Release Notes for Microsoft Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 2 Feature Pack 2007

  • Article

12/6/2006

Please read this documentation carefully. It includes the latest information about Microsoft® Windows® XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007 that became available after the product documentation for was written. The information in this document has precedence over the information included in the online Help installed with the product.

Unless stated otherwise, all information included here applies to this version of Windows® XP Embedded.

Please check the Windows XPe Service Pack 2 Feature Pack 2007 site frequently for the latest updates to the release notes and the product documentation.

Contents

Hardware Requirements

Development and Target System

Installation

Database and Repositories

Target Designer

Component Issues

File Based Write Filter (FBWF) Issues

USB Boot Issues

SQL Express 2005 Issues

Component Database Manager Issues

Setting the Path to Documents and Settings

Wallpaper Issues

Device Update Agent Issues

Shortcut Creation Issues

Hibernation Tab Issues

Displaying Icons without Internet Explorer

DBRestore Issues

Uninstall Issues

Windows Vista Build Issues

FAT-to-NTFS File System Conversion Issues

Logon Screen Text Issues with Japanese Language Support

Flash.ocx File Cannot Be Deleted from Runtime

Copyright

Hardware Requirements

Development and Target System

The system requirements for Windows XP Embedded have changed from those documented on the product box. Use the following disk size requirements to install Windows XP Embedded:

  • Development tools only: 20 megabytes (MB)
  • Development tools and database on the same system: 3.2 gigabytes (GB) for database and 20 MB for tools
  • Shared component database in a team environment: 3.2 GB
  • Windows XP or Windows 2000 with Service Pack (SP) 2 or later, or Windows Server 2003, is required before you install Windows XP Embedded.

For more information about the hardware requirements, see the Installation Guide, located on the distribution medium, or the Getting Started Guide, which is available on your development system after installation.

Installation

Upgrading from Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 2 Feature Pack 2007 to future releases of Windows XPe is not supported.

  • The installation of Feature Pack 2007 requires Windows XPe Service Pack 2 tools and database updates to be present on the system.
    Note If you have Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 installed, you must install the latest version of the Windows Script Host before you install Windows XP Embedded with Service Pack 2. You can download the latest version from Microsoft Download Center.
  • Feature Pack 2007 setup provides the option to install MSI 3.1. This is not necessary for development environments using Windows Vista RC1, because Windows Vista ships with MSI 4.0. Do not attempt to install MSI 3.1 on Windows Vista.

For information about Feature Pack 2007 installation and configuration options, see the Installation Guide located on the installation medium.

Database and Repositories

  • The FP 2007 database update fails if the SP2 database components are not installed in the database.
  • Uninstalling the database will remove all components imported into that database. After reinstalling the Windows XP Embedded database, additional components needed or referenced in an .slx or .sld file must be re-imported into the database or these files may not open correctly.
  • Dual installations of the database are not supported, whether on the same or different drives or partitions.

Target Designer

  • There is new functionality that allows a developer to refresh the component browser by pressing F8.
  • Typing the first few letters of a component will navigate to that component in the Component Browser list view.
  • To enable crash dump capability on devices with SCSI drives as the system drive, the Disk Dump Drivers component should be manually added to the configuration.
  • Adding the Generic Device Drivers Support component causes a Configuration Management (CMI) error during the following sequence:
    • The Generic Device Drivers Support component is added to a configuration.
    • A device driver class is selected in the Settings of the Generic Device Drivers Support component.
    • Process device driver dependencies is selected in General Properties in the Settings of the Generic Device Drivers component.
    • Check Dependencies is run.
    • Process device driver dependencies is unselected.
    • Check Dependencies is run again.
      The CMI error then occurs, preventing dependency checks from completing. Remove and re-add the Generic Device Drivers Support component to continue to check dependencies.
  • The Task Name Column in the Target Designer Tasks tab does not always display correctly. The column width can be very small by default, making it very difficult to see. The information provided by the Task Name column is still there, but you must increase its width to see it.

Component Issues

  • The “RPC Named Service" component is required to be included in the image for some distributed RPC applications to function correctly, for example “The Workstation Service”.
  • When adding both the “Terminal Server Client” and the “System Cloning Tool” components to a configuration, the “Terminal Services Core Management Tools” should be also added. This ensures that when fbreseal is run, the permissions on the MSLicensing branch are set up correctly.
  • The "Security Center" component shortcut does not get created in the specified path if the shortcut property is changed from its default in the component configuration UI.
  • The Generic Driver Support macro component does not bring in files for 3rd party drivers that are imported into the database, even if the 3rd party driver has a membership on the correct Hardware device category. This limitation results in "File Not Found" error for that driver during build in TD, and no files gets incorporated in the resulting runtime. The workaround is to manually include the desired 3rd party component in the configuration, before running dependency check.
  • Component dependency calculations in Target Designer do not fully reflect FP 2007 refactoring.
    Target Designer does not flag the dependency of the following components on Microsoft Management Console (MMC):
    • Administration Support Tools
    • Disk Defragmenter Core
    • Indexing Service
    • IIS Internet Manager
    • COM+ Services
      When including any of the above components in the runtime image, you must also include the MMC component.
  • To get the list of all component changes in Feature Pack 2007 please refer to the FP 2007 documentation download at the Windows XPe Service Pack 2 Feature Pack 2007 site.

File Based Write Filter (FBWF) Issues

  • Running the Indexing Service in conjunction with FBWF may result in loss of filesystem index after every reboot. To avoid this, the index database files must be added to the Exclusion List through fbwf component configuration UI or using fbwfmgr commandline tool. A local administrator can use CIADV.MSC to discover where these database files are being stored on the device.
  • When FBWF runs in dynamic mode, it allocates memory from paged pool. The system sets a maximum value which is typically around 170MB. If the FBWF threshold is set to a value higher than that which Windows has set for the Paged Pool maximum (e.g. setting a 256MB FBWF threshold when the maximum Paged Pool size is 170MB), then the Paged Pool maximum will be obtained which in turn can cause instability issues with Windows and failure of file/folder copy/move operations to the protected volume. As a workaround, you can add the following value to the registry key to increase the maximum pool size HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management. Set this value to a value in bytes to FBWF threshold size. For example for a threshold size of 300MB set the registry key value to (300*1024*1024 which results in) 314572800.
  • During the second reboot of runtime images including FBWF, the following erroneous event log entry is generated: "The configuration file for the file-based write filter is missing. Filtering is disabled." Ignore this event log entry; FBWF is configured later and the FBWF configuration file fbwf.cfg is generated.

Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) Issues

  • If the runtime image includes both Registry Filter and Enhanced Write Filter (EWF) operating in RAM Reg mode, then EWF must not start in the enabled state on the system volume. In EWF Configuration Settings in Target Designer, unselect Start EWF Enabled for the system volume. Enable EWF manually after First Boot Agent completes, to ensure that Registry Filter is completely initialized before EWF begins protecting the volume.
  • In a system that boots from USB flash devices, EWF RAM and RAM Reg modes may protect different physical devices for the same configuration. This is because PnP devices like USB flash devices may change disk number assignments in a system. EWF RAM Reg mode only interprets the disk and partition numbers while EWF RAM mode correlates this information to signature and offsets on a physical device.
  • When EWF is configured in Disk Mode and the runtime image includes Registry Filter, the EWF partition size should be at least 4 MB to accommodate Registry Filter disk space needs. If the size of the EWF partition is less than 4 MB, Registry Filter may exhaust EWF overlay space, causing the system to issue Delayed Write Failed messages and become unusable. EWF partition size is set in Target Designer.
  • On a runtime image executing in Virtual PC, EWF in RAM Reg mode does not support Hibernate Once Resume Many (HORM) when EWF is automatically enabled after first boot (that is, when Start EWF Enabled is selected in EWF Configuration Settings in Target Designer).
    Use either of the following two procedures to allow HORM to work properly with EWF in RAM Reg mode on Virtual PC.

    1. In EWF Configuration Settings in Target Designer, unselect Start EWF Enabled for each protected volume. Enable EWF manually after the first boot completes and reboot, or

    2. In EWF Configuration Settings in Target Designer, select Start EWF Enabled for each protected volume. After the first boot completes, commit the EWF overlay by entering the following EWF Manager command:

      ewfmgr -commit -all

      Then reboot the system.

USB Boot Issues

  • Please note that USB boot feature is only supported for USB 2.0. Depending on the BIOS on your hardware, booting from USB 1.1 could be either extremely slow or dysfunctional.

SQL Express 2005 Issues

  • FP 2007 includes a macro component that enables easy inclusion of the dependencies for SQL Express 2005 in an XPe image. Official support for running SQL Express 2005 on XPe will be in place at a later date.
  • SQL Express 2005 does not support cloning. The product must be installed on the device post FBreseal phase.

Component Database Manager Issues

Deleting a component in Component Database Manager (CDM) does not automatically remove the associated repository. Because of this, importing a component into the database fails when the database previously contained that same component. For example, if the .NET Framework 2.0 component is imported into the database and then deleted, importing the .NET Framework 2.0 component a second time fails. CDM displays the following error message: Cannot delete repository files in target folder. Please make sure you have write access to the files

To work around this issue, use the following procedure to give the CDM user write access permission for the relevant repository.

To acquire write permission for a CDM repository:

  1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the Windows XP Embedded database root repository (for example, c:\Windows Embedded Data\Repositories). Right click on the repository folder.
  2. Select Sharing and Security....The Repositories Properties dialog box appears.
  3. On the Sharing tab, select the Permissions button. The Permissions for Repositories dialog box appears.
  4. In Group or user names, select the current user or Everyone.
  5. In Permissions, select the Change box in the Allow column.
  6. Select OK.
  7. On the Security tab, select the CDM user.
  8. Verify that the Write and Modify boxes are selected in the Allow column.
  9. Select Advanced. The Advanced Security Settings for Repositories dialog box appears.
  10. Select the box Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries show here that apply to child objects.
  11. Select OK.
  12. In Repositories Properties, select OK.

The permissions update process takes a few minutes. After it is completed, import the component again using CDM.

Caution The repository is a shared environment in the file system. Enabling modify or write permissions makes it vulnerable to corruption by other users.

Setting the Path to Documents and Settings

If the path to the Documents and Settings folder is not set to the system (root) drive (that is, if it is not set to %SystemDrive%\Documents and Settings) in Target Device Settings in Target Designer, then the Documents and Settings folder is duplicated on the system drive in the runtime image. Use any one of the following three procedures to ensure that only a single Documents and Settings folder is created, when the folder is not located on the system drive.

First Procedure

To locate the Documents and Settings folder elsewhere than the system drive:

  1. Open Target Designer. Set the minimum component visibility to 200. Confirm that the Windows subsystem component is included in the configuration; if it is not present, add the component to the configuration.
  2. In the configuration editor, for the Windows subsystem component, select Registry Data.
  3. In the Registry Path editor, double-click HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\ProfilesDirectory. The Registry Resource Properties dialog opens.
  4. In the Value: field, enter the desired path to the Documents and Settings folder. Select OK.

Second Procedure

To locate the Documents and Settings folder elsewhere than the system drive:

  1. Open Target Designer. In the configuration editor, right-click Extra Registry Data.
    If the Extra Resources node is not shown in the configuration editor, choose the View menu, and then choose Resources. A check mark is placed next to Resources.
  2. Choose Add…. The Add an Extra Registry Entry to the Configuration dialog appears.
  3. Select Browse. The Registry Browser dialog opens.
  4. Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList\ProfilesDirectory.
  5. Select OK. The Registry Browser dialog closes.
  6. In the Value: field of the Add an Extra Registry Entry to the Configuration dialog, enter the desired path to the Documents and Settings folder. Select OK.

Third Procedure

To locate the Documents and Settings folder elsewhere than the system drive:

  1. Build the runtime image.
  2. In regedit, load the software.sav registry hive of the runtime image.
  3. Open the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList.
  4. Set the registry value ProfilesDirectory to the desired path to the Documents and Settings folder.
  5. Unload the software.sav registry hive.

Wallpaper Issues

The image bliss.bmp in %WINDIR%\Web\Wallpaper is not usable as a wallpaper. Workaround: Use bliss.jpg as the wallpaper or include bliss.bmp from a Windows XP installation in the runtime image. The second option however would include an additional foot print of about 1.4 MB.

Device Update Agent Issues

You must use the built-in administrator account to run the Device Update Agent's script compiler on Windows Vista, dusc.exe. Attempting to run the script compiler with any other account will result in an "Access Denied" error, unless the program has been granted "run as Administrator" privileges.

Shortcut Creation Issues

Trying to create a shortcut in the FP2007 runtime will generate an error message, "Error loading appwiz.cpl // The specified module could not be found." unless appwiz.cpl is added to the runtime. The appwiz.cpl file is owned by the Add/Remove Programs Control Panel component.

Hibernation Tab Issues

The Hibernation Tab in the power options menu may be disabled or hidden entirely if your system drivers are not up to date. It is especially important that your video and GART drivers are current if you wish to enable Hibernation, otherwise it may not be displayed.

Displaying Icons without Internet Explorer

To display icons correctly on the desktop and in the start menu in a runtime image built without Internet Explorer, add and populate a registry key using the following procedure.

To display icons without Internet Explorer:

  1. Build the runtime image.
  2. In regedit, load the software.sav registry hive of the runtime image.
  3. Create a new registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{89820200-ECBD-11cf-8B85-00AA005B4340}, with the Default Value of Windows Desktop Update.
  4. Create the REG_SZ registry value ComponentID and assign it the string IE4Shell_NT.
  5. Create the REG_DWORD registry value IsInstalled and assign it the value 0x00000001 (1).
  6. Create the REG_SZ registry value Locale and assign it the string EN.
  7. Create the REG_EXPAND_SZ registry value StubPath and assign it the string regsvr32.exe /s /n /i:U shell32.dll.
  8. Create the REG_SZ registry value Version and assign it the string 6,0,2900,2180.
  9. Unload the software.sav registry hive.

DBRestore Issues

Do not use DBRestore to restore Eval database backups on top of Retail databases, or to restore Retail database backups on top of Eval databases. In those cases, the database restore fails and no active databases remain on the system. DBRestore only supports restoring database backups of the same type.

Uninstall Issues

During FP 2007 uninstall, if the build root is not on the development machine partition with the most free space, then the build root is relocated to the partition with the most free space. Specifically, for the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Embedded BuildRoot, FP 2007 uninstall modifies the registry value data to place the build root on the partition with the most free space.

In addition, FP 2007 uninstall removes the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows Embedded BuildRoot.

Windows Vista Build Issues

Building Windows XP Embedded images in Windows Vista development environments generates files in the target image build folder that are not needed on the embedded device. Reduce the size of the run-time image by removing these extraneous files.

Delete all files in the %windir%\system32\config build folder with the following file extensions, which are hidden by default:

  • .LOG1
  • .LOG2
  • .TM.BLF
  • .REGTRANS-MS

FAT-to-NTFS File System Conversion Issues

Conversion of FAT file systems to NTFS causes problems with access control list (ACL) operation.

As a result, after file system conversion, you cannot install a web server certificate through the Internet Information Services (IIS) certificate wizard.

Logon Screen Text Issues with Japanese Language Support

Some text on the logon screen may not display correctly on Windows XP Embedded with Japanese language support. For example, the following message may not display correctly:

Please wait

The text eventually displays correctly. Typically, the text displays correctly when the following message is displayed:

Windows is loading your personal settings

To resolve this problem, add a String Value that is named PreloadFontFile to the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon. Assign msgothic to this String Value.

To Change the Registry:

  1. Run regedit.
  2. Open the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon.
  3. On the Edit menu, select New, and then select String Value.
  4. Enter PreloadFontFile for the name of the String Value, and then press ENTER.
  5. Right-click PreloadFontFile, and then select Modify. The Edit String window opens.
  6. In the Value data box, enter msgothic, and then select OK.
  7. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the computer.

Flash.ocx File Cannot Be Deleted from Runtime

When the Shockwave Flash component is included in the runtime image, it is not possible to delete flash.ocx, one of the files owned by the component. Flash.ocx cannot be deleted because its access control list (ACL) information is not correctly set. As a result, another image cannot be deployed to the device. Change the security settings to correct the problem.

To Change Flash.ocx Security Settings

  1. Log in to the runtime as the administrator.
  2. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder \Windows\system32\Macromed\Flash.
  3. Right-click on the folder and select Properties.
  4. In the Security tab, select the Everyone user group, and then select Remove.
  5. Select OK to apply the setting.

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