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!

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.

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.

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

I have added a new feature to Driver Extractor that allows you to export the device information of your current device to a PMQ file. The file format is identical to the TAP (Target Analyzer Probe) output.
Additionally I have added command line arguments so you can easily export all drivers from the command line.

These two features allow you to export the drivers for a specific system automatically so you can import them either into your Target Designer Component Database or Windows Embedded Standard 8 Catalog and use the exported PMQ file to automatically add the drivers to your image.

Arguments

DriverExtractor.exe [tap] [export] [wes8|xp|copy] [path <path>]

tap – will export the device information to devices.pmq in the current working directory. If path is specified it will be stored in this location.

export – will export all drivers in the format specified (wes8/xp/copy)

wes8 – Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1 Module

xp – XP Embedded / Windows Embedded Standard 2009 Component

copy – copy drivers only

path – specifies the output path

I have created a new version of my tool Driver Extractor which is now capable of creating Modules for Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1. The tool allows you to extract already installed drivers from your system with just a few clicks.
For the export you can also choose to package the driver into a Module (EMD) for Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1, a Component (SLD) for Windows XP Embedded & Windows Embedded Standard 2009 or you can just export the files.

The tool can be very helpful if you just have a system that has all the drivers pre-installed and you don’t have the driver CD at hand. It also saves you a lot of time because you don’t need to work with Module Designer or Component Designer to create your packages.

With the new version you can also import an INF file to create a component out of it – so the driver must not be installed on the system to extract it.

Also there are enhancements and bugfixes for the extraction routine.

Usage

Run the tool and select the devices of which you want to extract the drivers from.

Double-click a device to see which files are installed for the current device.

In the toolbar you can select the output format:

• Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1 Module (EMD)
• Windows XP Embedded / Windows Embedded Standard 2009 Component (SLD)
• Export only

Click the Export button and select an output directory.

This will export all drivers to the selected format in the specified output folder.

If you want to convert a driver to a module or component you can select File / Import INF and select the INF file of the driver.

Then again select an output folder. Driver Extractor will create the package there.

This is a minor release that contains only bug fixes for the following functions:

• Dependency Tree Viewer in WES7 & POSReady 7
• Integration into POSReady 7 with /integrate switch
• Language Pack installation only when needed
• minor fixes

The new version of DISMUI received many updates including support for the current Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1. One major change is the support of Modules which are the new way of adding features in Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1.
A module is not only a combination of features of the OS itself – a Module can also contain custom files, drivers and custom commands that are executed when installed. This way you are again able to easily add your own application to your image.

Because Microsoft supports Modules only with Windows Embedded Standard 8 – DISMUI has an additional feature that brings Modules also to Windows Embedded Standard 7 and POSReady 7!

At the moment there is still the need to create the Module for Windows Embedded Standard 7 and POSReady 7 manually but it uses the exact same format as the Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1 Modules.

I will publish a short manual soon how to create a Module and how to install it with DISMUI.

New Features

• Support for Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1
• Module Installation in Windows Embedded Standard 7 and Windows Embedded POSReady 7
• Advanced OS detection and DS/Catalog Version detection
• Additional security checks
• Much faster detection of installed feature packages
• Option to switch the view between tree and list view
• Enhanced dependency and conflict checking

Feature Overview

• Online & Offline Servicing of
• Windows Embedded Standard 7
• Windows Embedded Standard 8 CTP1
• Windows Embedded POSReady 7
• Online Configuration of Windows Embedded POSReady 7 and automated offline servicing
  (Important feature for POSReady 7 to stay supported)
• Integration into POSReady 7 – easy UI to service OS – even by the End Customer!
• Module Installation for Windows Embedded Standard 7 & POSReady 7
• Driver Installation
• Dependency Tree Viewer
• Dependency Checking
• Conflict Checking
• Footprint impact calculation
• Minimum Requirements Check
• and many more!