| Windows XP Embedded USB boot |
by Cuong Pham (Oct. 26, 2006)
Foreword: This whitepaper, the last in our series leading up to the Nov. 1 official launch of Windows XP Embedded SP2 Feature Pack 2007, describes the new USB boot feature that allows an XPe image to be booted from a USB device, such as a thumb drive or USB key. Scenarios are presented showing how USB booting brings greater flexibility and versatility to deployment, servicing, diagnosis, and troubleshooting.
Windows XP Embedded USB boot
Enabling new scenarios for Windows XPe devices
by Cuong Pham
Windows XP Embedded Service Pack 2 Feature Pack 2007 introduces a new Embedded Enabling Feature called USB Boot. The user can now build a Windows XPe image that boots from a USB flash drive (UFD), a.k.a., USB thumb drive, USB key, etc. The build process is straightforward using Target Designer, and preparing the UFD for boot is just as easy using ufdprep.exe (a utility included in FP 2007).
USB Boot offers many benefits. A UFD is typically removable; swapping a UFD is much easier than swapping an internal hard disk drive (HDD). An external USB HDD is somewhere between a UFD and an HDD, and FP 2007’s USB Boot supports booting from a USB HDD as well. A UFD generally has no moving parts, which allows a UFD to be much less susceptible to mechanical failures. Recordable/rewritable CDs/DVDs have no moving parts either. However, the drives that can fully support recordable/rewritable CDs/DVDs are not widely available; the media are somewhat limited in capacity; and the whole solution is expensive. In contrast, USB ports are readily available on almost all systems; UFDs keep on increasing in capacity, as flash technologies mature; and the whole solution becomes cheaper and cheaper, positively contributing to reducing the BOM cost. Furthermore, most BIOSes on the market today support booting from a USB 2.0 device, making USB Boot a practical alternative to CompactFlash Boot.
USB Boot enables a flexible deployment and servicing scenario. For example, you create a golden Windows XPe image. This golden image is cloned on to 1,000 UFDs, and 500 UFDs are distributed along with new systems to various locations. When a software update is required, a new golden image is created. This new golden image is cloned on to the remaining 500 UFDs. The second 500 UFDs are distributed to swap for the first 500 UFDs, which are then returned to the central office (CO) for update. Similarly, when there’s a software-related or UFD-related failure on a system, a working UFD is distributed to swap for the failed UFD, which is then returned to the CO for analysis and maybe re-clone.
USB Boot enables a versatile diagnostic and troubleshooting scenario. For example, John, a field application engineer, is looking at a failed system. He inserts a UFD with a checked image, with debug traces on and assertions enabled, and boots from it [the UFD]. This checked image helps John determine how or why the system failed. John can also save log files on to this UFD for later in-depth analysis. The failure is UFD-related. John simply swaps the failed UFD with a working UFD containing the golden image, and then takes the failed UFD back to the CO for analysis or to re-clone an image onto the UFD.
Jane, also a field application engineer, is looking at a failed HDD-based system. She inserts a UFD with a checked image and boots from it [the UFD]. The failure is a corrupted ATAPI.SYS on the HDD. Jane simply copies a valid ATAPI.SYS from the UFD to the HDD.
To recap, Windows XPe now includes support for very exciting USB Boot scenarios. USB Boot enables deployment and servicing scenarios for which our customers have been asking and provides them with additional options for boot media on embedded devices. USB Boot considerably extends Windows XPe Embedded Enabling Feature set, offering many extra benefits and enabling more flexible and versatile usage scenarios.
You can find more information about Windows XPe at its homepage on MSDN. You can also download a Community Technology Preview version of FP 2007 from the Microsoft Connect Site -- sign up for the CTP using this Invitation ID: 123-BC7M-6GVK.
Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corp. All rights reserved. Reproduced by WindowsForDevices.com with permission.
 About the author: Cuong Pham recently joined the Microsoft's Windows Embedded team as a Program Manager. Prior to Microsoft, Cuong held positions in development, testing, and management in various aerospace and telecommunications companies. Originally from Houston, Cuong has called Chicago, San Diego, and now Seattle home.
Read the Complete XPe SP2 FP2007 Whitepaper Series
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