Our new tool "Windows Offline Configurator” is now available to download as an evaluation version from our website.

The tool allows you to build images offline on your development machine for

• Windows Embedded Standard 7
• Windows Embedded Standard 8 (CTP)
• Windows Embedded POSReady 7

The tool can be very helpful in the following scenarios:

• You have a slow target device where building take a very long time
• You want to fully customize POSReady 7 prior installation
  You can add and remove feature packages before installing the image
• You want to fully customize your image prior installation
  Including Out-Of-Box experience (Username, Computername, Product Key, Timezone, etc.)
• Install an image directly to a VHD file for easy deployment
• Have a footprint calculation during feature package and module selection (also for Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP!)
• Would like an easy to use and fast setup with many additional features
• Install Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP with dependency and conflict check and all feature listed above

More details are on the product site.

DISMUI has received many new features and has been optimized – therefore it made it to Version 2.
The tool also received a dedicated site on the Elbacom website.

New Features

Automated Offline Servicing

POSReady 7 does not support online servicing of the operating system. Therefore DISMUI offers the "Service image offline" option which will automate the offline servicing for you. The configuration can be done online but all the servicing operations will be done in an on-the-fly created Windows PE environment!

This method can be used for Windows Embedded Standard 7 too.

DISMUI needs two files from the Setup media to create the Windows PE system. Please ensure that you have a setup media connected when choosing this option.

Footprint Calculation

DISMUI will calculate the estimated OS footprint when selecting or deselecting feature packages. This will inform you how your current selection will impact on the operating systems size.

Operating System Detection

When launching DISMUI it will detect on which operating system it runs on. The best option (Online, Online with offline servicing, Offline) will be chosen based on the current system. It will also disable the online mode when running on a full Windows 7 system. On Windows PE it will automatically find the image location.

Update Check

DISMUI now offers the ability to check for new updates from within the tool.

Icons

The tool has now received icons that were missing in the previous version to make it look more complete.

Required Components

DISMUI will now include all required components to run out-of-the box (or out-of-the-zip).

Other changes

• Improved automatic detection of distribution share
• Improved detection of MUI DVD
• Improved responsiveness while executing tasks
• Bugfixes & Other small improvements

Branding

We now offer to create a customized branded version of DISMUI.

If you are interested please contact us for more information.

The KB2607560 which is available on the Microsoft ECE fixes an issue within the POSReady 7 OS.

In POSReady 7 the license allows to have up to 5 language packs installed – however the control panel allowed to select only 4 languages. The mentioned KB will fix this issue.

The KB is available to download at the following URL:

https://ece.partners.extranet.microsoft.com/ece/Embedded/Products/ProductSupplements/Embedded/POSReady7/OEMDownloads/DISTOEM-Sep11OptUpdWEPOSRdy7-ProdDownld.htm

DISMUI has been updated to fix some issues when installing Feature Packages in Offline Mode.

For bigger packages there was a need to create a scratch directory. DISMUI 1.4.2.1 is now creating a temporary scratch directory to solve the issue. This directory will be removed afterwards.

Other improvements:

• DISMUI detects if it is running under Windows PE (e.g. POSReady 7 Setup) and switches to Offline Mode and searches for the Windows installation automatically
• Logfiles are now saved in the correct location
• Scratchdir handling

A new version of DISMUI is now available. The new version features enhanced support for POSReady 7.

The following features have been added:

• Language Pack OPK DVD is now supported as Distribution Share Directory
  By selecting the DVD drive that contains the language pack DVD from the OPK you can easily add and remove language packs from your POSReady installation
• Language Pack directory of POSReady 7 OPK DVD added automatically
  DISMUI now adds the LangPacks directory of the POSReady 7 DVD automatically.
• Minor bug fixes

Windows Embedded POSReady 7 allows you to add and remove features at any time. Feature Packages must be added while the system is offline – therefore the easiest way to do this is to boot from the POSReady 7 DVD.

Here is a short guide how to add feature packages very easily.

Alternatively you can use our free tool DISMUI to complete these steps automatically via a graphical user interface.

Add Feature Packages to POSReady 7

1. Boot from the Windows Embedded POSReady 7 Setup DVD
   
   
2. Press Shift+F10 to open a command prompt when the language selection screen appears.
   
   
3. Run diskpart.exe
   
   
4. Type the following command:   list volume
   
   
5. Identify your POSReady 7 installation volume (in this sample D: ) and your POSReady 7 DVD drive (E: in this sample)
   
   
6. Exit dispart by typing: exit
7. Create a Scratch directory on your POSReady 7 installation volume by typing the following command:
   md D:\Scratch  (D: should be your POSReady 7 installation volume)
   
8. Type the following command to add a feature package
   DISM /Image:D: /Add-Package /PackagePath:E:\DS\<Package_Filename.cab> /ScratchDir:D:\Scratch
   
   Please replace D: by your POSReady 7 installation volume and E: with your POSReady 7 DVD drive letter.
   To enter the package filename more easy you can add a blank after /PackagePath: then type E:\DS\ and press Tab until you see the correct package file name. After that remove the blank again.
   
   
   
9. After this the feature package will be added. Please make sure to reapply all installed language packages by using the same command as described in point 8.
   
   
10. Reboot your device to complete the installation

Remove Feature Packages from POSReady 7

Removing Feature Packages is much easier than adding them as this can be done directly in the running system.

1. Open an administrative command prompt by pressing the Windows key to open the start menu.
2. Type: cmd   and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter
3. Click Yes to open the command prompt.
4. Type the following command to identify installed feature packages: DISM /Online /Get-Packages
5. Insert the POSReady 7 DVD into your DVD drive
6. Type the following command to remove a feature package:
   DISM /Online /Remove-Package /PackagePath:E:\DS\<Package_Filename.cab>
   
   Please replace E: with your DVD drive letter.
7. Restart your device to complete the removal process.

DISMUI can be used as an easy to use replacement for the DISM command line. Since version 1.4.1 DISMUI also support POSReady 7.

Why should I use DISMUI instead of DISM?

• DISMUI takes care of dependencies which means that if you add a new feature DISMUI will also include other needed feature packages automatically.
• DISMUI checks for conflicts which means that you cannot destroy your image by adding a component that conflicts with another.
• DISMUI checks for minimum image requirements which means that you cannot remove features that are needed by the system.
• DISMUI reapplies installed languages packages automatically. This is needed after each change – otherwise you could add an application that has no language strings included and therefore does not display any texts!

Using DISMUI

To modify your POSReady 7 image just insert the POSReady 7 DVD containing the Distribution Share (DS) and launch DISMUI.
The tool will show you immediately which features are currently installed on the system.
If you uncheck a feature it will be removed from the system.

Adding Feature Packages the right way

Please note that Microsoft only supports adding features to the system when it is offline.
This means that you should boot from the POSReady 7 setup DVD and add features from there while the image is not running.
You can also use DISMUI there however since DISMUI needs the .NET Framework to run you will need to do additional preparation work once.

Creating a portable version of DISMUI

I have already described how to make DISMUI portable using the open source implementation of .NET called Mono. Here is an adapted guide especially for POSReady 7:

1. Go to http://www.go-mono.com/mono-downloads/download.html and download the Windows version.
2. Run the downloaded setup file on a development machine.
3. Copy the installation folder containing the Mono Framework to a USB drive.
4. Download the newest version of DISMUI (1.4.1 or newer)
5. Copy DISMUI to a USB drive
6. Create a batchfile or shortcut to run the following command

“MonoDirectory”\bin\mono “DISMUIDirectory\DISMUI.exe”

Using portable DISMUI from within the POSReady 7 setup

You can now use the USB key containing DISMUI and Mono to run the tool within the POSReady 7 setup environment.
For this boot you POSReady 7 setup DVD and press Shift+F10 at any time.
Navigate to your USB key and launch the previously created batchfile or shortcut.

Within DISMUI select the “Offline” option and enter the path to your POSReady 7 image.

Now you can add features easily by just following the wizard.

Microsoft has released POSReady 7 and it is now available to order. An evaluation version of POSReady 7 is already available for download from the Microsoft Windows Embedded website: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/en-us/downloads/download-windows-embedded-posready-7.aspx

The new POSReady 7 is based an Windows Embedded Standard 7 technology and includes new Embedded Enabling Features such as the Enhanced Write Filter and a new Keyboard Filter Driver. DISM also allows to add and remove features after installation.

More information can be found here: http://www.elbacom.com/embedded/products/wes/posready7

Microsofts new Windows Embedded POSReady 7 is currently available as Community Technical Preview 2 on the Microsoft Connect website. Olivier Bloch from the Microsoft Windows Embedded team has created a great video showing how to use all the features that come with Windows Embedded POSReady 7 to create a customized and secure end-user experience. He shows how to boot the system from a VHD file, configuring your application as the default shell using Shell Launcher and how to configure the Enhanced Write Filter with the new management tools.

The video can be found in his blog on MSDN:

Windows Embedded POSReady 7 lock down and upcoming Webinar

If you want to learn more on Windows Embedded POSReady 7, there will be a webinar on June 7. You can register here.

Microsoft has published a workaround for the case that you use EWF and that WinSAT is included in your image and it consumes too much memory.

The article is about the following scenario:

• You develop a Windows Embedded Standard 7 or Windows Embedded Standard 7 Service Pack 1 image for your device.
• You added "Performance Monitoring" package in your answer file using Image Configuration Editor.
• You added "Enhanced Write Filter with HORM" package in your answer file to protect the system (C:) volume.
• You deployed your image without executing "winsat prepop".
• You enabled EWF for the runtime image.

The complete article including the workaround can be found here.