Help for embedded newbie

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Despite being a Windows/Linux programmer, I've never had any dealings with XP
embedded before.We are developing a system which has to be SIL2 compliant
(European standard for safety related systems). For the most critical
applications we have to use Linux, but for the less critical we can use XP -
but in limited ways. Because of this, XP Embedded seems the best option as we
can cut out the stuff we don't need, like Media Player, MSN messenger, etc.

This system consists of several PCs networked in a closed environment (ie no
network connections to anything else). Some will be locked in an equipment
room with no keyboard, mouse, or video. We're actually thinking of running
the software as a service in some cases. One PC does need to have a user
interface though. Hardware requirements are minimal - this isn't a server.
Installation in this way does mean that the online registration of Windows
will NOT be possible - and I hate the telephone version which takes ages and
is prone to human error, so any legal way around this would be a benefit.
Windows critical updates are not necessary - and in fact would be a menace on
SIL2 systems.

Firstly, is XP Embedded the way to go?

Secondly, I've downloaded the trial version and had a play. It *looks* like
this is the right thing, but when I came to burn an image to install on
another PC, I found I needed a 2nd hard drive... why?

So I did a bit of searching and found that you need Windows PE. XP Embedded
doesn't mention this at all (well, not in the bits I've read). So now I'm
confused! Also, PE doesn't seem to have a trial version, which makes
trialling Embedded somewhat difficult!

Although I've read the MSDN articles on Embedded, I'm none the wiser. It
assumes a level of knowledge which I don't have. So if you can point me to
any "dummy's guides", I'd be grateful!

Many thanks

Geoff M.
 
Geoff said:
Despite being a Windows/Linux programmer, I've never had any dealings with XP
embedded before.We are developing a system which has to be SIL2 compliant
(European standard for safety related systems). For the most critical
applications we have to use Linux, but for the less critical we can use XP -
but in limited ways. Because of this, XP Embedded seems the best option as we
can cut out the stuff we don't need, like Media Player, MSN messenger, etc.

This system consists of several PCs networked in a closed environment (ie no
network connections to anything else). Some will be locked in an equipment
room with no keyboard, mouse, or video. We're actually thinking of running
the software as a service in some cases. One PC does need to have a user
interface though. Hardware requirements are minimal - this isn't a server.
Installation in this way does mean that the online registration of Windows
will NOT be possible - and I hate the telephone version which takes ages and
is prone to human error, so any legal way around this would be a benefit.
Windows critical updates are not necessary - and in fact would be a menace on
SIL2 systems.

Firstly, is XP Embedded the way to go?

Secondly, I've downloaded the trial version and had a play. It *looks* like
this is the right thing, but when I came to burn an image to install on
another PC, I found I needed a 2nd hard drive... why?

So I did a bit of searching and found that you need Windows PE. XP Embedded
doesn't mention this at all (well, not in the bits I've read). So now I'm
confused! Also, PE doesn't seem to have a trial version, which makes
trialling Embedded somewhat difficult!

Although I've read the MSDN articles on Embedded, I'm none the wiser. It
assumes a level of knowledge which I don't have. So if you can point me to
any "dummy's guides", I'd be grateful!
Click to expand...

1) It certainly is.
2) There's various ways of copying the image to the target. Personally
for development I have a little XPPro box I bung the target master disks
into as slave, but before some idiot plugged their laptop into my remote
boot server while I was at lunch, I was doing it that way, not with
WinPE but with a tiny XPe image that automatically copied the latest
build across the network from my PC.
For production, we use either a disk cloning machine, or a more twiddly
variant of the remote boot server I used to run here.
 
You will have to ask a distributor about the price of WinPE. I don't think
it costs much. CD1 for XPe doubles as a WinPE CD, but it might not have all
the network components fo the target hardware.

The simplest solution is a hard drive swap. Using an Xp Pro or XPe image to
trasnfer works. With FP2007, one could create a bootable XPe image from a
USB disk. I know one person using Windows 98 from a USB disk and a lcopy
utility to trasnfer the image. There is also Remote Recover from Winternals,
which is now owned by Microsoft.

There is no online registration for XPe images. All stamping and activation
is handled through the build tools.

Regards,

Sean Liming
www.sjjmicro.com / www.seanliming.com
XP Embedded Book Author - XP Embedded Advanced, XP Embedded Supplemental
Toolkit
 
Thanks for the replies thus far. The 2nd hard drive is a bit of a problem as
I use a laptop for my desktop workstation! I've got a spare PC sitting on my
desk now - but that was intended to be the target for the XP embedded. Looks
like I need to get another XP PC to do the building on.

Sean, is the ISBN for your book 0929392779? Does it cover the questions I ask?

Thanks

Geoff M.
 
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