MinimizeFootPrint registry value

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Does anyone know what OS systems are listening to this registry key?

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup]
"MinimizeFootprint"=dword:00000001

I discovered that it controls driver signing and .pnf creation but need to
know if other OS areas are paying attention to this value as well. I'd like
to have driver signing enabled but not anything else.

For the curious the value is created by the "First Boot Agent (FBA)"
component.

Thanks,
Ed.

PS. I have another thread about why and how I found this setting.
 
Ed,

There is a serious of "embedded" flags supported by OS. The MinimizeFootprint is one of them.
It causes the OS (specifically - SetupAPI) to never call any crypto APIs, and just assume everything is signed. It also forces the
SetupAPI to never generate PNFs.
 
Ed,

I haven't been in NG for a while and just reading some old posts I have missed I saw that you already discovered the purpose of the
key.
Sorry, I am too late with the post that might have saved you some time on WinDbg path.

Anyway, let me know if you want to know more about the key. Although it is basically what I said below.
It is an irony that the XP Pro (not embedded OS at all!) supports some "embedded" flags. I am only sad that all of them are not
documented.

Regards,
KM
There is a serious of "embedded" flags supported by OS. The MinimizeFootprint is one of them.
It causes the OS (specifically - SetupAPI) to never call any crypto APIs, and just assume everything is signed. It also forces the
SetupAPI to never generate PNFs.

----------
Regards,
KM

PS. Be careful with the key. PNFs, for instance, may take up a huge footprint at runtime.
Does anyone know what OS systems are listening to this registry key?

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup]
"MinimizeFootprint"=dword:00000001

I discovered that it controls driver signing and .pnf creation but need to
know if other OS areas are paying attention to this value as well. I'd like
to have driver signing enabled but not anything else.

For the curious the value is created by the "First Boot Agent (FBA)"
component.

Thanks,
Ed.

PS. I have another thread about why and how I found this setting.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Hello,
Ed has moved on to other tasks, and I'm picking up where he left off on this
one.

Any other info on the "MinimizeFootprint" key would be much appreciated.
Particularly, are there going to be any other consequences to turning it off
(besides potentially large PNFs being created) ?

It just sounds like a dangerous thing to do on an embedded product with
limited resources.

Thanks
Jack


KM said:
Ed,

I haven't been in NG for a while and just reading some old posts I have missed I saw that you already discovered the purpose of the
key.
Sorry, I am too late with the post that might have saved you some time on WinDbg path.

Anyway, let me know if you want to know more about the key. Although it is basically what I said below.
It is an irony that the XP Pro (not embedded OS at all!) supports some "embedded" flags. I am only sad that all of them are not
documented.

Regards,
KM
There is a serious of "embedded" flags supported by OS. The MinimizeFootprint is one of them.
It causes the OS (specifically - SetupAPI) to never call any crypto APIs, and just assume everything is signed. It also forces the
SetupAPI to never generate PNFs.

----------
Regards,
KM

PS. Be careful with the key. PNFs, for instance, may take up a huge footprint at runtime.
Does anyone know what OS systems are listening to this registry key?

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup]
"MinimizeFootprint"=dword:00000001

I discovered that it controls driver signing and .pnf creation but need to
know if other OS areas are paying attention to this value as well. I'd like
to have driver signing enabled but not anything else.

For the curious the value is created by the "First Boot Agent (FBA)"
component.

Thanks,
Ed.

PS. I have another thread about why and how I found this setting.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Jack,

Hope that Ed didn't move away completely from XPe and this NG. He's been a valuable poster here :-)

Keep in mind that any system registry change is potentially dangerous on embedded products just because it only has been fully
tested on XP Pro. And I am referring to documented registry values here.
With undocumented values it is even worse - no support there at all.

IIRC, the MinimizeFootprint is mainly to change Setup APIs behavior. Basically to remove the INF caching (PNF), to turn off the INF
verifications (performance wise, I think, they don't check if an INF is digitally signed and thus don't use Crypto API to verify the
INFs signature) and to remove INF catalog feature.

--
Regards,
KM

Hello,
Ed has moved on to other tasks, and I'm picking up where he left off on this
one.

Any other info on the "MinimizeFootprint" key would be much appreciated.
Particularly, are there going to be any other consequences to turning it off
(besides potentially large PNFs being created) ?

It just sounds like a dangerous thing to do on an embedded product with
limited resources.

Thanks
Jack


KM said:
Ed,

I haven't been in NG for a while and just reading some old posts I have missed I saw that you already discovered the purpose of
the
key.
Sorry, I am too late with the post that might have saved you some time on WinDbg path.

Anyway, let me know if you want to know more about the key. Although it is basically what I said below.
It is an irony that the XP Pro (not embedded OS at all!) supports some "embedded" flags. I am only sad that all of them are not
documented.

Regards,
KM
There is a serious of "embedded" flags supported by OS. The MinimizeFootprint is one of them.
It causes the OS (specifically - SetupAPI) to never call any crypto APIs, and just assume everything is signed. It also forces
the
SetupAPI to never generate PNFs.

----------
Regards,
KM

PS. Be careful with the key. PNFs, for instance, may take up a huge footprint at runtime.

Does anyone know what OS systems are listening to this registry key?

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Setup]
"MinimizeFootprint"=dword:00000001

I discovered that it controls driver signing and .pnf creation but need to
know if other OS areas are paying attention to this value as well. I'd like
to have driver signing enabled but not anything else.

For the curious the value is created by the "First Boot Agent (FBA)"
component.

Thanks,
Ed.

PS. I have another thread about why and how I found this setting.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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