If you configure an automatic logon on Windows Embedded 8 Standard (e.g. with control UserPasswords) right after the installation you will notice that your configuration gets lost after the reboot. Then you will need to reconfigure the automatic logon again.

The reason for this behavior is that the setup creates the AutoAdminLogonCount value in the registry (HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Winlogon) which is set to 0 after the first start. If you setup the AutoLogon now it will disappear after a reboot. The solution is to either do an additional reboot first or to delete the entry in the registry.

If you try to install Adobe Flash in Windows Embedded 8 Standard you will most likely get to the troubleshooting website of Windows 8. All solutions posted there will not work and if you try to install the KB2758994 you will see the error message “The update is not applicable to your computer.”.

There is an easy way to solve it if you need Flash in your application. Go to http://get2.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions/ and download the Internet Explorer version for Windows 7.

With this the installation will succeed and you will be able to use Flash Player properly.

Microsoft has reached another stage in the development of Windows Embedded 8 Standard and they just published the Release Preview of the product on the Microsoft Connect Website.

Important changes in this release are the implemented Windows Activation, the removed USB Filter (introduced in CTP3).

To download the new Release Preview please visit the Microsoft Connect Website.

The Windows Offline Configurator is fully compatible with the new CTP3 version of Windows Embedded Standard 8. However you will need to download the new package to get the new license file to run build images for the CTP3.

With Windows Offline Configurator you can build Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows Embedded POSReady 7 and Windows Embedded Standard 8 images offline on your fast development machine.
The tool allows you advanced configuration, such as creating the user, password, time zone, etc. The resulting image will not require you to go through OOBE as everything can be configured within the tool.
You can even create a VHD file and build the image into this file for easy deployment!

DISMUI was already supporting the new version of Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP3. The new version however extends the capabilities for the new CTP by enabling you to remove Modules at any time. This is not possible by the integrated DISM command!

DISMUI does this in a safe way because it is checking for packages that are used by other installed modules before removing them.

Even though this works using this feature might not be supported by Microsoft but it helps you a lot during the image building process or even just for testing.

Using the new feature is easy: Just uncheck the module that should be removed and confirm the warning message. Then continue as usual – DISM does the rest for you!

Microsoft has released a new version of the Community Technical Preview for Windows Embedded Standard 8. It provides additional features and support for Security and Lockdown, Custom Branding, Management and increases the modularity of the system itself and introduces the USB Filter for x86 based devices.

To download it please visit the Microsoft Connect website: https://connect.microsoft.com/windowsembedded

I have released a new version of Driver Extractor that fixes a bug when the tool was used on Windows XP systems. It prevented the driver extraction on these systems which is now fixed.

Also it includes an additional handler for the PMQ file export for drivers which are missing required flags. This prevented an import into the XPe or WES2009 tools.

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:

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.