2/23/2012

This document contains important information about Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1.

Contents

Get a Product Key

To activate Standard 8 CTP1, you must first download a product key from this site on WindowsEmbedded.com.

Get Started

To get started with Standard 8, see the following topics in the wes8help.chm Help file located in the Help folder on the Standard 8 DVD, or in the %PROGRAMFILES%/Windows Embedded Standard 8/Toolset/Help folder on your development machine:

  • Get Started with Windows Embedded Standard 8

  • Create an OS Image by Using Image Builder Wizard

  • Create an OS Image by Using Image Configuration Editor

This series of lab exercises shows you how to install the development tools for Standard 8 and build Standard 8 images by using either Image Builder Wizard (IBW) or Image Configuration Editor (ICE).

Known Issues

Known issues for Standard 8 CTP1 are noted in the following sections:

Activation and Licensing

Configuration files must contain a valid product key

Issue: If you run IBW with a configuration file (also known as an unattend file), Setup will fail with a "Windows can't read the ProductKey setting from the unattend file" error unless a valid product key has been specified in the configuration file.

Workaround: When you create a configuration file in Image Configuration Editor, you must specify a valid product key in the UserData/ProductKey/Key setting of the Embedded Core module.

Internet activation of Standard 8 is not enabled for this release

Issue: The product key page in the out-of-box experience (OOBE) incorrectly states that "When you connect to the Internet, we'll activate Windows for you." Activation is not enabled for Standard 8 CTP1. This product key page only displays on a runtime after you run Sysprep /generalize.

Workaround: There is no workaround for this issue.

The Settings screen of OOBE shows the product name incorrectly as Windows 8 Beta

Issue: The settings screen of OOBE incorrectly states the product name as "Windows 8 Beta". The correct product name is “Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1”.

Workaround: There is no workaround for this issue.

Servicing

Windows 8 updates can’t be applied to Standard 8 CTP1 images.

Issue: Standard 8 CTP1 does not support the installation of updates available through Windows Update, even if the updates are downloaded from another source.  If you attempt to install a Windows 8 update on a Standard 8 CTP1 device, the update will return an error code of  0x80073715 STATUS_SXS_MANIFEST_IDENTITY_SAME_BUT_CONTENTS_DIFFERENT.

Workaround: There is no workaround for this issue.

Image Configuration

ICE and IBW do not prompt you to select a shell

Issue: Module dependency relationships (such as "select exactly one of") are not fully implemented for this release. When you resolve dependencies for the Embedded Core, you are not prompted to select a shell even though one is required.

Workaround: You must choose either the Command Shell or the Explorer Shell module from the User Interface folder. If you add both shells, the one that Setup installs first is used. If you don’t add a shell, the image will not function.

ICE and IBW do not prompt you to select a branding module

Issue: For this release, module dependency relationships are not fully functional. When you resolve dependencies, you are not prompted to select one of the two mutually exclusive branding options.

Workaround: You must select exactly one of either "Windows Embedded Standard Startup Screens" or "Unbranded Startup Screens".

Hibernation and hiberboot are enabled by default

Issue: Hibernation and hiberboot are enabled by default, which can cause your system to create a large hidden file under C:\hiberfile.sys that can consume up to 75% of your total RAM. For some systems with limited storage, hiberfile.sys is not created.

Workaround: You can remove hiberfile.sys from your system by typing the following command at the command prompt: powercfg -h off. This also disables hibernation and hiberboot.

ICE returns an error when attempting to add applicable updates

Issue: In Image Configuration Editor, clicking on the menu item Validate and then clicking on Add Applicable Updates results in an error message.

Workaround: There is no workaround.

Power Friendly Mobile Device template is missing required dependencies

Issue: When you select the Power Friendly Mobile Device template and resolve required dependencies, the required Wireless Networking and Windows Touch and Multitouch feature modules are not added to your configuration.

Workaround: You can manually add the Networking/Wireless Networking and Devices/Windows Touch and Multitouch feature modules to your configuration in Image Configuration Editor or IBW.

Windows Media Player 12 module is missing required dependency

Issue: If you add the Windows Media Player 12 module to your OS image, audio does not work if you do not also include the FeaturePack/Devices and Drivers/Connected Device Foundation module.

Workaround: Manually add the FeaturePack/Devices and Drivers/Connected Device Foundation module to your OS configuration.

You must manually add font modules when selecting a language pack other than English

Issue: Font modules are not added to your configuration when you select a language pack other than English. This can cause text to display with incorrect characters.

Workaround: You must manually select the font modules for the language or language packs you selected for your image. The language font modules required for each language pack are listed in the following table:

Language pack Required font modules

English Language Pack

  • Fonts/Western Fonts

  • Fonts/Western Supplemental Fonts

German Language Pack

  • Fonts/Western Fonts

  • Fonts/Western Supplemental Fonts

Windows Embedded Developer Update (WEDU)

WEDU scan update service is not enabled for this release

Issue: Windows Embedded Developer Update (WEDU) service is not available for Standard 8 CTP1. If you select Start Scan in Windows Embedded Developer Update (WEDU), no updates are displayed.

Workaround: There is no workaround for this issue.

Networking

Simplified Message Block (SMB) creates slow access to network shares

Issue: Adding the FeaturePack/System Services/Storage/Simplified Message Block (SMB) module to your OS image can cause very slow performance when you attempt to access files that are on a network share.

Workaround: Do not include the SMB module in your OS configuration unless you require SMB functionality.

Module Designer

Module Designer cannot import a module to a remote catalog

Issue: In Module Designer (MOD), if your catalog is installed or copied to a network share, Module Designer cannot import your module into the catalog.

Workaround: You can use either of the following options to import your module to a remote catalog:

  • Copy the catalog to your local machine, import the module to your local catalog, then copy the catalog back to the network.

  • Install the Windows Embedded Standard 8 Toolkit (Standard 8 Toolkit) on the network computer, and then import the module into the network computer's local catalog, which is shared on the network.

DISM and IBW to return an error during OS installation if you map a network drive directly to the exact path of a configuration set

Issue: Mapping a network drive to a configuration set by using an exact path causes DISM and IBW to fail when attempting to install by using a configuration set. This is because when you map to an exact path, DISM adds an extra “\” to your mapped network drive (z:\\autounattend.xml instead of z:\autounattend.xml).

This issue does not affect installing by using a configuration file.

You may also encounter this issue in the following circumstances:

  • If you apply configuration sets directly by using dism /apply-unattend.

  • If you use the Create IBW disk from answer file option in Image Configuration Editor, put your configuration set or IBW disk on a network share, and then map directly to the exact folder.

Workaround: Map to at least one folder level above your autounattend.xml file.

Module Designer returns an access error when you recreate a saved .emd file and click the finish button

Issue: If your custom module contains a read-only file as part of its payload, when you create your .emd module, edit the .emd file, and then save it again, Module Designer returns an access error.

Workaround: Remove or change the attributes of any read-only files in your module payload.

ICE returns an error if you import module from Module Designer while ICE is open

Issue: If both Image Configuration Editor and Module Designer are open and both have selected the same catalog, Image Configuration Editor returns an error message when you try to import a module into the catalog in Image Configuration Editor. First, Image Configuration Editor notifies you that the catalog has changed, which is expected. Next, Image Configuration Editor returns an error message stating that it cannot reacquire the catalog lock.

Workaround: Close Image Configuration Editor before importing a module from Module Designer.

Custom modules with driver payloads cannot be imported into a catalog

Issue: If you create a custom module with driver payload (if any files show up in the Drivers section of the Payload page in Module Designer), then the module cannot be imported into your catalog. This means that your module cannot be used in Image Configuration Editor or IBW.

Workaround: To import your module into your catalog, remove any driver payload from your module. To install a module with a driver payload, use the DISM /add-module command on your device.

Custom modules with installation commands are not executed during OS installation

Issue: Installation commands in custom modules are not executed if the module is included in an OS configuration by using either IBW or Image Configuration Editor..

Workaround: You can manually add your custom module that contains installation commands to your OS image by using the DISM /add-module command.

Write Filters

Certain files, folders, and registry keys cannot be excluded from Unified Write Filter (UWF) filtering

Issue: Certain files, folders, or registry keys cannot be excluded from UWF filtering. Refer to the topics UWF_Volume.AddExclusion and UWF_Registry.AddExclusion in the Help for the list of unsupported files, folders and registry key exclusions.

Workaround: There is no workaround for this issue.

Certain system settings can cause poor write filter performance and startup failure

Issue: If write filters are enabled, they can suffer poor performance and your system may not startup unless certain settings are changed.

Workaround: Follow these steps:

To enable a write filter for the first time

  1. On the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

  2. At the command prompt, type the following command:

    bcdedit /set {current} bootstatuspolicy ignoreallfailures

  3. Type the following command to disable the indexing service:

    sc config wsearch start= disabled

  4. Type the following command to disable Prefetch and SuperFetch services:

    sc config sysmain start= disabled

  5. Run the following VB Script to disable the System Restore service:

    strComputer = "."
Set objWMIService = GetObject("winmgmts:" _
& "{impersonationLevel=impersonate}!\\" & strComputer & "\root\default")
Set objItem = objWMIService.Get("SystemRestore")
errResults = objItem.Disable("")

UWF cannot exclude files, folders, or registry keys that do not exist

Issue: Attempting to exclude files, folders, or registry keys that do not already exist is not allowed by UWF.

Workaround: You must create any file, folder, or registry key first, before attempting to exclude it from UWF filtering.

Paging must be disabled before enabling write filters

Issue: Write filters do not support paging.

Workaround: You must disable paging before enabling a write filter. For more information about disabling paging, see http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;959516.

UWFMgr requires that you use the drive letter to protect volumes

Issue: UWFMgr accepts only the drive letter to specify a volume. Volume GUIDs cannot be used in this release.

Workaround: There is no workaround.

UWF cannot co-exist with other write filters in the same image

Issue: Including UWF in the same image as Enhanced Write Filter (EWF), File-Based Write Filter (FBWF), or Registry Filter is not supported, and can cause system performance issues.

Workaround: If you include UWF in your configuration, you must not include EWF, FBWF, or Registry Filter.

EWF RAM mode reports itself as RAMREG mode

Issue: EWF RAM mode reverts to the registry settings and reports itself as RAMREG mode if a write happens before an EWF protected volume is online.

Workaround: There is no workaround for this issue.

EWF does not support Hibernate Once/Resume Many (HORM)

Issue: EWF does not support HORM in Standard 8.

Workaround: There is no workaround.

Unified Configuration Tool (UCT)

UCT may be unable to configure remote devices unless certain device settings are changed

Issue: Standard 8 disables remote administration by default. Unified Configuration Tool uses WMI providers to configure lockdown settings, and cannot remotely configure a device unless certain settings are changed on the device. Devices that are joined to a corporate domain may already have these settings changed as part of the domain policy.

Workaround: Follow these steps:

To prepare a device to for remote management

  1. Log onto the device with an administrator account.

  2. Set the following registry key:

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\system]
"LocalAccountTokenFilterPolicy"=dword:00000001

    For more information about changing this registry key, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942817.

  3. On the Start menu, right-click Command Prompt and then click Run as administrator.

  4. At the command prompt, to disable the firewall, type the following command:

    netsh firewall set opmode disable

  5. Restart your device.

UCT cannot connect to a non-administrator account on a device

Issue: Unified Configuration Tool requires that you connect to a device with a local administrator account on the device. If you attempt to connect to a device by using a non-administrator account, Unified Configuration Tool becomes unresponsive until the connection attempt times out.

Workaround: Use a local administrator account when configuring a device by using Unified Configuration Tool.

UCT returns an error when you configure Shell Launcher for certain types of accounts

Issue: Unified Configuration Tool returns an error when you configure Shell Launcher for a domain account or the Everyone group.

Workaround: Configure Shell Launcher by using the Shell Launcher WMI providers.

Shell Launcher

Specifying a custom shell that does not exist results in a black screen after login

Issue: If you configure Shell Launcher to launch a shell that does not exist on the device, then a black screen is displayed after login.

Workaround: You can use the Unified Configuration Tool to fix the configuration for Shell Launcher to ensure that a valid shell is launched, or you can modify the settings for Shell Launcher in Image Configuration Editor or IBW to ensure that the shell is valid, and reinstall your OS image.

You cannot configure specific user shells for Shell Launcher at design time

Issue: You cannot configure specific user shells for Shell Launcher in Image Configuration Editor or IBW in this release.

Workaround: You can use the Unified Configuration Tool to configure specific user shells during runtime.

Dialog Filter

You cannot configure Dialog Filter at design time

Issue: You cannot configure Dialog Filter in Image Configuration Editor or IBW in this release.

Workaround: You can use the Unified Configuration Tool to configure Dialog Filter during runtime.

Dialog windows opened by applications that run as administrator cannot be blocked by Dialog Filter

Issue: Dialog Filter does not block dialog windows that are opened by applications that are run as administrator.

Workaround: There is no workaround.

Documentation

Unified Configuration Tool cannot generate scripts in this release

Issue: The documentation for some lockdown features indicates that the Unified Configuration Tool can generate PowerShell scripts. This functionality is not available in this release.

Workaround: You can manually create scripts by using the Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) providers for the lockdown features.

The modules documentation incorrectly indicates that no settings are available

Issue: The documentation of modules and their available settings is incomplete. In the topics that describe each module, the Settings section displays None even when settings are available. Many settings are documented in separate topics that correctly indicate which module they apply to, but not all existing settings are documented.

Workaround: Open Image Configuration Editor to view a complete list of the settings available for each module.