the configuration you made.

This lesson has served as an introduction to configuring and installing a WindowsEmbedded Standard 7 operating system using a wizard. Lessons and labs in furtherchapters cover using IBW to perform more-advanced configuration tasks, such asthose for adding and removing packages, installing device drivers, and includingunmapped Drivers.

Key TermsDo you know the meaning of these key terms? Check your knowledge with theanswers provided in the glossary at the end of the book.

■ Template

■ Devices.pmq

Suggested PracticesTo help you successfully master the exam objectives presented in this chapter,complete the following task.

Minimal ConfigurationUsing IBW, create a configuration using the Minimal Configuration template. Resolveall dependencies, including optional ones. For the purposes of this exercise, do notadd or remove any packages or device drivers.

windows embedded standard 7 preparation kit...

Documents