We have launched a new service for our customers: You can now fill out your CLA online on our website – afterwards the system will allow you to download the pre-filled CLA. All you need to do is print the CLA, sign it and send it to us.

To start the CLA Wizard please go to Microsoft Embedded | CLA | Start The CLA Wizard or click the link below:
http://www.elbacom.com/embedded/cla

Find out more about the services we offer specially for Windows Embedded products.

If you have configured your Windows Embedded system to have one user account that is used to run your embedded application and you would like to use another administrator account to service the machine via RDP you might have seen this message box:

Administrator wants to connect to this machine.

Click OK to disconnect your session immediately or click cancel to stay connected.

Otherwise, you will be disconnected in 30 seconds.

Unfortunately this message will appear every time you need to access your device via RDP. You will need to wait for 30 seconds to connect and a possible end user might see an unwanted Windows prompt.

If you are using Windows Embedded Standard 7 or Windows Embedded POSReady 7 there is an easy workaround to get rid of this confirmation prompt:

You can use the Dialog Filter to filter out the confirmation dialog – this way you can connect immediately to the remote pc without any message box appearing.

Configuration

To configure Dialog Filter first make sure that you have included the Feature Package in your image. If it is not there you can use my free tool DISMUI to add it easily.

Run dialogfiltereditor.exe in the Windows\system32 directory (if you use Windows Embedded Standard 7 this file is located in the  “Windows Embedded Standard 7\EmbeddedSDK\bin\” folder on the WES7 ICE toolkit DVD).

Now add any window and open the properties of the added one by double-clicking.

Change the values to the following:

ProcessName: rundll32.exe

Class Name: #32770

Window Title: Remote Desktop Connection

Action: OK

(You might need to adapt the Window Title for different languages)

Click File / Save and store the configuration in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\DialogFilter\configurationlist.xml

Restart the "Dialog Box Filter” service or restart your device to apply the new configuration.

If you have configured everything you can connect to your device without the confirmation prompt.

Here is my XML configuration sample:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<CL:dialogs xmlns:CL="urn:Dialogs">
    <dialog>
    <ProcessImageName>rundll32.exe</ProcessImageName>
    <Title>Remote Desktop Connection</Title>
    <Class>#32770</Class>
    <Buttons>
      <Button>OK</Button>
      <Button>Cancel</Button>
      <Button>Close</Button>
    </Buttons>
    <Actions>
      <Action>OK</Action>
    </Actions>
  </dialog>
</CL:dialogs>

Do you remember the last time when you were reading an article about specific product that contained many unknown abbreviations or unknown terms?

We know that there are many term that need explanation – therefore Elbacom has launched a new service: ALECk - The Glossary for Windows Embedded.

The new service will highlight specific terms and abbreviations throughout our website where we think an explanation would be helpful. If you hover the term with your mouse a tooltip will appear with an explanation.

Also you can view all the terms by clicking on Glossary on the bottom of every page.

Of course we will update the list of terms on a regular base.

If you are interested in more details about the new lockdown features in the upcoming Windows Embedded Standard 8 then you should read the blog post in the new Approaching Embedded Intelligently blog from Microsoft:

What is lockdown and branding in Windows Embedded Standard 8, and where are my EEFs-

It covers all new features such as the new Write Filter, the Edge Gesture Filter, Branding, etc.

The new version of Windows Offline Configurator now supports the CTP2 version of Windows Embedded Standard 8. The evaluation version of the tool can be used to install Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1 & CTP2 for free.

The benefits of the tool are that you can configure and install your Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows Embedded 8 CTP1 & CTP2 and Windows Embedded POSReady 7 images offline on your fast development machine. Windows Offline Configurator also adds additional screens to the setup experience that allow you to configure everything that is needed so that there will not be any additional input prompt when booting the created image the first time.
During disk selection the tool allows you to create, mount and unmount VHD files and use them as setup target. This is the easiest way to deploy your image to your target device!

When you use Windows Embedded POSReady 7 you know that you can only configure your image after it was already installed by using DISM (or DISMUI). With Windows Offline Configurator you can do this already prior the installation similar to a Windows Embedded Standard 7 setup experience but with additional features!

Here are some screenshots from the new version:

Microsoft published a blog article explaining why XP Embedded and Windows Embedded Standard 2009 cannot have Windows Update.

You can read the whole article on the new Approaching Embedded Intelligently blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windows-embedded/archive/2007/04/04/why-can-t-i-use-windows-update-with-xpe.aspx

I have released a new version of DISMUI that enables support for Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP2.

It also contains several small changes mostly related to the new CTP.

Microsoft has released the updated version of the Community Technical Preview of Windows Embedded Standard 8. It is available for download on the Microsoft Connect website at https://connect.microsoft.com/windowsembedded.

There was a small bug within the latest version that prevented the tool from exporting any driver. Please download the new fixed version.