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Windows 7 Overview

Module Overview
New and Improved Features
There are many new and improved features in Windows 7. The changes are designed to
make it faster and easier to perform everyday tasks as well as to improve the overall
performance of Windows.
The Windows 7 interface is more responsive, with intuitive navigation that includes an
improved taskbar and Jump Lists for easy access to the files you use most, plus new and
easier ways to manage multiple open windows. Use Windows Search to easily locate and
open virtually any file on your PC, from documents, to e-mails, to music.
Windows 7 PCs are more reliable and responsive. They will sleep and resume faster.
They'll be just as secure, but people will have more control over their security settings
and the number of alerts giving them fewer interruptions. Windows 7 uses less memory
than Windows Vista, run faster, and is designed for better battery life.
Windows 7 has new and improved ways to enjoy your TV, video, movies, music and
photos through enhancements to Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player.
Adding PCs to your home network is easier with HomeGroup, which makes file sharing
and finding your files and printers a breeze. Get more from your devices with Device
Stage, which simplifies how your devices connect and work with your PC.
There are many other new and improved features in Windows 7. The core features are
listed below. You will learn more about these and other features throughout the rest of
this training course.

• Action Center

• Action Center Troubleshooters

• Biometric Framework

• Desktop Slideshow

• Device Management

• Handwriting Recognition

• HomeGroup

• Internet Explorer 8

• Jump Lists

• Libraries
• Media Features

• Performance Improvements

• PowerShell

• Problem Steps Recorder

• Reduced Disk Space Utilization

• Taskbar

• Updates to in-box applets

• Windows Touch

Other Improvements
Disk Space Usage
Windows Vista introduced significant changes to the way that Windows is built, installed
and updated. The positive result was in the consistency and manageability of system
component versions compared with Windows XP. One less than welcome result
however, was the increased disk space usage of Windows Vista over time. Tools have
been introduced to help keep this disk space growth in check, but these must be run by a
user to reclaim space.
Windows 7 implements several changes, including an evolved version of this servicing
infrastructure so that the disk space usage of Windows is less than Windows Vista.
Further, the growth in size of a Windows installation due to the installation of updates
and service packs is less than in Windows Vista.
Beyond the changes to servicing, other specific disk space usage improvements include:

• Reduction in size of drivers included on-disk

• Log file size reduction and compression

• Pagefile size reduction

• System Restore disk space usage reduced


Performance Improvements
Windows 7 improves performance compared with Windows Vista through a variety of
improvements. A few of these are:

• Reducing number of system services


• Reducing demands that system services make on CPU, disk, and memory
resources

• Improving parallelism of driver initialization (enabling multiple drivers to be


installed at the same time)

• Faster prefeching optimized for both traditional and SSD hard disks

Netbooks
A netbook is a light-weight, low-cost, energy-efficient, highly portable laptop that
achieves these parameters by offering a smaller form, fewer features, less processing
power and reduced ability to run resource-intensive operating systems. They are suitable
for web browsing, email, and general purpose applications. Netbooks are targeted
increasingly at cloud computing users who rely on servers and require a less powerful
client computer.
Windows 7, unlike Windows Vista, is designed to run on PCs ranging from netbooks to
the most powerful desktop and laptop PCs on the market. The Windows 7 design
includes a smaller OS footprint; an improved user interface that allows for faster boot-up
and shut-down times; improved power management for enhanced battery life; enhanced
media capabilities; and increased reliability, stability and security. This allows customers
complete flexibility to purchase a system which meets their needs. For OEMs that build
lower-cost small notebook PCs, Windows 7 Starter edition will be available in developed
markets (e.g. Europe). For the most enhanced, full-functioning Windows experience on
small notebook PCs, consumers will want to go with Windows 7 Home Premium.

Windows Recovery Environment and Operating System Recovery


The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) provides users the ability to easily
troubleshoot and recover their systems. In Windows 7, WinRE is installed by default on
all retail systems, accomplished by embedding the WinRE image inside the OS image via
a build process change.
Note: OEMs may opt not to install WinRE on their systems.
Boot failures have been one of the top support issues in Windows systems in terms of
cost per incidence. The primary reason for such trend is that tools for troubleshooting
boot issues are difficult to discover and are rarely user friendly. In Windows Vista, the
Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) was introduced to tackle this problem.
WinRE provided an automated boot diagnosis and repair tool called Startup Repair as
well as an intuitive user-interface comparing to tools available in the past, such as the
Recovery Console.
However, the full potential of WinRE is only realized when it is installed locally on the
system hard disk. When available locally, the system is able to automatically fail over
into WinRE following a boot failure, and Startup Repair is invoked to troubleshoot the
boot failure automatically. The experience requires minimal user input and does not
require users to have knowledge of the inner workings of Windows. In Windows Vista,
this seamless end-to-end repair experience was only available to customers with WinRE
preinstalled on computers manufactured by certain OEMs. Approximately half of the
Windows Vista systems shipped from OEMs and the entire retail channel lacked this key
repair experience.
In Windows 7, WinRE is preloaded onto every Windows installation by default, enabling
all end user systems to heal themselves in the event of a boot failure regardless of where
the computer is manufactured. Furthermore, the Recovery Center, a new feature in
Windows 7, relies on locally installed WinRE to provide a seamless rollback experience.
Users no longer have to search for the bootable installation media in order to restore a
full-system backup or reinstall Windows.

Windows 7 Editions Overview: Editions and Features


Windows 7 builds on Windows Vista and takes advantage of all the Windows Vista
investments. With Windows 7, the focus is on improving key things that affect user
experience and productivity. In the past, customers have said that they didn't know
where to start, and upgrading sometimes meant tradeoffs with Windows Vista. To
address this for Windows 7, upgrading between editions is additive—no features or
functionality will be lost.
Microsoft is providing several different editions of Windows 7 to meet a variety of
customer needs. All Windows 7 editions are a super set of the edition below with no
trade off on features when upgrading from one version to the next, making it easier
for customers and partners to choose the right version of Windows 7 for their needs.
There are six SKUs available for Windows®.

All Windows 7 versions are a super set of the version below with no trade off on
features when you upgrade from one version to the next.
Enterprise is the business-focused SKU for managed environments, advanced data
protection, networking and security needs.
Windows® This version of Windows is offered exclusively through Microsoft Software
7 Enterprise Assurance agreement. It is designed for large enterprises and organizations with
complex desktop infrastructures.
Enterprise will ship in both a 32-bit and 64-bit version.
Windows® Ultimate is the no-compromise SKU for those who want all Windows features,
7 Ultimate including business.
Windows 7 Ultimate has the same features as the Enterprise Edition but is
licensed differently. Customers can buy Ultimate preinstalled from OEMs or as
a retail upgrade.
Ultimate will ship in both a 32-bit and 64-bit version.
Professional is the business-focused SKU for small and lower mid-market
companies and users who have networking, backup, and security needs and
Windows ® multiple PCs or servers.
7
This version of Windows is offered through both OEM and retail as well as
Professional
through volume licensing agreements.
Professional will ship in both a 32-bit and 64-bit version.
Home Premium is the standard consumer SKU, providing full functionality on the
latest hardware and easy ways to connect. Home Premium features advanced
Windows® graphics effects, support for touch-screen interfaces, and Media Center, among
7 Home other features.
Premium
This version of Windows is offered through both OEM and retail channels.
Home Premium will ship in both a 32-bit and 64-bit version.
Home Basic is a simple version of Windows 7. It offers a basic Windows interface
and feature list. Home Basic is meant for accessing the internet and running basic
Windows® productivity applications.
7 Home
This version of Windows is offered through OEM and retail channels in
Basic
emerging markets only.
Home Basic will ship in both a 32-bit and 64-bit version.
This edition of Windows 7 is aimed at beginning computer users. It has the fewest
features of the Windows 7 editions. Windows XP and Vista also had Starter
Editions with significant limitations. However, Starter Editions of those OSs were
Windows® available exclusively in emerging markets, while Windows 7 Starter Edition will be
7 Starter available to OEMs worldwide.
This version of Windows is offered Worldwide through OEM only.
Starter will ship in a 32-bit version.

Other Editions
In addition to the six editions, there will be other options available to meet the needs
of users in some other regions. Korea and European Union Windows 7 editions are
listed below:
European Union (N)
Editions labeled with an N represent the SKUs available in the European Union.
These SKUs lack the multimedia functionality and Internet Explorer is not included.
Removed functionality can be installed using the restore pack(s) available for PC
manufacturers and consumers.
This release is available in these editions:

• Windows® 7 Professional N

• Windows® 7 Starter N

South Korea (KN)


The editions labeled with a KN represent the SKUs available in Korea that lack
the multimedia functionality and related technologies and features included in
other versions of Windows 7. Removed functionality can be installed using the
restore pack(s) available for PC manufacturers and consumers.
This release is available in these editions:

• Windows® 7 Enterprise KN

• Windows® 7 Ultimate KN

• Windows® 7 Professional KN

• Windows® 7 Home Premium KN

• Windows® 7 Starter KN

South Korea (K)


The editions labeled with a K are also available in Korea. This SKU is different
than the KN SKU in that it does not lack any of the functionality available in
other versions of Windows, but it does include some slight differences such as an
additional shortcut has been added on the desktop.
This release is available in these editions:

• Windows® 7 Enterprise K

• Windows® 7 Ultimate K

• Windows® 7 Professional K

• Windows® 7 Home Premium K


• Windows® 7 Starter K

Summary of Major Features by Edition


Summary of Major Features by Edition
Windows ® Windows® 7
Window Windows® 7 Windows®
7 Enterprise/
Feature s® 7 Home Basic 7 Home
Professiona Windows® 7
Starter (EM only) Premium
l Ultimate
Improved Windows®
√ √ √ √ √
Taskbar & Jump Lists
Windows® Search √ √ √ √ √
Join a HomeGroup √ √ √ √ √
Windows Media® Player √ √ √ √ √
Back-up & Restore √ √ √ √ √
Enhanced Media
√ √ √ √ √
Playback
Action Center √ √ √ √ √
Device Stage™ √ √ √ √ √
Enhanced home media
streaming, including Play √ √ √ √ √
To
Bluetooth support √ √ √ √ √
Fax & Scan √ √ √ √ √
Basic “inbox” games √ √ √ √ √
Credential Manager √ √ √ √ √
Improved Windows®
√ √ √ √ √
Taskbar & Jump Lists
Live Thumbnail Previews
√ √ √ √
from Taskbar
Fast User Switching √ √ √ √
Create ad-hoc wireless √ √ √ √
networks
Internet Connection
√ √ √ √
Sharing
Multi-monitor support √ √ √ √
Windows Mobility Center
(w/o presentation √ √ √ √
settings) *
Aero® Glass & advanced
√ √ √
Window navigation
Aero® Background √ √ √
Windows® Touch (Multi-
touch and handwriting √ √ √
support)
Create a HomeGroup √ √ √
Windows Media Center √ √ √
DVD Video playback and
√ √ √
authoring
Premium "inbox" games √ √ √
Snipping Tool, Sticky
√ √ √
Notes, Windows Journal
Windows Slideshow
√ √ √
(auxiliary display)
Location Aware Printing √ √
Domain Join & Group
√ √
Policy Controls
Remote Desktop Host √ √
Advanced Back-up
(Network & Group √ √
Policy)
Encrypting File System √ √
Windows Mobility
Center. Presentation √ √
Mode.
Offline Folders √ √
BitLocker & BitLocker

To Go
AppLocker √
DirectAccess √
BranchCache √
MUI Language Packs √
Enterprise Search Scopes √
VDI Enhancements √
Boot from VHD √

Windows 7 Upgrade Paths


Windows 7 Upgrade Paths
The primary upgrade path for Windows 7 starts at Windows Vista SP1 or later. Earlier
Windows versions are not supported for upgrade to Windows 7.
Additionally there are some specific paths that are not supported, such as from a higher
edition of Windows Vista to a lower edition of Windows 7.
Note: Detailed information about Windows 7 upgrade paths is located in the Setup
module of this course.

System Requirements
System Requirements
The system requirements for Windows 7 are, for the most part, identical to the system
requirements for Windows Vista. Most of the new computers you buy today should work
just fine with Windows 7. Windows 7 is designed to work well across a broad range of
hardware. However if you are upgrading your existing PC or planning to buy a new one
there are some basic system requirements and suggestions you should pay attention to in
order to enjoy the best experience with Windows 7 and all of its new features.
One of the things you should do before installing Windows 7 is to make sure your system
meets the minimum hardware requirements to run the Operating System. They are as
follows:
• 1GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)

• 1GB of random access memory (RAM)

• 16GB of free disk space

• Support for DX9 graphics with 128MB of memory (for the Aero interface)

• A DVD-R/W drive

Recommending a Windows 7 Edition to Customers

SETUP
Module Overview

Setup Options
Setup Options
Windows 7 can be installed using one of the following methods. Each is discussed in
more detail in this module.
Method Description
Upgrade This method can be used to install Windows 7 while preserving your current
Install applications, user accounts, user profile data, and settings.
This is the method to use for installing Windows 7 without preserving settings, such
Clean
as on a new computer, when there is no upgrade path from your current operating
Install
system version, or due to a problem with your current installation.
Online Microsoft provides Windows for purchase from the Microsoft Store in some
Install regions. When you purchase Windows online, there is an option for downloading
Package the installation files. This is the online install package.
This is the method of installation for many computers that you purchase with
OEM Windows 7 already installed. This installation method may include additional non-
Image Windows software, preinstalled by the OEM Examples could include security
software or other programs.
Corporate This is the method some companies use to install Windows over a network or via
Deployment automation so that each user does not need to perform setup-related tasks. This is
out of scope for this course.
Windows
Anytime This is the method for upgrading from one edition of Windows 7 to a higher edition.
Upgrade

System Requirements
System Requirements
System requirements for Windows 7 fall into three categories:

• Recommended hardware configuration

• Minimums, under which Windows 7 will not install

• Maximums, over which Windows 7 will not install


These are discussed in the sections below.

Recommended
Following are the minimum hardware recommendations for Windows 7:
Recommendation
Processor 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
Memory 1 GB system RAM recommended
Disk Space 16 GB free disk space
Support for DirectX 9 graphics with 128 MB memory (in order to enable
Display Adapter
Aero theme)
Optical Drive DVD-R/W Drive
Internet
Internet access to get updates
Connection
Please note: Some product features of Windows 7, such as the ability to watch
and record live TV or navigate through the use of "touch," might require
advanced or additional hardware.

Minimums
Windows 7 will not install if you do not meet these minimums:
Minimum
Processor 1 GHz 32-bit or 64-bit processor
512 MB system RAM
Memory Setup checks for >=376 MB to accommodate 512 MB systems with a shared-
memory display adapter.
Disk
6-10 GB free disk space, depending on edition and installation method
Space

Maximums
Windows 7 uses the following as maximum supported hardware configurations:
Home Basic and Home
Edition: Starter Professional Ultimate
Premium
Processors 1 Physical 1 Physical 2 Physical 2 Physical
2 GB for 32-bit 4 GB for 32-bit 4 GB for 32-bit
4 GB for 32-bit
Memory (no 64- 128 GB 128 GB
16 GB on 64-bit
bit) on 64-bit on 64-bit
When installing on systems with greater than these values, Windows 7 will only
use up to the maximum value. So a 32-bit installation of Windows 7 on an 8 GB
RAM system will only show 4 GB available for use. In this particular case it will
actually show less than 4 GB, due to limitations in the x86 architecture.
Note: For the purposes of Windows licensing, physical processors are counted.
For example, a processor with 2 cores, with Hyperthreading enabled on each core
still counts as only one physical processor.
For more information: See the following page for additional information on
processors and licensing.
http://www.microsoft.com/licensing/highlights/multicore.mspx

Upgrade Advisor
Upgrade Advisor
One of the methods you can use to verify that a computer meets the minimum
requirements for Windows 7 is to run the Windows Upgrade Advisor. This program also
checks for software or configurations that could lead to problems during setup.
The Upgrade Advisor will be available for download from Microsoft.com before
Windows 7 general availability.
Much like the Compatibility Report in Windows 7 Setup, the Upgrade Advisor provides
you with a list of any warnings or blocks for upgrading your computer. The requirement
areas checked are:

• Software compatibility

• Programs

• Current Windows version

• Hardware compatibility

• Windows features that will be removed


This information is displayed in the report, along with guidance on how best to migrate
from your current configuration to Windows 7.
Note: The Windows Upgrade Advisor will be covered by a separate training course,
released prior to Windows 7 availability.

Upgrade Install
Upgrade Install
The upgrade process proceeds in the following main steps, just as with Windows Vista
upgrades.
Name Description Log Files
\
Starting the installation. Copying Setup files to the hard drive, and $Windows.~BT\So
setting up a boot entry to boot directly to the next phase. As part of urces\Panther\setup
Downle
this, existing installed drivers are added to the $Windows.~BT *.log
vel
driver store so that hardware support is available in WinPE.
\
(1)
Also during this phase, data, programs and settings for migration $Windows.~BT\So
are identified and online gathering is performed. urces\Panther\PreG
atherPnPList.log
This phase starts with the Windows Setup boot entry, pointing to \
WinPE WinPE in $Windows.~BT. The rest of the migration gathering is $Windows.~BT\So
(2) done in this phase, followed by the application of the generic urces\Panther\setup
Windows 7 image from install.wim. *.log
Online In this step the computer is started in Windows 7 for the first time. \
Configu Setup first performs a set of specialization actions that make the Windows\Panther\s
etup*.log
\
Windows\inf\setupa
ration installation of Windows unique. Drivers for detected hardware are
pi.*.log
installed, and collected migration data is now reapplied to the
(4) system. \
$Windows.~BT\So
urces\Panther\PostG
atherPnPList.log
\
Windows\Panther\U
nattendGC\setup*.l
Window When setup is finished, you begin using Windows 7 in the og
s Windows Welcome phase, also known as the Out Of Box
Welcom Experience (OOBE). This is the portion of setup where you set the \
e time zone, choose the configuration for updates and safety Windows\Logs\CB
features, have a chance to connect to a network, and join a S.log
(NA) HomeGroup if one is found on your network.
\
Windows\inf\setupa
pi.*.log
The numbers shown with the phase names above indicate the Phase number logged in
setupact.log for this portion of setup.

Changes vs. Windows Vista


The following sections outline improvements made to the upgrade process in Windows 7
compared to Windows Vista. As you will see the changes are modest but welcome.

Better Progress Indicators


When Windows Vista upgrade was performing a long list of migration tasks, it could
often appear to be stalled. Windows 7 upgrade provides better visual feedback to show
that an upgrade is still making progress.
You can see this in the example below, in addition to the percent complete for the task,
the number of items processed is displayed at the bottom.

One Compatibility Report


When installing Windows Vista, there were several points during setup where you might
hit a compatibility issue that blocked installation. In Windows 7 there is a single report
that shows configuration, requirement, application, and device/driver issues.
This report is saved to the current user’s desktop as Windows Compatibility Report.htm
This should help prevent scenarios where you fix one problem that is blocking setup,
only to find out that there is some other issue preventing the installation from completing.

64-Bit Upgrade
Upgrades from 64-bit Windows Vista to 64-bit Windows 7 are supported. There was not
an upgrade provided to Windows Vista 64-bit, so this is a new feature of upgrades.
Note however, that cross-architecture upgrades are still blocked in Windows 7. So
Windows Vista 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit upgrades are not supported.
As part of this upgrade, you are also given an opportunity to “Load Driver”. This is added
so that an incompatible or missing boot-critical driver can be replaced during the upgrade
process. When a problem driver is found by the Upgrade Compatibility check, this Load
Driver option is provided in the Compatibility Report.

Upgrade Paths
The primary upgrade path for Windows 7 starts at Windows Vista SP1 or later. Earlier
Windows versions are not supported for upgrade to Windows 7.
Additionally there are some specific paths that are not supported, such as from a higher
edition of Windows Vista to a lower edition of Windows 7. The table below provides
details on retail upgrade paths.
The table below shows the supported upgrade paths are indicated by “Yes”. In addition,
there are two other indicators shown:

• RIU: The upgrade install process can be used to repair Windows 7, so the support
for this Repair In-place Upgrade is indicated by “RIU”

• WAU: The setup process cannot be used to go from a lower to a higher edition of
Windows 7. This is a change from Windows Vista, where you could upgrade
from Home Premium to Ultimate, for example. On Windows 7 that path is
provided only by Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU). Valid paths for WAU
upgrade are indicated by “WAU”.
Upgrade To Windows 7: Home Home Ultimat
Starter Professional Enterprise
Upgrade From: Basic Premium e

Windows XP or earlier X X X X X X
Windows Vista (RTM) X X X X X X
Windows Vista Starter (SP1+) X X X X X X
Windows Vista Home Basic
X Yes Yes X X Yes
(SP1+)
Windows Vista Home Premium
X X Yes X X Yes
(SP1+)
Windows Vista Business (SP1+) X X X Yes Yes Yes
Windows Vista Enterprise
X X X X Yes X
(SP1+)
Windows Vista Ultimate (SP1+) X X X X X Yes
Windows 7 Starter RIU X WAU WAU X WAU
Windows 7 Home Basic X RIU WAU WAU X WAU
Windows 7 Home Premium X X RIU WAU X WAU
Windows 7 Professional X X X RIU X WAU
Windows 7 Enterprise X X X X RIU X
Windows 7 Ultimate X X X X X RIU

From Windows XP
Upgrades from Windows XP not supported. Migrating a Windows XP computer to
Windows 7 involves Windows Easy Transfer and a clean install.
For more information, see the Best Practices section below.

From Windows 7
A repair in-place upgrade is the only supported upgrade installation within the Windows
7 family. If you want to go from one edition to another along a supported Windows
Anytime Upgrade path, WAU is the method for the upgrade.
If your desired target edition is not a Windows Anytime Upgrade target for you, such as
if you want to go from 32-bit to 64-bit, you will need to perform a clean install, and
migrate data and settings using Windows Easy Transfer or some other means.
For more information on Repair in-place upgrade installation used as a troubleshooting
tool, see the Troubleshooting Tools module in this course.

Windows N Editions
N editions of Windows 7 support in-place reinstall for repair, as well as some WAU
paths. There are no supported Windows Vista to Windows 7 upgrade installation paths.
As a result of this, if you are migrating from Windows Vista to a Windows 7 N edition,
you should follow the clean installation with data migration guidance recommended for
Windows XP to Windows 7 migration.

Windows K Editions
K editions of Windows follow the same upgrade paths as their corresponding non-K
Windows edition. K is simply the Korean Localized version of an Edition. This means
that you can upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium K to Windows 7 Home
Premium K.
Windows "KN" editions do not support upgrade. These editions to provide WAU support
however, following the same WAU upgrade paths as their corresponding non-KN
editions.
Upgrade Install
The upgrade process proceeds in the following main steps, just as with Windows Vista
upgrades.
Name Description Log Files
\
Starting the installation. Copying Setup files to the hard drive, and $Windows.~BT\So
setting up a boot entry to boot directly to the next phase. As part of urces\Panther\setup
Downle
this, existing installed drivers are added to the $Windows.~BT *.log
vel
driver store so that hardware support is available in WinPE.
\
(1)
Also during this phase, data, programs and settings for migration $Windows.~BT\So
are identified and online gathering is performed. urces\Panther\PreG
atherPnPList.log
This phase starts with the Windows Setup boot entry, pointing to \
WinPE WinPE in $Windows.~BT. The rest of the migration gathering is $Windows.~BT\So
(2) done in this phase, followed by the application of the generic urces\Panther\setup
Windows 7 image from install.wim. *.log
Online In this step the computer is started in Windows 7 for the first time. \
Configu Setup first performs a set of specialization actions that make the Windows\Panther\s
ration installation of Windows unique. Drivers for detected hardware are etup*.log
installed, and collected migration data is now reapplied to the
(4) system. \
Windows\inf\setupa
pi.*.log
\
$Windows.~BT\So
urces\Panther\PostG
atherPnPList.log
\
Windows\Panther\U
nattendGC\setup*.l
Window When setup is finished, you begin using Windows 7 in the og
s Windows Welcome phase, also known as the Out Of Box
Welcom Experience (OOBE). This is the portion of setup where you set the \
e time zone, choose the configuration for updates and safety Windows\Logs\CB
features, have a chance to connect to a network, and join a S.log
(NA) HomeGroup if one is found on your network.
\
Windows\inf\setupa
pi.*.log
The numbers shown with the phase names above indicate the Phase number logged in
setupact.log for this portion of setup.

Changes vs. Windows Vista


The following sections outline improvements made to the upgrade process in Windows 7
compared to Windows Vista. As you will see the changes are modest but welcome.

Better Progress Indicators


When Windows Vista upgrade was performing a long list of migration tasks, it could
often appear to be stalled. Windows 7 upgrade provides better visual feedback to show
that an upgrade is still making progress.
You can see this in the example below, in addition to the percent complete for the task,
the number of items processed is displayed at the bottom.

One Compatibility Report


When installing Windows Vista, there were several points during setup where you might
hit a compatibility issue that blocked installation. In Windows 7 there is a single report
that shows configuration, requirement, application, and device/driver issues.
This report is saved to the current user’s desktop as Windows Compatibility Report.htm
This should help prevent scenarios where you fix one problem that is blocking setup,
only to find out that there is some other issue preventing the installation from completing.
64-Bit Upgrade
Upgrades from 64-bit Windows Vista to 64-bit Windows 7 are supported. There was not
an upgrade provided to Windows Vista 64-bit, so this is a new feature of upgrades.
Note however, that cross-architecture upgrades are still blocked in Windows 7. So
Windows Vista 32-bit to Windows 7 64-bit upgrades are not supported.
As part of this upgrade, you are also given an opportunity to “Load Driver”. This is added
so that an incompatible or missing boot-critical driver can be replaced during the upgrade
process. When a problem driver is found by the Upgrade Compatibility check, this Load
Driver option is provided in the Compatibility Report.

Upgrade Paths
The primary upgrade path for Windows 7 starts at Windows Vista SP1 or later. Earlier
Windows versions are not supported for upgrade to Windows 7.
Additionally there are some specific paths that are not supported, such as from a higher
edition of Windows Vista to a lower edition of Windows 7. The table below provides
details on retail upgrade paths.
The table below shows the supported upgrade paths are indicated by “Yes”. In addition,
there are two other indicators shown:

• RIU: The upgrade install process can be used to repair Windows 7, so the support
for this Repair In-place Upgrade is indicated by “RIU”

• WAU: The setup process cannot be used to go from a lower to a higher edition of
Windows 7. This is a change from Windows Vista, where you could upgrade
from Home Premium to Ultimate, for example. On Windows 7 that path is
provided only by Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU). Valid paths for WAU
upgrade are indicated by “WAU”.
Upgrade To Windows 7: Home Home Ultimat
Starter Professional Enterprise
Upgrade From: Basic Premium e

Windows XP or earlier X X X X X X
Windows Vista (RTM) X X X X X X
Windows Vista Starter (SP1+) X X X X X X
Windows Vista Home Basic
X Yes Yes X X Yes
(SP1+)
Windows Vista Home Premium
X X Yes X X Yes
(SP1+)
Windows Vista Business (SP1+) X X X Yes Yes Yes
Windows Vista Enterprise
X X X X Yes X
(SP1+)
Windows Vista Ultimate (SP1+) X X X X X Yes
Windows 7 Starter RIU X WAU WAU X WAU
Windows 7 Home Basic X RIU WAU WAU X WAU
Windows 7 Home Premium X X RIU WAU X WAU
Windows 7 Professional X X X RIU X WAU
Windows 7 Enterprise X X X X RIU X
Windows 7 Ultimate X X X X X RIU

From Windows XP
Upgrades from Windows XP not supported. Migrating a Windows XP computer to
Windows 7 involves Windows Easy Transfer and a clean install.
For more information, see the Best Practices section below.

From Windows 7
A repair in-place upgrade is the only supported upgrade installation within the Windows
7 family. If you want to go from one edition to another along a supported Windows
Anytime Upgrade path, WAU is the method for the upgrade.
If your desired target edition is not a Windows Anytime Upgrade target for you, such as
if you want to go from 32-bit to 64-bit, you will need to perform a clean install, and
migrate data and settings using Windows Easy Transfer or some other means.
For more information on Repair in-place upgrade installation used as a troubleshooting
tool, see the Troubleshooting Tools module in this course.

Windows N Editions
N editions of Windows 7 support in-place reinstall for repair, as well as some WAU
paths. There are no supported Windows Vista to Windows 7 upgrade installation paths.
As a result of this, if you are migrating from Windows Vista to a Windows 7 N edition,
you should follow the clean installation with data migration guidance recommended for
Windows XP to Windows 7 migration.
Windows K Editions
K editions of Windows follow the same upgrade paths as their corresponding non-K
Windows edition. K is simply the Korean Localized version of an Edition. This means
that you can upgrade from Windows Vista Home Premium K to Windows 7 Home
Premium K.
Windows "KN" editions do not support upgrade. These editions to provide WAU support
however, following the same WAU upgrade paths as their corresponding non-KN
editions.

Upgrade Steps
Upgrade Steps
The following pages show the progress of an upgrade install of Windows 7 over
Windows Vista.

Downlevel Phase
When you insert the Windows 7 DVD, you should see an AutoPlay prompt. Starting
Setup.exe starts the Install Windows interface, as shown below.

When you choose Check compatibility online you are taken to the Upgrade Advisor page
on Microsoft.com. This is where you can perform a compatibility check without starting
the upgrade process.
Choosing Install now starts the Downlevel phase of setup. This is called Phase 1 in the
setupact.log file. This phase starts by creating a $Windows.~BT folder on the hard drive,
which is happening when you see the “Setup is copying temporary files” message on-
screen.
Once the temporary files have been copied, the setup wizard is started from that location,
as shown below.

All of the logging for this phase of setup is going to the setupact.log file in
$Windows.~BT\Sources\Panther\.
This first step determines whether you use Dynamic Update to download updates for the
setup process, as well as your opt-in status for the Customer Experience Improvement
Program for Windows 7 Setup. As in Windows Vista, if an update is available for Setup,
then you may see setup re-start itself at this point.
Next is the license agreement, shown below.
After accepting the agreement, you can choose Upgrade or Custom install. In this
example we’re following the steps for an Upgrade install.

Compatibility Check
The compatibility check is the next step after you click Upgrade. This is where we’re
performing the upgrade compatibility and general hardware compatibility checks.
The checks performed include the following:

• Supported upgrade path

• Version and Service Pack level

• Architecture

• Edition

• Language

• Free Memory to perform upgrade data, settings, and program migration

• Free disk space

• Not in Safe Mode

• Check for Folder/Partition Issues

• Single OS on Windows partition

• Non-OS folders with reserved names - Users, ProgramData, Windows if


they are not current system folders.

• Current Program Files or Users folder is not located on the SystemDrive


or any profile folder is not located in the Profiles directory

• Windows is not installed to a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file using boot to
VHD support (this is a scenario that only applies to Windows 7 reinstall, it
does not affect Windows running in a Virtual PC Virtual Machine)
See the Startup module for more information on Boot to VHD support.

• No restart is pending

• Only one user is currently logged on


This is the step of the installation where any compatibility messages would be displayed.
In our example steps here, there were no issues found. See the Compatibility Report
below in this section for examples of compatibility warning messages.
Once the compatibility check is complete and any warning messages are dismissed, setup
starts the upgrade by Copying Windows files.

Next comes the “Gather files, settings and programs” step, where the migration
components of upgrade check for and collect this information to be applied to the new
Windows 7 installation later.

Through the Gathering and the next step, “Expanding Windows files” you will see more
progress indicators. This is changed compared with Windows Vista setup. Windows 7
now shows the number of files/settings elements to be processed, along with the number
currently complete. This can help avoid the perception that setup is stalled.
At 21% of Expanding Windows files, setup restarts the computer. After the restart, setup
resumes at 21% of Expanding Windows files

WinPE
The WinPE phase of Windows 7 upgrade is when Windows continues expanding files,
now replacing the current files in the \Windows and \Program Files directories with the
Windows 7 versions. Because this is where file replacement happens, this is also when
Setup Rollback is an option in the boot menu. Using this option reverts the installation
back to the pre-Setup state.
This begins with the startup for WinPE, where we are starting the computer from the
operating system installed to \$Windows.~BT, created during the Downlevel phase. This
operating system is shown as “Windows 7 Setup” in the boot menu, as shown below.

Next is an Upgrading Windows screen, during which the setup engine is started.

Once started, we continue with the “Expanding Windows files” step, picking up from
21% where we left off in Downlevel. At this point additional upgrade data migration is
happening. Once that is done, setup applies the Windows image from install.wim to the
target drive.

When “Expanding Windows files” reaches 100%, the generic install.wim image has been
written to the drive. The Installing features and updates step is next, during which
Dynamic Updates are applied to the install, if you chose that option during Downlevel
and there were updates available. Also at this step: the system account user profiles are
created, and registry changes are made so that the install will function on the next startup.
When done, the computer is again restarted.

Online Configuration
Online Configuration begins with a Starting Windows step. In the setup log files this is
the start of Phase 4.
This time the computer is started to the installed copy of Windows 7 for the first time, to
enter the Online Configuration phase.

Online Configuration is also known as “First Boot” since it is the first time that the new
Windows installation has started. This phase proceeds with the following actions:

• Starting Windows

• Setup is updating registry settings

• Setup is starting services


When these steps are complete, you will again see the Setup wizard on-screen, resuming
with the Transferring files, settings and programs step.

This step performs the following actions, shown at the bottom of this interface:

• Installing devices and setting up your system

• Transferring files, settings and programs (x of y transferred)


This message indicates that the transfer in of migrated data and settings has
begun.

• Removing temporary installation files


Logging at this point goes primarily to the \Windows\Panther\setupact.log file, except
driver and network-related INF-based installation activities, which are logged to the
\Windows\inf\setupact.*.log files.
You will typically see another restart at 63% of the “Transferring files, settings, and
programs” step, before the (x of y transferred) counter is completed.
When the “Transferring files, settings and programs” step is completed, the computer is
restarted one final time. At this next startup you should see the “Setup is preparing your
computer for first use” message, shown below.
One additional step you may see at this point is a video performance check. This is the
display portion of the WinSAT assessment that was done after Windows Welcome on
Windows Vista. It has been moved to this step just before Windows Welcome on
Windows 7. This is only run if needed to determine whether the PC is capable of
displaying Aero.
Another new step at this point is a display resolution check. If Windows Setup
determines that you are using a very high DPI display, you will see a high DPI setting in
effect for Windows. This takes effect starting in Windows Welcome.
For more information on High DPI changes in Windows 7, see the Hardware and Drivers
module in this course.

Windows Welcome
The Windows Welcome process consists of the steps shown at the end of setup when user
input is required. The steps shown during an upgrade are few, compared to the full
possible set of steps on a clean install. The expectation is that Windows is already
configured as you want it, so this phase typically contains fewer setups than in a clean
install.
Logging at this phase is sent to \Windows\Panther\UnattendGC\setupact.log. Note that
change in path. The main setupact.log in \Windows\Panther does not receive any
Windows Welcome logging entries.
First you will see a step to type your Windows product key and choose whether to
activate Windows automatically.

“Help protect your computer and improve Windows automatically” is the next step,
shown below. This configures Windows Update settings, Windows Firewall
configuration, problem reporting and other settings.

The options at this step result in the following configuration:

• Use recommended settings

• Windows automatic updating is enabled. Important updates will install


automatically

• When installing hardware, drivers can be installed from Windows Update.

• Download the latest device metadata to see the actual brand names and/or
icons in Devices and Printers.

• Windows Defender will automatically remove software that causes severe


alert levels. If you have genuine Windows, it will also remove software
with high alert levels. Windows Defender will also periodically scan your
computer for spyware and potentially unwanted software, and will join
Microsoft SpyNet with a basic membership.

• Windows problem reporting is enabled.

• Windows Help and Support will use the latest content in Windows Help
and Support online

• Troubleshooting Packs in Action Center will include the latest packs from
the Windows Online Troubleshooting Service.

• Turn on the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP).

• Turn on the Help Experience Improvement Program (HEIP) and search


string collection.

• Install important updates only

• Windows automatic updating is enabled. Important updates will install


automatically

• Ask me later

• When you log on, you will be asked periodically to choose settings for the
features described in the recommended settings.
Next comes the time and time zone option.

Next is the network selection – this is where you determine whether you are on a trusted
(Home or Work) or untrusted (Public) network.

This step determines the firewall and network sharing settings to be used for the
connection. It also determines whether setup will search for a homegroup on the network.
If you select Home then setup proceeds with a search for a Homegroup on the network.
The presence of a homegroup step in Windows Welcome depends on the outcome of this
search:

• If a homegroup is not found, a Homegroup is created with a generated password,


but with no libraries shared.

• If a homegroup is found, will next see a step to join the homegroup. Enter the
homegroup password here. If you do not know the password, log on to any other
computer that is a member and go to Network and Sharing Center, HomeGroup,
and click “View or print the homegroup password”
The latter case is shown below. A homegroup has been found so you are prompted for the
password and given a chance to choose which libraries to share.

Note: Not sure how to find the homegroup password? On one of the other Homegroup
computers, go to Network and Sharing Center, HomeGroup, and then click View or print
the homegroup password.
When these steps have been completed, Windows 7 setup then finalizes the settings, and
takes you to the logon prompt.

This is fewer steps than you see in Windows Welcome during a Clean Install. For more
details on Windows Welcome, see the Clean Installation information later in this module.

Upgrade Compatibility Report


Upgrade Compatibility Report
When Windows Setup performs compatibility checks, any issues discovered are provided
in the Compatibility Report, which is saved to your desktop as “Windows Compatibility
Report.htm”. This file contains the full text of the message, so that you can refer to it
outside of Setup if you need to complete pre-upgrade actions.
The Compatibility Report appears as shown below within Setup:

When viewing the Windows Compatibility Report.htm file in Internet Explorer, you will
see the same information, as shown below.

Warnings
When the compatibility report has identified an issue that could result in a less than
desirable outcome, you will see a warning message. This indicates that the upgrade can
continue, but with some impact to your current configuration.
A warning message related to Windows features, such as the removal of Ultimate Extras,
or language pack issues starts with this text:
Upgrading Windows will affect the following features
This may also include a step to turn off specific Windows Features:
These Windows features might not work properly after the upgrade. Before upgrading,
we recommend turning off these features. Cancel the upgrade, open Control Panel, and
search for “turn Windows features on or off”.
For hardware or software compatibility issues, you will see a message that begins like
this:
Upgrading Windows will affect the following devices and/or programs
The hardware compatibility message continues with this text:
These devices might not work properly after the upgrade. Before upgrading, we
recommend updating the drivers for these devices. Cancel the upgrade, open Control
Panel, and search for “update device drivers”, or go to the device manufacturer’s website
to search for updated drivers.
For program compatibility issues, the message shows:
These programs might not work properly after the upgrade. Before upgrading, we
recommend uninstalling these programs. Cancel the upgrade, open Control Panel, and
search for “uninstall a program”. (Note: Programs marked as * can be safely reinstalled
after the upgrade.)
All of these are messages indicate a potentially undesirable outcome, but not a problem
that will prevent Setup from performing the upgrade.

Upgrade Blocks
Upgrade block messages differ from warnings in that they indicate that the upgrade
cannot be performed. In order to upgrade Windows, you must first resolve the issues
identified in the report.
When an upgrade blocking issue is found, the Compatibility Report will start with the
following text:
The following issues are preventing Windows from upgrading. Cancel the upgrade,
complete each task, and then restart the upgrade to continue.
This is followed by one of the following main types of actions:

• Turn off these Windows features. Open Control Panel and search for “turn
Windows features on or off”.

• Uninstall these programs. Open Control Panel and search for “uninstall a
program”.

• Install updated drivers for the following devices. Open Control Panel and search
for “update device drivers”.
Once you complete the actions indicated, you should be able to complete the upgrade
successfully.
Features Removed during Upgrade
The following features of Windows Vista are not also features of Windows 7. As a result
they are removed during the upgrade process:

• Movie Maker

• Photo Gallery

• Windows Mail

• Windows Calendar

• Meeting Place
This does not apply to Windows Live programs with similar names. Windows Live
programs for mail, photos and movies should be migrated during the upgrade.
Note: Data files for these removed Windows features are migrated during an upgrade so
that they will be available for use in an alternate program.
For more information on these removals, with recommendations on replacement
programs, see the Using Windows module in this course.

Ultimate Components
In addition to the above, several other items installed as add-on software for Windows
Vista Ultimate Edition, are also removed as part of the Upgrade process:

• Ultimate Extras

• Windows DreamScene and DreamScene Content Packs

• Microsoft Tinker

• Hold Em Poker Game

• Windows Sound Schemes

• Language Packs

• Installed language packs are removed during the upgrade. You will need
to reinstall language packs after the upgrade is complete.
Note: Windows 7 upgrade migrates personally provided content for DreamScene. Only
content included in the Ultimate Extras provided DreamScene Content Packs are
removed during the upgrade.
Upgrade Best Practices
Upgrade Best Practices
This section provides guidance for several upgrade related scenarios that could result in
customer questions.

Path from Windows XP to Windows 7


As shown in the upgrade path tables above, there is no direct upgrade path from
Windows XP to Windows 7. If you try upgrading directly, you will receive the message
shown below.

The message text is as follows:


You can’t directly upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7. Go online to learn how to
use Windows Easy Transfer to install Windows 7 and keep your files and settings.
To achieve the easiest migration to Windows 7, it is recommended that you migrate data
and settings using Windows Easy Transfer, and then perform a clean install of Windows
7.
For more information on this scenario and specific steps, see the Clean Install section of
this module.

Upgrade from Damaged Windows Vista


Often during operating system releases, we encounter support calls from customers who
are trying to resolve problems by upgrading to a new Windows version. This is a risky
and often problematic approach to solving PC problems.
Many of the software or hardware issues impacting the stability of Windows Vista could
be migrated into, or directly affect the new installation of Windows 7. As a result, the
best approach is to backup/migrate data, and perform a clean install of Windows 7.
This means using the same procedure as recommend for Windows XP to Windows 7
migration.
In addition, you might also recommend some steps to check for hardware issues, if the
problems manifested as system instability or stop errors.

Backup Data before an Upgrade


To protect against problems during the upgrade process, you should recommend that your
customer perform a backup of critical data to an off-computer storage device before
upgrading to Windows 7. This could be to an online backup service, DVD discs, or an
external hard disk that is disconnected from the computer during setup.
This precaution can help protect against coincidental hardware failures that may damage
data on the machine, as well as from other potential problems.

Upgrade on Small Disk PCs


Small disk PCs, such as netbooks, present challenges for an upgrade installation. The
upgrade process maintains a copy of the original operating system files so that a rollback
can be performed in the event of problems. This means that additional free disk space is
needed
As a general recommendation, you should have 16 GB free disk space for upgrade to
complete successfully. The minimum possible space permitted by setup much less.
If you have insufficient space to upgrade even after freeing disk space, follow the same
recommendation as for Windows XP to Windows 7 migration – migrate out data and
settings, then clean install Windows 7.

Uninstall back to Previous Version


During an upgrade to Windows 7 there is a Rollback option provided from the Boot
Menu providing an option to return to the previous OS configuration. This is removed at
the end of Online Configuration.
Once the Rollback option is removed, there is not an Uninstall procedure that returns you
directly to the pre-setup state. This is the same as was done in Windows Vista.
To return to the previous version of Windows you must perform a clean installation of
that previous version.

Repairing Windows 7 with an In-Place Upgrade


Like Windows Vista, Windows 7 supports re-install from within Windows in order to
repair the current installation.
For more information, see the Troubleshooting Tools module in this course.

Upgrade Troubleshooting
Upgrade Troubleshooting
This section discusses troubleshooting for key potential upgrade issues.
Issues during upgrade from Windows Vista to Windows 7 are typically one of the
following:
• Upgrade blocks

• Missing data after upgrade

• Missing programs after upgrade

• Hardware not working after upgrade

• Hang or Error during upgrade

• Black screen during upgrade


These potential issues are discussed below.

Upgrade is Blocked
To resolve this issue, eliminate the issue blocking the upgrade, or perform a clean
installation of Windows 7 if the block is not hardware related.

Missing Data after Upgrade


Issues related to missing data after upgrade generally fall into three categories:
Clean install was performed instead of an upgrade.
In this scenario, it is best to assist the customer with the collection of data from
the Windows.old folder on the hard drive.
Incomplete data migration.
In this scenario the migration engine in Setup did not complete the movement of
user files from the migration store to the user profile locations in the new
installation. Search for data files using DIR in the \$Windows.~Q and \
$INPLACE.~TR folders.
Unknown cause not covered above.
If you cannot locate data in the locations for #1 or #2 above, use an
Administrator command prompt to perform a check on the entire drive for
the missing data files. An example of the commands to check for photos
is:
Cd\
Dir *.jpg /a /s > %userprofile%\Desktop\jpg_files.txt
Obtain the file created on the desktop from your customer and check for non-
Windows and non-Program related image files.
If you can identify the location where the customer’s data has been copied, use drag
and drop or robocopy.exe to help put the files in a more accessible location.
If you cannot locate any data files on the machine, check the
\Windows\Panther\Setupact.log file and check to be sure this was an upgrade
installation. If not, you can determine if the partition was formatted in the log, as
well as know to check other partitions for the data.
For more information on conditions that could lead to category #2 above, see the
following Knowledge Base article:
930890 Some files may appear to be missing after you upgrade an earlier version of
Windows to Windows Vista

Missing/Damaged Programs after Upgrade


To resolve issues with programs after an upgrade, uninstall first (if possible), and then
reinstall the programs.
Application Compatibility between Windows Vista and Windows 7 is very good, so there
are not many of this type of issues anticipated. There will be issues with software that
interacts at a low level with the operating system however. As a result you should check
for updates to the following types of programs:

• Backup

• Antimalware

• System utilities

• Diagnostics
See the Applications module in this course for more information on troubleshooting
application issues.

Hardware Not Working after Upgrade


Is there a device not functioning after the upgrade? Consider the following steps to
address this issue:
Start with the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter, available from Action Center.
Fix any issues found.
Check Device Manager for Unknown or Problem devices.
If found, remove these one-by-one and then “Scan for hardware changes”
When the devices are found again, search for drivers.
Note any hardware still in a problem state. Use normal hardware/driver
troubleshooting based on the problem code.
If you still have unknown devices, check for updated drivers from the
manufacturer web site.

Hang or Error during Upgrade


Troubleshooting for hangs and specific setup errors remains the same in Windows 7 as it
was in Windows Vista. In order to achieve a good resolution, focus on obtaining the
following information:

• Error Message: Be sure to collect the exact error code or error message.

• Phase of Setup: What was happening on screen before the error? Is there a
progress indication visible?

• Upgrade Path: What was the upgrade starting point OS version, SP level, and
architecture? How was setup started?
These key facts can help you identify the type of problem you are facing. See the
Windows Vista training and the Knowledge Base for troubleshooting recommendations
on specific issues.

Black Screen during Upgrade


There are several possible causes for a black screen during the upgrade – multiple video
output issues, a display driver problem, or a hardware issue. To resolve such an issue, try
the following:
Check for multiple video ports on the PC. It is possible that when the display driver
was reinstalled during Online Configuration the video output may have switched
to an alternate port.
Restart the computer with F8 and choose “Enable low-resolution video (640x480)”.
Check for display output during BIOS POST. If the POST logo or text is not being
displayed on-screen then the issue is with the hardware.

. Lab: Upgrade Install

Clean Install
Clean Install
Clean installation for Windows 7, like the upgrade, follows the same steps and structure
as was used for Windows Vista setup. Phases for a clean install are as follows:
Name Description Log Files
Downl \
evel Only used when starting setup from previous OS $Windows.~BT\Sources\Panther\s
(1) etup*.log

\
$Windows.~BT\Sources\Panther\s
etup*.log
WinPE This phase is entered directly as the first phase when
you boot from DVD to begin setup X:\Windows\Panther (location
(2)
during WinPE phase of setup,
copied to $Windows.~BT at the
end of the phase)
Online In this step the computer is started in Windows 7 for
Config the first time. Setup first performs a set of \Windows\Panther\setup*.log
uration specialization actions that make the installation of
\Windows\inf\setupapi.*.log
(4) Windows unique

When setup is finished, you begin using Windows 7 \


Windo in the Windows Welcome phase, also known as the
ws Windows\Panther\UnattendGC\se
Out Of Box Experience (OOBE). This is the portion tup*.log
Welco of setup where you set the time zone, choose the
me configuration for updates and safety features, have a \Windows\Logs\CBS.log
(NA) chance to connect to a network, and join a
Homegroup if one is found on your network \Windows\inf\setupapi.*.log

The numbers shown with the phase names above indicate the Phase number logged in
setupact.log for this portion of setup.

Changes vs. Vista


When performing a clean install of Windows 7, there are two significant changes
compared with Windows Vista – the creation of a separate system partition, and the
option to join a wireless network.

System Partition
If you perform a clean install of Windows 7 using default settings on an unpartitioned
disk, after setup you will find 2 partitions in Disk Management:
Letter Size Type Description
(No Primary Partition, System, This is the system partition, which contains
100 MB
Letter) Active Bootmgr and the Boot folder.
remainder Primary Partition, Boot, Page
C: This is the Windows partition.
of drive File, Crash Dump
Note that the terminology used in Disk Management for partitions can be confusing. As
indicated above, the “Boot Files” are located on the “System” partition, while the
Windows system files are located on the “Boot” partition.

Purpose of the Partition


This partition is being created for a few main reasons:

• Bitlocker requires that the boot files and Windows files be separated. This is why
Windows Vista needed the Bitlocker Drive Preparation tool. Also, this system
partition may be used by utility software, such as backup problems, to support
dual boot scenarios.

• Protect against deletion, such as in a dual boot scenario. It is easy to lose the boot
files due to a format when reinstalling an OS which is on the system partition. In
this new configuration, the Windows partitions can be formatted without
impacting system boot.
The drive received no drive letter as further protection against accidental deletion of the
boot files.

Conditions
When you boot from the DVD to perform a clean install of Windows 7, setup will create
the 100 MB system partition under the following conditions:

• There is not an existing system partition on the machine

• The system does not have 3 existing partitions

• There is unallocated space on the disk for the extra partition


If you do not meet the conditions, such as if you do not have unallocated disk space for a
new system partition, setup attempts to use the existing system partition for boot files. If
no partition is currently marked active, setup sets one as active using the same process
applied by Windows Vista setup previously.
A result of the above conditions is that the system partition is not created during upgrade
installation or clean install from downlevel. In both of these cases there is an existing
system partition, which is used for boot files. In these cases Windows 7 setup proceeds in
the same way as Windows Vista setup.

Join a Wireless Network


If you have an active wireless network adapter and there are networks in range, Windows
Welcome provides a new step to connect to a network.

This step includes support for both secured and unsecured networks. A secure network
example is shown below.

In this view you can see the key entry field and the setting that determines if this
connection is saved and started automatically.
In the event of a problem joining a network during setup, simply skip the step, and then
join from within Windows, using standard wireless network connection troubleshooting.

Clean Install Steps: Boot


Clean Install Steps: Boot
When you clean install via DVD boot, Windows 7 setup launches directly into WinPE
mode. When starting in this way, you are given full setup options for disk configuration
and partition creation.

WinPE
The first step of setup from DVD boot is to “Press any key to boot from CD or DVD.”

WinPE begins loading, and shows the “Windows is loading files” progress indicator, as
shown below.

Next is the Starting Windows image, which is the new “splash screen” for Windows 7
startup.

As with WinRE, the first user interface for WinPE in setup is the language selection,
shown below.

Note the options below, which are the same as provided in Windows Vista. The two most
interesting for us are:
• Install now: This launches setup.exe, with the log starting in Phase 2.

• Repair your computer: This starts WinRE.

A “Setup is starting” message appears when you click Install now to indicate that
setup.exe has been launched.
The first step in the setup wizard is “Please read the license terms”, shown below.

Next comes the step asking “Which type of installation do you want?”

This step has changed compared with Windows Vista, in that Upgrade is never made
unavailable to click. In Windows Vista this caused confusion, or resulted in customers
choosing a clean install when they might be happier to have more guidance on how to
perform an upgrade.
If you select “Upgrade” in this interface while started via DVD boot, you will receive the
following message:
Compatibility Report
This computer started using the Windows installation disc. Remove the installation disc
and restart your computer so that Windows starts normally. Then, insert the installation
disc and restart the upgrade. (Do no select “Custom (advanced)” to perform an upgrade.
“Custom (advanced)” installs a new copy of Windows and deletes your programs and
settings.)
Our Clean Install via DVD Boot example continues by following the “Custom
(advanced)” path.
Next comes the “Where do you want to install Windows?” step. This is the step where
you select the target disk or partition, shown below. You can proceed with defaults by
simply clicking next on a computer with a single empty hard drive. Setup will create a
100 MB system partition, and allocate the reminder of the space on the disk for the
Windows partition.

You have three main options at this step:

• Refresh: This refreshes this view, in case a drive that should be listed has not
appeared. This can also be used if you are configuring disks outside of setup, such
as via Shift + F10 and Diskpart.exe.
• Load Driver: This checks removable media for storage controller drivers. This is
needed if you have a disk controller that is not supported by in-box drivers.

• Drive options (advanced): If you want to configure partitions, click this to view
additional drive and partition management options. See the Load Storage Driver
section under Best Practices later in this section for additional steps for this
procedure.
Clicking the Drive options (advanced) link adds these additional options, shown below:

• Delete: This deletes a partition.

• Extend: This extends a partition into unallocated space on the drive.

• Format: This formats a partition.

• New: This creates a partition in unallocated space.


In the example below, existing partitions have been deleted or were not present.

If you manually create a partition at this step, setup will warn you of the creation of the
100 MB system partition with the following message:
To ensure that all Windows features work correctly, Windows might create additional
partitions for system files.
Once created, you will see that setup created your partition, along with that 100 MB
system partition. There is not a method in the setup interface to create only a single
partition, unless you already have an active partition or do not meet the conditions for the
new system partition, listed above.
For steps on how to prevent the creation of this partition, see the Clean Install Best
Practices section later in this document.
Once your setup target location has been selected, setup continues with the “Copying
Windows files” step, shown below.

The first 4 steps in this interface are completed before the first reboot. The steps are:

• Copying Windows files

• Expanding Windows files

• Installing features

• Installing updates
When all 4 steps are complete, the restart happens automatically.

Online Configuration
The next startup begins Phase 4 as recorded in the setupact.log file. If you have a dual
boot configured, you may see the “Windows 7” boot menu option before the Starting
Windows step shown below.

As with the upgrade, the clean install proceeds in Online Configuration with the
following tasks:

• Setup is updating registry settings

• Setup is starting services

• Completing installation (step shown in setup wizard)

• Setup will continue after restarting your computer


None of these steps provides a progress indicator, but they typically complete in only a
few minutes.
The next restart brings the “Setup is preparing your computer for first use” screen shown
below.

You may see another step at this point, if setup must perform a video performance test to
evaluate for Aero compatibility.

Windows Welcome
The Windows Welcome experience during a clean install provides several additional
configuration steps compared with an upgrade install. These include:

• Computer and username entry

• Password creation

• Time and Time zone

• Connect to a wireless network


These are configuration elements that are migrated when performing an upgrade, but
require input for a new installation.
The first step in Windows Welcome is one of these differences, the user and computer
name entry screen, shown below.

This is followed by the password entry screen, below.

Next is the “Type your Windows product key” step. This step also provides an option to
configure activation behavior, as was provided in Windows Vista setup. Note that the
step was moved to Windows Welcome in Windows 7 setup.

The “Help protect your computer and improve Windows automatically” step provides the
same configuration as in an upgrade installation. See the Upgrade Install section of this
course for more details on these settings.

The “Review your time and date settings” step is only shown in a clean install.

Next is the new “Join a wireless network” step, where you can connect to a wireless
network. Note that the step is optional.

If setup detects an active network connection at this point, either wired or wireless, you
can now choose the network location.

As with an upgrade install, if you select “Home network” and there is a homegroup found
on the network, you will see an additional step to join that homegroup.
This ends Windows Welcome, after which you will see the logon screen.

Clean Install Steps: Launching in Windows


Clean Install Steps: Launching in Windows
Launching setup from within the current Windows installation provides these benefits:

• Drive letters are preserved


• Dynamic update support to ensure the latest setup files are in use

• Driver migration is performed, collecting boot critical drivers from the current
Windows installation
A limitation of this setup is that the disks used for setup cannot be changed when starting
setup from within Windows. This is because the temporary files for setup and the boot
files must be in place when setup restarts the computer.
In the example installation below, Windows 7 setup was started within Windows XP.

Downlevel
Unlike the boot-from-DVD example above, this installation starts in Downlevel, Phase 1
in the setupact.log file. This phase starts by creating a $Windows.~BT folder on the hard
drive. This is what is happening when you see the following message on-screen:

The first step in downlevel setup, as in an upgrade install, is the “Get important updates
for installation” step. This is where you can opt-in to Dynamic Update (recommended).

If you opt-in you will next see a search for those updates.

After the license terms comes the Upgrade/Custom selection page. In our example setup
was run in Windows XP. This results in the message shown below.

This message provides a link to an informational page with more details on the migration
path from Windows XP to Windows 7. See the Clean Install Best Practices section below
for details on this path.
To continue with a clean install, go back and then choose “Custom (advanced)” as the
installation option.
Notice that in the “Where do you want to install Windows?” step, shown below, there is
no Advanced option for configuring partitions and disks. To change your disk
configuration you can either use Disk Management in the current OS, or boot via DVD to
start Setup. One addition is the Load Driver option, where you can preload a driver for
use by setup.
If you choose a partition which currently contains a Windows installation, setup returns
the warning:
The partition you selected might contain files from a previous Windows installation. If it
does, these files and folders will be moved to a folder named Windows.old. You will be
able to access the information on Windows.old, but you will not be able to use your
previous version of Windows.
This will be a common experience for Windows XP to Windows 7 migration, where you
will often choose to perform a same-partition clean install.
After the partition selection, setup starts copying files for setup to \$Windows.~LS – LS
stands for “local source” – a flat for installation essentially. Setup then restarts to WinPE
mode, using the files in \$Windows.~BT and \$Windows.~LS.
Beyond this point, the steps for setup are the same between downlevel-started and DVD
boot setup.

Clean Install Best Practices


Clean Install Best Practices
The following sections provide recommendations for clean install and related scenarios.

Migrate from Windows XP


The recommended migration path from Windows XP to Windows 7 follows these steps:
Run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor to verify compatibility with Windows 7.
Backup any critical data.
Use Windows Easy Transfer from the Windows 7 DVD to create a migration store
containing your Windows XP files and settings. Use the “Old Computer” path.
Install Windows 7 as a clean installation on the computer.
Run Windows Easy Transfer again to transfer in your files and settings. Use the
“New Computer” path.
Reinstall your programs
For more information on Windows Easy Transfer, see the section of the same name later
in this module.

Return to Windows XP
If you need to return to Windows XP after installing Windows 7 on the computer, there
are a couple of methods to consider. One is for a scenario where you have a Windows.old
folder, and one for when you have no Windows.old folder, such as if you formatted the
drive during the clean install, or deleted Windows.old.

Return to Windows XP from a Windows.old Folder


If you still have the Windows.old folder in place, you can restore your previous Windows
XP configuration with these steps:
Start the computer into WinRE using the Windows 7 media.
Open a command prompt.
Run these commands to verify the existence of the Windows.old folder:
C:
Dir Windows.old
If you are unable to find Windows.old in this location, use “dir” to see the contents of
the drive.
It may be that the Windows directory is on another partition. Check other
drive letters.
If you can find drives with Windows directories, but no Windows.old, then
the Windows.old directory may not exist any longer on the machine, either
because it was not created or due to its removal. Go to the “No
Windows.old Folder” section below.
If you can find Windows and Windows.old together on another drive letter,
change to the root of that drive and continue with the next step.
Run the following commands to move Windows 7 elements from the root of the
Windows drive into a Win7 folder:
Md Win7
Move Windows Win7\Windows
Move "Program Files" "Win7\Program Files"
Move Users Win7\Users
Attrib –h –s –r ProgramData
Move ProgramData Win7\ProgramData
Rd "Documents and Settings"
Next, run these commands to move the Windows XP folders back to the root of the
drive:
Move Windows.old\Windows
Move "Windows.old\Program Files"
Move "Windows.old\Documents and Settings"
Use these commands to restore the Windows XP Boot.ini file:
Attrib –h –s –r boot.ini.saved
Copy boot.ini.saved boot.ini
Finally, use this command to restore the Windows XP boot configuration:
Bootsect /nt52 SYS
Then restart the computer.
Once you have verified that Windows XP is functional you can remove the C:\Win7
folder, if it is not needed for data recovery.

Return to Windows XP with No Windows.old Folder


If you don’t have a Windows.old folder to use for the installation, you will need to clean
install Windows XP to restore that OS configuration. To do so you can format the drive
during Windows XP setup, or boot to WinRE and remove the Windows 7 folders to clear
the way for the Windows XP reinstall.
You can remove these folders with the following commands in the WinRE command
prompt:
Rd /s Windows
Rd /s “Program Files”
Rd /s “ProgramData”
Rd /s “Documents and Settings”
Leave the \Users folder in place so that you can recover data, in the event that you have
already migrated data in to your Windows 7 configuration.
Note: If you used Windows Easy Transfer to capture files and settings before installing
Windows, there is not a method for restoring from that WET data store on Windows XP.
You will need to either restore from a pre-Windows 7 backup or migrate data files
manually.

Install Any Edition from Edition-Specific DVD


Windows Vista shipped different boxed product for different editions, but all contained
the same bits on the disc. The key you provided determined the edition installed.
Windows 7 now includes an edition identifier file, ei.cfg, on disc to identify the edition of
the media. This is done so that we ensure the purchased edition is installed, avoiding an
incorrect selection and activation problems later.
If you need to install a different edition from your original media, you can do so by
copying a flat, and deleting this ei.cfg file from the flat. This will revert the installer to
the Vista behavior, with a prompt for the edition if you do not provide a key. This might
be needed in scenarios where a customer has lost one of their discs, or if they purchased a
lower edition, but later used WAU to upgrade, and now need to in-place upgrade to
resolve an issue.

Clean Install Using Upgrade Key


Just as with Windows Vista, you can complete a clean installation using a Retail Upgrade
key as long as you start setup from an existing Windows installation.
In addition to that, Windows 7 setup attempts to detect an existing Windows OS on disk
if you start a clean install by booting from the Windows 7 DVD. This should help reduce
the occurrences of the following activation error code:
0xC004F061: The Software Licensing Service Determined that this specified product key
can only be used for upgrading, not for clean installations.
If you do encounter this error, we support this scenario just the same as we do in
Windows Vista. See the following Knowledge Base article for more information:
930373 Error message when you try to activate a copy of Windows Vista by using the
upgrade product key: "The following failure occurred while trying to use the product key:
Code: 0xC004F061"

Eliminating the Separate System Partition


The primary method for changing partitioning options during setup is to use the Windows
Automated Installation Kit (Windows AIK) to configure setup options. You can also do
this with a few manual steps, however.
Important: The use of a separate system partition is encouraged, to help reduce the
occurrence of problems with startup. If possible, keep the default behavior whenever
possible.
For a single drive system, you can use these steps to create a single partition on the drive,
to prevent the creation of the 100 MB system partition:
Use Shift + F10 to open a command prompt while at the “Where do you want to
install Windows” step of setup.
Use the following commands to create the partition:
Diskpart
Select disk 0
Create part prim
Active
Exit
Close the command prompt and then click Refresh in the setup wizard to reflect the
change.
Note: If you need to remove all existing partitions from the disk, you can use the “clean”
command after “sel dis 0” to remove all existing partitions.

Creating a Larger System Partition


One other option for the system partition relates to Bitlocker. With the default
configuration of the system partition created in setup, Bitlocker encryption of the
Windows drive will result in a non-functional WinRE boot option.
This is because the WinRE.wim file that contains the recovery boot is located on the
Windows partition. If you create a larger system partition however, the Bitlocker drive
encryption process will move that WinRE.wim file to the system partition. This preserves
the WinRE boot option.
To prepare for this, create a 300 MB system partition. You can use Diskpart to do this,
with the following steps:
Use Shift + F10 to open a command prompt while at the “Where do you want to
install Windows” step of setup.
Use the following commands to create the partition:
Diskpart
Select disk 0
Create part prim size=300
Active
Create part prim
Exit
Close the command prompt and then click Refresh in the setup wizard to reflect the
change. You should now see a 300 MB Partition 1 with a type of System, and a
larger Partition 2.
Select Partition 2 for the installation and then click Next.
Note: If you need to remove all existing partitions from the disk, you can use the “clean”
command after “sel dis 0” to remove all existing partitions.
After setup the WinRE.wim file will still be located on the Windows partition. But if you
later Bitlocker-encrypt that partition, Bitlocker will move it to the system partition and
update the BCD boot entry for the change.

Load Driver
If you don’t see the drives you expect in the setup wizard it could be that you need to
load a storage driver. The first step of the Load Driver interface is shown below. When
you click that option you can provide a driver on floppy, CD, DVD or external drive.
Setup will scan for these devices and check each for a driver that applies to hardware on
your system.

When you have inserted or connected the drive containing the driver, click Ok to have
setup scan for drivers.
If no drivers are listed, uncheck “Hide drivers that are not compatible with hardware on
this computer.” If you see a list at that point, it means that setup has found the drive with
the driver(s), but it cannot find a match for hardware on your computer. Check to be sure
you have downloaded the correct driver.

Once you find a match for your computer, select a driver for your controller and then
click Next. This returns you to the “Where do you want to install Windows?” step of
setup, where the disks on your controller should now be listed.
If you are still unable to detect the drives after loading a driver, you will need to contact
your hardware vendor for assistance.

Small-Disk Machines
No special actions are required to optimize Windows 7 on a small disk machine, such as
a netbook.
Windows 7 is configured to scale back disk usage in several areas when installed on a
drive smaller than 64 GB. See the OS Core module for more information on this.
The main consideration for Setup on a small disk is to ensure that there is sufficient free
space for setup to complete. This may mean that a clean install is the only viable option,
depending on the configuration.
Install from USB Flash Drive
In addition to disk space, netbooks are also often constrained by their lack of a DVD
drive. Installing Windows 7 typically as a clean install with format typically requires the
use of the DVD, but you can work around this by creating a bootable USB flash drive.
To do this, you need the following:

• 4 GB or larger USB flash drive

• PC BIOS support for USB boot


To create the bootable drive for installation, use the following steps on a Windows Vista
or Windows 7 computer:
Connect the USB drive.
Open an Administrator command prompt and run the following commands to
determine which is the USB drive:
Diskpart
List disk
Note the disk number of the drive that matches the size of your USB drive. Use that
instead of “1” in the example commands below.
Now run these commands at the Diskpart prompt to set up the drive:
Sel disk 1
Clean
Create part prim
Format fs=fat32 quick
Active
Exit
Next, copy the files from the Windows 7 DVD to this drive. In this example, we’ll
use D: as the DVD drive letter and E: as the USB drive:
Robocopy d:\ e:\ /s
At this point you can use Safely Remove Hardware or Eject to disconnect the USB
drive. It is ready to use to boot the netbook.
If you don’t see setup start when you boot the netbook, make sure the BIOS is set to use
USB drives as a boot device.
See the following blog post for additional guidance:
http://blogs.technet.com/aviraj/archive/2009/02/01/installing-windows-7-using-usb-
thumb-drive.aspx
Note: Some OEMs may provide Windows 7 on a USB flash memory drive to customers
who purchased a Windows 7 PC without an optical drive. This should function in the
same way as a DVD, providing a prompt at startup to press a key to enter setup.

Installing Multiple Editions from one Source


If you want to use this drive to install multiple different editions of Windows 7, you can
also rename the \Sources\ei.cfg file to have setup prompt you to select an edition.

Clean Install Troubleshooting


Clean Install Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting issues that you encounter during a clean install are largely the same with
Windows 7 as they were for Windows Vista. The pages that follow provide a refresher of
some of these concepts, along with additional options for Windows.old.

Errors during Clean Install


When you encounter an error during a clean install of Windows 7, check the following
potential issues:

• Conflicting Software: If you are starting the installation from Downlevel


Windows, you may encounter errors related to problem programs or drivers
running in the current operating system.
Start with a DVD boot to eliminate this as a possibility.

• BIOS Issue: Does the machine have the latest BIOS updates?
Recommend applying the latest, with guidance from the manufacturer if needed.

• DVD Drive Compatibility: Can’t DVD boot?


Check for firmware updates to the drive.

• Media Issues: Is the installation being started from retail media?


Check for visual defects on the disc.
If you are running setup using burned media, there could be a flaw in the burn, or
a disc/drive compatibility issue. Burn again from a new ISO source file,
preferably on a different PC, DVD drive and on different DVD media to test for
and eliminate potential compatibility issues.

• Hardware Issues: Has the machine run Windows successfully in the past?
If not, check to be sure it meets the requirements, and check for manufacturer
indications of Windows 7 support.
You may also have faulty hardware. Recommend running hardware diagnostics
from the manufacturer.

Working with Windows.old


A Windows.old folder is created on a drive when you perform a clean install of Windows
7 to a partition where there is already a Windows installation. Windows setup moves the
existing Windows, Program Files, ProgramData and Users (or Documents and Settings)
directories to this location.
There are two main tasks associated with the contents of Windows.old:

• Restore the old OS: Move the directories back to the root in order to restore the
previous OS

• Recover data from the old OS: Manually copy data out to use in the new
installation
These were the two main tasks associated with this directory, typically followed by
deleting it, using the Disk Cleanup tool in Windows. The second of these tasks is aided
now, due to new functionality in the User State Migration Tools.

. Lab: Clean Install

Online Install Package


Online Install Package
In addition to the traditional retail DVD distribution, Windows 7 also is offered from the
Microsoft Store as a download package. Installing from this version of Windows 7
involves these extra steps:
Download the media package.
Burn the ISO image to a DVD disc using the instructions provided with the download
package.
Once done you can install Windows in the same way using this method as you would
with the retail DVD.
Note: Microsoft Store support provides assistance in the event of problems during
purchase or download.
If you need to redownload the package, see the Help information on the Microsoft Store
web site for details on how to access your account and re-download. More information is
available here:
http://store.microsoft.com/Help/Software-Downloads

OEM Image

Windows Anytime Upgrade


Windows Anytime Upgrade
Windows Anytime Upgrade (WAU) is the method provided in Windows 7 for upgrading
from one edition to a higher edition.
The WAU procedure in Windows Vista involved setup.exe, essentially running a normal
OS upgrade to migrate between editions
Windows 7 changes this process completely, using the Windows servicing infrastructure
to perform the WAU. This means that there is none of the risk of an upgrade – driver,
data and application migration issues are completely bypassed. Instead, WAU is done
using essentially the same components as are used for installing optional Windows
features.

WAU Steps
There are two main methods of starting WAU to upgrade to a new edition:

Start Method One: Purchase Key Online


WAU keys are provided for sale on the Microsoft Store web site. When you purchase a
key online, it is downloaded as a small file. Opening this file triggers the WAU interface
to verify the key, as shown below.

If the key verification is successful, the process continues by verifying activation


requirement, discussed after the Method Two below.

Start Method Two: Enter a Key


The next method is initiated from Computer Properties. On an edition of Windows that
can be upgraded using WAU, there is a Get more features with a new edition of Windows
7 link in the System Control Panel, as shown below.
You can also start the WAU process for key entry from Control Panel, System and
Security, Windows Anytime Upgrade.
When you start WAU locally, you are given two options for proceeding, as shown below.
You can either go online to purchase an upgrade, or you can enter a key.

If you choose Enter an upgrade key, you can enter any valid key for the target edition to
which you want to upgrade. The target edition is determined by the key you enter here.

Once the key is entered, the remainder of the process works the same whether you
purchased a key online or entered a key manually. This starts with key verification, and
then a check for requirements.

Verifying Activation
Windows 7 must be activated before a WAU upgrade is permitted. If you fail the
activation check you will see the following message at this point:

If the activation check succeeds, the WAU continues without the activation step shown
above.

Completing WAU
Once key verification and the activation check have passed, you must accept the license
terms, shown below.

Then the final interactive step – “Upgrade Windows”, shown below. Click the “Upgrade”
button to start the WAU upgrade. Note that the computer will restart automatically.

The upgrade process is typically very quick – around 10 minutes for a typical upgrade.

After the restart you will see the success message showing the current edition, as well as
a link to information about what is new in this edition of Windows 7.

Key Failure
The Key Verification step performed early in the WAU process only checks for a valid
Windows 7 key. It is not checked for a valid path from starting edition to target WAU
edition. This can result in an error after it seems that the actual upgrade has started.
If you see this message, it indicates that your key may have been used previously to
activate, or it may be for an edition that is not a valid WAU path for the current edition:
Enter a different upgrade key
The upgrade key you entered is for an edition of Windows that does not work with
Windows Anytime Upgrade. Enter a different upgrade key.

WAU Details
The steps performed by WAU are as follows:
Enter a key for a higher edition of Windows 7.
WAU checks the key to verify that it is a valid Windows 7 key.
Current install activation and servicing status is checked.
Windows is activated
No pending restart
The upgrade path is determined by evaluating the key. Target edition is set based on
this. If the key entered is not a valid path, the wizard requests another key.
Staged edition differentiating packages are applied to the system, in a process called
transmogrification.

Supported Keys
The key used can be any valid retail key type – a WAU key matching the current edition,
an upgrade key for the destination edition, or a full install key for the destination edition.

Source Files
The components for each higher edition of Windows 7 are already installed on the
computer when you install Windows 7. This ensures that you can perform WAU without
the need for Windows media.
The files used by WAU are located in \Windows\winsxs and
\Windows\servicing\packages. These support files consist of the following:

• Edition-differentiating package manifest and catalog files, which define the


elements of the higher edition.
• Component manifest files for each feature of the higher edition.

• Component payload files, which form the largest part of the staged WAU
components.
In total these files consume less than 200 MB on a typical install of Windows 7.

WAU Paths
Valid WAU paths are indicated with “WAU” in the Upgrade Install section of this
module. See that table for details.
A summary of the WAU paths is as follows:

• Starter to Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate

• Home Basic (emerging markets only) to Home Premium, Professional or Ultimate

• Home Premium to Professional or Ultimate

• Professional to Ultimate
Available paths for N and KN editions differ from the above. See the full upgrade paths
table for details.

WAU Best Practices and Troubleshooting

Windows Easy Transfer


Windows Easy Transfer
Windows Easy Transfer (WET) in Windows 7 provides similar functionality as what
was included with Windows Vista. You will notice the following similarities:

• The steps for transfer are generally the same

• The new version uses the same cable as WET in Windows Vista
The improvements in WET for Windows 7 include the following:

• Data-only migration supported cross-language

• Program reinstallation assistance

• Migration support for either Windows Vista or Windows 7 WET version


MIG stores.
• Ability to choose specific files to apply to the new PC, rather than all or
nothing

• Ability to re-map user accounts during migration

• Ability to migrate and re-map non-system drive contents

• File errors are reported when encountered, but they do not interfere with
the transfer
These improvements make WET a much more viable tool for use in assisting
customers with backup and restore tasks associated with their move to Windows
7.

Supported Scenarios
WET is supported from Windows XP and later for migration to Windows 7. The
specific version, architecture and language support paths are discussed below.

Windows Version
The supported paths for WET are shown below.
Migrate To:
Windows 7
Migrate From:
Windows XP Starter No*
Windows XP SP2+ other Editions Yes
Windows Vista SP1+ Yes
Windows 7 Yes
*In the case of Windows XP Starter Edition, the Windows Easy Transfer wizard
provides a link with instructions on how to copy data from the Windows XP
Starter PC to the new Windows 7 PC.

Architecture
Windows 7 WET supports same-architecture migration paths as Windows Vista.
These paths are shown in the table below.
Migrate To:
32-bit 64-bit
Migrate From:
32-bit Yes Yes
64-bit No Yes

Language
Windows 7 WET supports data-only migration from one language version of
Windows to another language version of Windows 7. This differs from Windows
Vista, where cross language migration was not supported.
If you want to migrate cross language, you will only be able to apply migrated
data files – the migration of program settings and Windows configuration settings
is not supported when the source and destination language differ.

WET Steps
WET Steps
This section of the document provides a step-by-step view of a Windows Easy Transfer
from a Windows XP installation to a Windows 7 installation. This may be our most
common path for WET soon after Windows 7 is released.

Create a WET Install Disk


If you have your Windows 7 PC running before you perform the gather, such as if you
are migrating from an old Windows XP PC to a different Windows 7 PC, use the steps in
this section to install WET on the old PC.
Note: If you don’t have an external drive available but you have a Windows 7 installation
DVD, you can choose the “I already installed it on my old computer” option, and use the
Windows 7 DVD instead. Creating the WET installer disk is not the only method for
installing WET. See the start of the “Gather on Windows XP” section below for steps to
install WET without creating the disk.

Choose the New Computer Option


Start by choosing the “This is my new computer” option, as shown below.

Choose a WET Install Option


The “I need to install it now” option in the next step is the choice that creates a WET
install disk.
Next you can choose from an external disk or flash drive. When you click one of these
options, you are then able to browse for the drive where you want to copy the WET
installer.

Once the WET install disk is created, you can move the WET install disk to the old PC.
When you connect the disk, you should see an AutoPlay prompt with an “Install
Windows Easy Transfer onto your old PC” choice, as shown below.

Install WET and then start it to gather files. For the steps to gather on Windows XP, see
the next section of this document. For a walkthrough of an Easy Transfer Cable transfer,
see the “Easy Transfer Cable Connection” section, later in this document.

Gather on Windows XP
The steps to gather WET migration data on Windows XP can start by using the WET
install disk created above. In some cases however, this may not be an option. If you have
a current Windows XP install and need to collect data and settings with WET in
preparation for a clean install, you may not have a Windows 7 PC available to create the
WET install disk.
If you have a Windows 7 install DVD, you can use the files on that DVD to proceed.
Browse to the \support\migwiz folder on that disc, as shown below.

Run the “migsetup.exe” program in this folder to install the Windows 7 version of WET.

When WET starts, you can proceed with the gathering of files and setting by clicking
Next on the Welcome page, shown below.

Next you can choose a cable, network or disk-based transfer. In our example we will
choose “An external hard disk or USB flash drive”.

Note: You can choose the disk option even if you don’t have an external drive. This can
be done for a same-machine WET gather in preparation for a clean install, as in the
example we are following here.
The only choice at the next step is “This is my old computer”. The WET wizard does not
provide the new computer option on downlevel Windows versions.

Once you choose Old Computer, WET begins the analysis. When the list of files and
settings is built, you have an option to make customized selections, by clicking
Customize in the step shown below. Or you can click Next to proceed with a default
gather.

If you clicked Customize, the interface below is shown. This gives you a chance to select
by folder at a high level.

Clicking “Advanced” above gives you a more granular interface for modifying selections.
When you are done making your selections, you can click Save to return to the Choose
interface above.

When all your selections are made and you click Next, the password step is shown. This
gives you a chance to protect the contents of the MIG file with a password.

Clicking Save opens a File Save interface, as shown below. In this step you choose where
you want to save the MIG file.

Progress is displayed for each user and for shared items in turn. When done, checkmarks
will be displayed for each user, as shown below.

Clicking Next shows the transfer complete confirmation. This shows where you saved the
MIG file, along with instructions for the next step – applying the migration data to the
new computer.

When this step is complete, Windows 7 can be installed


Important: Gathering files using WET is not a guarantee of integrity and safety of those
files. It is always a good practice to recommend that our customers have any critical data
saved to two locations. The next step of the clean install process may be to format the
drive where the original data is stored, such as a case where the hard drive is not large
enough to perform a clean install with no format (creating a Windows.old folder). If this
is the case, we should urge our customer to back up their critical data to a separate
location before formatting the hard drive.

Apply to Windows 7
Just as on the old PC, running WET on Windows 7 gives you a step to choose the transfer
method – cable, network or disk. Once you select the method, you have both new and old
computer options, as shown below.

We are continuing the disk-based transfer started in Windows XP in the section above.
Choosing the This is my new computer option in the step above brings us to a question
on the status of the saved data. If we had not yet performed the gather on Windows XP,
we would be prompted to do so at this time.

Choosing Yes above opens a File Open interface where we can browse for the MIG file
and then click Open.

If you entered a password for the MIG file during the gather, this is the point at which
you are prompted to enter that password.

Once the MIG file is analyzed, you have the same interface for customizing the transfer
as was provided during the gather. This is shown below.

Clicking Customize again provides the selection of folders, shown below. Clicking
Advanced here also opens the more detailed interface for selecting at the folder and file
level.

The “Advanced Options” link opens a separate interface where you can map user
accounts and drives. The “Map user accounts” tab is shown below.

This is needed because you may have a different set of accounts on the new computer.
Using this interface you can choose the destination for the user data from accounts on the
old computer to existing users on the new computer, or you can choose to create new user
accounts to which the data will be copied.
The “Map drives” tab is shown below.
As with the user accounts, you may have a different drive configuration on the new
computer. This step gives you choices for how the non-user-profile data on the old
computer is copied to the new computer.
When you make your choices here and click Save, you are returned to the “Choose what
to transfer to this computer” step. Clicking Transfer starts the process of copying the
migrated data.

When finished you will see the “Your transfer is complete” step below. This provides
options to see a list of data, along with a list of programs on the old computer that may
need to be installed on the new computer.

The “Transfer report” tab of the reporting interface opens when you click the “See what
transferred” option shown above. This interface provides a summary of the categories of
transferred items.

Clicking Details returns a list of all the items transferred, with the old and new location
listed. You can save this to a file for reference, if needed.

The “Program report” tab is new for Windows 7. This provides more guidance related to
the programs transferred.

The guidance provided includes information like the current status of the program
(installed on the new computer or not), product update links, and links to support
information. This is designed to help identify programs recognized by WET that you may
want to reinstall on the new computer.

Note: WET does not transfer programs. Only settings and data are migrated from the old
to the new computer.
At this point the transfer is finished. If you need to view the report again later, you can go
to Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and click “Windows Easy Transfer
Reports” to open this reporting interface again.
You can find the report files in the following folder:
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows Easy Transfer\PostMigData\<date>
Easy Transfer Cable Connection
As with the other transfer method above, WET transfer using an Easy Transfer cable
requires that you first install the Windows 7 version of WET to the downlevel computer.
Once you have WET installed and running on both PCs, start the transfer by clicking
Next on the new PC.

At this point you are prompted to connect the easy transfer cable to both computers, as
shown below.

Then, once the connection is established, you will see only the following message on the
old computer, indicating that the connection is working.

All further actions and selections are made from within WET on the Windows 7
computer.

WET Best Practices and Troubleshooting

. Lab: Windows Easy Transfer

ACTIVATION

Module Overview
Activating Windows 7
Activating Windows 7
The choices for how Windows 7 will be activated begin with an option for Automatic
Activation during Setup. After that, the options for Activation are generally accessed
from Computer Properties.
Activation Option during Setup
Setup includes one configuration option related to activation. This option to
“Automatically activate Windows when I’m online” is shown below.

This is shown during the Windows Welcome steps at the end of setup. Enabling this
option (the default is enabled) causes Windows to attempt activation partway through
the grace period, just as done in Windows Vista.
If you have installed Windows 7 without entering a product key you will only see
notifications of the activation grace period remaining. Activation will not be
automatic, as a product key is needed before you can activate.

Activation Steps
As in Windows Vista, you can find your current activation status at the bottom of the
System control panel.

When you click “Activate Windows now”, the slui.exe activation wizard starts, with
choices for online activation, reminder, or other activation methods.

Choosing “Activate Windows online now” above proceeds with an attempt to


activate, unless Windows was installed without entering a product key. If you
performed a keyless installation, the “Type your product key” step is next, as shown
below.

If you don’t enter a key, or enter an invalid key and then click Next, you will see the
error:
You must enter a valid product key before activating online. Check your product key,
and type it again.
Once you enter a key, or if you have previously entered a valid key, the next step is
“Activating Windows” with a progress indicator.

If successful, the activation wizard ends with the “Activation was successful step
shown below.
Other Ways to Activate
Beyond the online activation process, there is also activation by modem, and
activation by phone just as in Windows Vista.

Phone-based activation is commonly used when online activation has failed due to
one of these reported problems:

• The Product key you typed cannot be used to activate Windows on this
computer

• The Windows 7 <edition> product key you typed is invalid for activation
Phone activation is also the best choice when a connection to the Internet is
unavailable.

Activation Details
Understanding activation states and key types is important in order to determine
the appropriate support steps for activation issues.

States
Windows 7 can be in one of several license states. The following table shows a
description for the License Status entries you may see when using “slmgr.vbs
-dlv” to view your license status.
Status Description
This is the status you should see when you have completed a successful activation.
Licensed This is also the state you are in when System Properties shows that Windows is
Genuine.
This is the state you are in after installing Windows 7, before you have activated.
Initial Grace This state has a countdown, during which you will be reminded to activate, or
Period Windows will attempt to activate automatically (if that option was selected during
setup).
Once the grace period expires, you are required to activate Windows 7. You will
Notification
see messages to the effect that activation is required.
Additional Windows Activation checks for hardware changes to the system that could be
Grace associated with moving the installation to different hardware. If a threshold of
Period change is crossed, you will be prompted to reactivate Windows. This is done to
protect against the use of a single activated installation of Windows on multiple
computers. You may enter this state after making a number of changes to uniquely
identifiable hardware, such as processors and network adapters. In some cases a
driver reinstallation may also be interpreted as a change in the device, such as if the
device is identified differently after a driver update.
Non-
Genuine This is the state you enter after Windows Genuine Advantage determines that your
Grace computer is not genuine.
Period
Unknown This can indicate a problem with the licensing components.
This appears for license types not currently in use on your machine, which you can
Unlicensed
see using “slmgr.vbs -dlv all”
You can view these and other text messages returned by slmgr.vbs by reviewing
the slmgr.ini file in \Windows\System32\slmgr\<language ID>.

Keys
When installing Windows 7, you provide a product key. This key, and the media
it is used with, determines the kind of activation experience you will have. The
main consumer key types are:

• Retail key: This is the key that comes with a full-install, retail boxed or
download copy of Windows 7. It can be used for clean installation, for
upgrade or for WAU.

• Retail Upgrade key: This is a type of retail key that comes with a reduced-
price version of Windows 7 and is to be used for upgrade only. Windows
7 provides for the use of this key type for a clean installation as well, if
you have a Windows installation currently on the PC.

• OEM SLP key: This is a key used for OEM systems that use BIOS-locked
activation, a choice common among larger manufacturers. This type of
activation verifies that the license is being used on a system from the
correct manufacturer by checking for an identifier in the BIOS.

• OEM COA Non-SLP key: This is a normal OEM key without the special
BIOS check. This type of key is provided with copies of Windows marked
for purchase with a new PC only.
The keys listed above are generally supported for use with retail or OEM
installation media. This means that you can reinstall Windows 7 from alternate
media if needed, and still retain the activation experience determined by your
product key type.
In addition to these there are several types of volume licensing keys. These keys
may come in a set, for use in activating individual machines (MAK keys), or they
may be related to enterprise-based licensing for many machines (KMS keys).
These key types are beyond the scope of this document, and are out of scope for
consumer Windows support.
For more information on key types and activation, see the bulletin “Product
Activation for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008” here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=5cb10f03-27f6-
461d-a3db-d440b4ced7f6&DisplayLang=en.

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
There are a variety of root causes associated with activation issues on Windows. The
sections below outline general troubleshooting for any activation issue, as well as
recommendations for specific errors that are more commonly encountered.

Logging
Activation events are logged to the Application Event Log from Source “Security-SPP”.

Standard Troubleshooting Steps


Standard troubleshooting for activation issues consists of the following main steps:
Verify the key: This step is done to determine exactly what type of key the customer
is using for activation.
Ask the customer for their key source. Was this key used during setup?
Validate key using the recommended support tool for key validation.
Verify the installed product: Check the version, edition and channel for this Windows
installation. This can be compared with the key validation results.
Run the following command:
slmgr.vbs -dlv
You can also obtain a list of all the activation types supported for this Windows
installation:
slmgr.vbs -dlv all
If the key and product are compatible, there may be a problem with the Activation
components in Windows. Perform the following steps to repair these components:
Reinstall licensing components and generate a new tokens.dat file using the following
commands in an Administrator command prompt:
net stop sppsvc
Cd %windir
%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\SoftwareProtectionPlatf
orm
Ren tokens.dat tokens.old
cd %windir%\system32
net start sppsvc
slmgr.vbs –rilc
When finished with these steps, re-try the activation.

Troubleshooting Specific Activation Errors


Existing Windows Vista Activation troubleshooting steps apply when you are dealing
with Windows 7 activation issues. This includes the resolution steps for commonly
encountered activation issues, such as: error codes (e.g. 0xC004F061), and other
messages shown by Windows Activation.

Activation Error 0xC004C003


This error is displayed as follows:
The activation server determined that the specific product key is in use: 0xC004C003
This error is typically related to re-using a key that has already been used to activate
Windows. Check the key to be sure you are using the correct key. If you are, it would be
best to start with Windows Activation support for assistance.

Activation Error 0xC004E003


This error is displayed as follows:
The following failure occurred while trying to use the product key:
The Software Licensing Service reported that the license evaluation failed: 0xC004E003
Troubleshooting for this issue is provided in the following Knowledge Base article:
950755 Error message when you try to activate a copy of Windows Vista: "The Software
Licensing Service reported that the license evaluation failed: 0xC004E003"
In addition to those recommendations, also use the standard troubleshooting steps
provided above.

Activation Error 0xC004F050


This error is displayed as follows:
The following failure occurred while trying to use the product key:
0xC004F050
The Software Licensing Service reported that the product key is invalid
Troubleshooting for this issue is provided in the following Knowledge Base article:
950756 Error message when you try to activate a copy of Windows Vista by using the
Windows Activation wizard: "The Software Licensing Service reported that the product
key is invalid: 0xC004F050"
This issue may also be resolved using the standard troubleshooting steps provided above,
as the cause for the key error could be damaged software licensing files.

Activation Error 0xC004F061


This error is displayed as follows:
The following failure occurred while trying to use the product key:
0xC004F061
The Software Licensing Service determined that this specified product key can only be
used for upgrading, not for clean installations.
This error is encountered when you perform a clean installation of Windows without
entering a product key, and then provide a Retail Upgrade key during the Activation
wizard.
This path is blocked to prevent the use of the reduced-cost upgrade key for clean install
usage. Resolve this issue using the same steps as applied to the error in Windows Vista.

An Unauthorized Change was made to Windows


This message is shown when changes are made that place Windows Activation out of
tolerance. This maps to the “Additional Grace Period” state shown earlier in this module.

The customer is redirected to this page for more information:


http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=89429&OSV=%s&RFM=
%d&LegitCheckError=83&GenuineInfo=%08X
The URL provided to the customer in the warning message contains the error code and
details on the type of tampering event that was detected. This is done so that the page can
provide specific guidance to assist with the problem.
If your customer is seeing this behavior, it is best to:
Obtain the exact URL for the page linked from the message.
Have them follow the instructions on the page.
Recommend following the steps on that site for customer service assistance with
Windows Genuine Advantage.

Error Starting the Software Licensing Service


In the event of a problem starting the Software Licensing Service, you may not see events
logged in the Application log, and you may be unable to run the Activation Wizard.
Use standard troubleshooting above as a start. If the service still will not start after
renaming the tokens.dat file, check the System Event Log for information on the service
startup failure. Troubleshoot based on the error reported there as you would for any
service failing to start.

Reference
Lab: Windows Activation

USING WINDOWS
Module Overview

Overview of Changes
Overview of Changes
Windows 7 includes a large number of usability changes. Taken together they make
Windows 7 the most easy to use, informative and clear Windows version to date.
Usability changes have been made in all the areas listed below:

• Taskbar
• Start Menu

• Window Management

• Keyboard Shortcuts

• Search (Libraries)

• Federated Search

• Personalizing Windows

• Gadgets
In addition there are some features of previous Windows versions which are no longer
included in Windows 7. Each of these topics is discussed in more detail below.

Taskbar
Taskbar
The first and largest visual change that you are likely to notice in Windows 7 is the new
taskbar. The layout and default configuration of the taskbar has been changed in the most
dramatic way since Windows 95.
By default, the icons for launching programs and switching to programs on the taskbar
are unified and the text descriptions in the taskbar are not shown. The quick launch bar
from previous versions of Windows has been removed in Windows 7, but the
functionality of the Quick Launch toolbar has been integrated into the main taskbar.
There are a default set of icons that are placed in the taskbar and can be used to launch
applications. Additional icons can be added and existing icons can be removed by either
dragging onto the taskbar or using the pin and unpin option on the right-click menu for
that application icon.

Dragging an application to pin it on the taskbar

Unpinning an application from the taskbar using the Jumplist


You can either right-click an applications icon on the start menu or the desktop to pin the
application to the taskbar, or you can launch the application and once the application is
running and present in the taskbar, right click on the icon and pin it from there.

• Documents, media, and other data can be dragged onto the Windows 7 taskbar as
well, but they will be added to the Jump List for the associated application, which
we will discuss later.

• The taskbar also now provides the ability to re-order and rearrange icons whether
they are running or not.
Most importantly, you are in complete control of the icons that are placed on the taskbar.
What this means is that only you can add or remove icons from the taskbar. No method is
being provided for program installers to place icons on the taskbar. This is a huge change
from the behavior of the previous Quick Launch bar. In previous versions of Windows,
the method for populating icons in the Quick Launch bar was well known, which meant
that every application that installed seemed to put icons in not only the desktop, the start
menu, and the taskbar notification area, but also in the Quick Launch bar. This should no
longer be happening for the taskbar in Windows 7.

Launching and Using Applications with the Taskbar

After launching an application using the icon on the taskbar, the icon stays in place but
gets a square overlay to indicate that it is now running. If multiple windows are opened
for the same application, or multiple instances of the same application are opened, the
icon changes from the single highlighted square overlay to an overlay of a stack of
highlighted squares. All of the windows from the same application are collapsed into a
single icon.
The Windows 7 Taskbar is also able to display thumbnail previews of the open
applications on the taskbar, along with a text description of the window. This allows you
to see and select the desired window by letting you visually identify the window based on
the contents of that window. This is easier than the view before - just a short three or four
word description of the window. Just click on the thumbnail for the window to bring it
back into focus.
This becomes especially important when we are talking about an application that has
multiple windows open. To select a specific window first click the icon in the taskbar and
then click the thumbnail for the desired window.
Some applications are able to generate multiple thumbnails for different parts of the same
window. The primary example here would be with Internet Explorer and tabs. When
multiple tabs are open in the same browser window, each individual tab will get its own
thumbnail. (This is configurable). The example above shows the thumbnails for a single
Internet Explorer window with three tabs open.

Thumbnail Toolbar
Many aspects of the Windows 7 taskbar open to customization by the application. A good
example of this is the Thumbnail toolbar. Applications have the ability to provide a
toolbar with up to seven of the most common buttons for their application right in the
application thumbnail. We see an example of this in the image below of the Windows
Media Player thumbnail, which provides buttons for Play/Pause, Last Track, and Next
Track.
Note: The Windows Media Player toolbar that existed in previous versions of Windows
has been removed in favor of this feature.

Progress Bars
In an effort to make progress information more visible without having to bring the
application back into the foreground, you will notice that many progress indicators are
also reflected in the icon for the application. In the image below we see the progress of a
file copy using Windows Explorer being reflected in the Windows Explorer icon.

Taskbar Notification Area


As we saw when discussing adding and removing icons in the taskbar, a common theme
for Windows 7 is that of putting the user back in control of their desktop. Another area
where we are pursuing this is the "taskbar notification area". By default the only icons
that will be visible in this area are the four system icons and the clock. All other icons
that would normally appear in the taskbar notification area are instead pushed into the
overflow area that appears when clicking the up arrow as shown below.
This appearance can be customized by using the Customize... link shown in the example
above, or by simply dragging an icon from the overflow area to or from the main taskbar
notification area.

Show Desktop
When looking at the taskbar notification area, we also see where the Show Desktop
button has been moved to that previously lived in the Quick Launch bar. The thin vertical
bar at the far right of the taskbar is the new Show Desktop button. It has been moved to
the bottom right corner in an effort to make it easier to find and click just by throwing the
mouse pointer down to that corner; once you become accustomed to the new location you
will likely not even have to look at the button to click it.

• Hovering the mouse cursor over the Show Desktop button without clicking will
activate Aero Peek and show the desktop.

• You can also activate Show Desktop using the <Window Key>+D keyboard
shortcut.
Jump Lists
Jump Lists are a new concept in Windows 7 that provide an application specific menu to
serve as a jumping off point for an icon in the taskbar. Jump lists provides an easy way to
access the most common tasks related to an application and the documents, media, or
other files that the user is most likely to use with that application.
Jump lists can be opened in a few different ways.

• Right-click on the icon in the taskbar

• Use the left mouse button to drag the icon straight up from the taskbar.

• Press <Window Key>+ALT simultaneously with the number that represents the
application icon on the taskbar based on order. For example, if the first icon on
the taskbar was for Windows Explorer, the second icon was for Internet Explorer,
and the third icon was for Windows Media Player, then pressing <Window
Key>+ALT+3 would open the jump list for Windows Media Player.
In the images below we see three different examples of Jump Lists.

Pre-Windows 7 Program Jump List

In this first image, we see the Jump List for Microsoft Office Excel 2007. Excel 2007 was
released prior to Windows 7, so it was not aware of the Jump List feature and was not
able to provide any customization for it. This means that the Jump List provided for
Excel 2007 is the default Jump List, which provides the following options.

• Close the application since it is currently running. (In the second screenshot the
application is not running, so the Close window option is missing.)

• Unpin the program from the taskbar since it is currently pinned. (If the icon was
for a running application that was not pinned to the taskbar the option would show
Pin this program to the taskbar, as we see in the third image.)

• Clicking the name of the program in the list will open a new window. The same
thing can be accomplished by holding down the Shift key and clicking the icon, or
middle clicking the icon.

• A list of the most recently used files for the application is also shown.

Windows 7 Aware Program Jump List

The second image shows a more customized Jump List. The options on the bottom are
similar, but a new section in the middle labeled Tasks provides the ability to accomplish
task that are specific to this program. In this case we see that you can open a new
InPrivate browsing sessions or open a new tab in the existing browser window.
Since the most frequently visited sites are probably more interesting than the most
recently visited sites, the Internet Explorer team chose use the browsers most frequently
used item list.

Windows 7 Task Jump List

The third image shows an example of an application that purely task focused. There are
no documents being used by Windows live Messenger, but we see there are many
possible tasks that are relevant to an IM client that are exposed in the Jump List.

Start Menu
Start Menu
The Windows 7 Start Menu has gone through changes for Windows 7 as well.

Start Menu Jump Lists


The Recent Items entry that was present by default on the Windows Vista Start Menu is
now disabled by default. This global tracking of recently used documents has been
replaced with a new per-application Jump List, similar to the jump list on the taskbar.
This list appears when the user hovers the mouse cursor over the application in the Start
Menu or clicks the right arrow next to the application.

This menu can be customized by the application similar to the Jump List in the taskbar to
display other information.

• Most Recently Used

• Most Frequently Used

• Application-specific custom tasks

• A user can also choose to manually pin a file to this list so that it is always
present.

• A user can even pin a document to the list of an application that is not the default
handler for that document type.
Removal of Web Browser and Mail Client from the Top of the Start Menu
Unlike previous versions of Windows, there is no longer a web browser and email client
pinned to the top of the Start Menu by default. By default there are no items at all pinned
to the Start Menu, but if you wish to regain the old look, you can pin your web browser
or mail client using the same mechanism for pinning all other applications.

Window Management
Window Management
Windows 7 introduces several new features designed to make interacting with and
managing open windows easier and more intuitive for the end user. Keyboard shortcuts in
Windows 7 are also much more pervasive, making it much easier to navigate the
Windows interface using just the keyboard.

Aero Peek
While having a thumbnail of an application can be a great addition to text descriptions to
help you identify which window is the one you are looking for, sometimes a thumbnail is
just not big enough to get a clear enough picture of the window contents. To aid you in
identifying the window you are searching for, Windows 7 includes a new feature called
Aero Peek.

• When you hover your mouse cursor over a thumbnail on the taskbar, after a few
seconds all of the other windows become transparent and the window associated
with the thumbnail appears.

• If you move the mouse cursor to a different thumbnail without clicking the
thumbnail, the visible window changes to the windows associated with the newly
focused thumbnail.

• If you move the mouse cursor off of a thumbnail after activating Aero Peek, the
previous layout is restored.

• Clicking the thumbnail with Aero Peek triggered has the same effect as clicking it
without Aero Peek. The windows associated with the selected thumbnail is
brought to the foreground and given focus.

• Aero Peek is also available when using the ALT+TAB window switcher.

• The keyboard shortcut <Win key> + Space will use Aero Peek to show the
desktop.

Aero Snap
With the advent of widescreen monitors, it is becoming more important to think about
efficiently using the available screen real estate to show as much relevant information as
possible. Aero Snap helps this by making it possible to "snap" windows to the left, right,
or top edge of the monitor.
By grabbing the title bar of a window and dragging it to the right or left edge of a
monitor, the window will go into a half maximized state. Dragging the window to the left
edge will maximize the window on the left, and dragging to the right edge will maximize
the window on the right. Dragging the window away will restore it to its previous state.

Note: When using multiple monitors, the inside edge where the monitors are considered
to be touching is ignored for Aero Snap. Putting a window into the half-maximized state
on one of the inside monitor edges is still possible using the keyboard shortcuts for Aero
Snap.
By grabbing the title bar and dragging the window to the top edge of the monitor, the
window will maximize.
By double-clicking the top or bottom window border of a window that is not currently
maximized, the window will maximize but only vertically. The top and bottom of the
window will stretch to the top and bottom of the desktop, but the width of the window
will remain unchanged. This can also be accomplished by dragging the top or bottom
window border to the top or bottom of the desktop, respectively.

Dragging the window down from a maximized or vertically maximized state will restore
it to its previous state.

Aero Shake
Aero Shake provides the ability to remove distraction and clean up the desktop by
minimizing all windows but one. To activate Aero Shake, simply grab the window title
bar of the desired window and "shake" it by quickly dragging the window back and forth.
All other windows should minimize. To reverse this and bring the other windows back,
shake the window again and all of the windows that were previously minimized should
now be restored.
The keyboard shortcut for Aero Shake is <Win key>+Home.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Keyboard Shortcuts
As we've mentioned previously, Windows 7 introduces many new keyboard shortcuts to
make interacting with windows easily. Below you find a table that outlines many of
these.
Keyboard Shortcut Action Performed
Win+Up Maximize
Win+Down Restore / Minimize
Use Aero Snap to "snap" to left or right. Pressing this keyboard shortcut
multiple times will cycle the state of the window. This means if you
press Win+left from a restored state the window will cycle through the
following:

• snapped left
Win+Left or
Win+Right • snapped right

• restored

• snapped left
etc.
Win+Shift+Left or Send window to left or right monitor respectively. This keyboard
Win+Shift+Right shortcut will also cycle.
This is the keyboard shortcut for Aero Shake, and will minimize or
Win+Home
restore all windows but the one with focus.
Win+T or Focus the first taskbar entry. Pressing again will cycle through them, you
Win+Shift+T can arrow around. Adding the shift key will cycle backwards.
Win+Space Use Aero Peek to view the desktop
Win+G Bring gadgets to the foreground
Win+P External display options (mirror, extend desktop, etc)
Win+X Mobility Center
Win+# Launches a new instance of the application in the Nth slot on the taskbar.
(# = a number key) Example: Win+1 launches first pinned app, Win+2 launches second, etc.
Win + + or Win+- Zooms in or out
Alt+P Show/hide Preview Pane in Windows Explorer
Shift + Click or
middle-click an icon on Open a new instance of the window or application
the taskbar
Ctrl + Shift + Click on Open a new instance of the window or application with administrator
icon privileges.
Show context menu for the window (Restore / Minimize / Move / etc)
Shift + Right-click on
icon Note: Normally you can just right-click on the window thumbnail to get
this menu
Shift + Right-click on
`Menu with Restore All / Minimize All / Close All, etc.
grouped icon
Ctrl + Click on
Cycle between the windows (or tabs) in the group
grouped icon

Libraries
Libraries
Windows 7 introduces a new method for managing files and folder in Windows
Explorer called Libraries. Libraries provide a consolidated view of multiple folders,
regardless of where they are stored. You can browse your files the same way you
would in a folder, or you can view your files arranged by properties like date, type,
and author.
In some ways, a library is similar to a folder. For example, when you open a library,
you'll see one or more files. However, unlike a folder, a library gathers files that are
stored in several locations. This is a subtle, but important, difference. Libraries don't
actually store your items. They monitor folders that contain your items, and let you
access and arrange the items in different ways.
For instance, if you have music files in folders on your hard disk and on an external
drive, you can access all of your music files at once using the Music library. Deleting
that library won't delete the files stored inside of the library. Deleting a file or folder
inside of that library will delete that item though.
In the screenshot below we see the Pictures library contains the two default folders
(My Pictures and Public Pictures) as well as an additional custom folder (Extra
Pictures (G:))
The view provided by libraries is a consolidated list of all of the files and folders that
exist under the top level folders that are defined for the library. In the screenshot
below we see the Videos library has two locations: the My Videos folder and the
Public Videos folder. There is a subfolder under My Videos called Home Movies,
and there is a subfolder under Public Videos called Sample Videos. In the main
content pane of the library, these two subfolders are shown in the same consolidated
view with no distinction made as to their actual location on the disk.

Note: By default, each user account has four libraries pre-populated for their user
account: Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. If you accidentally delete one of
the four default libraries, you can restore it to its original state in the navigation pane
by right-clicking Libraries and then clicking Restore default libraries.
Note: The configuration for a library is stored in the Library-MS files in the %appdata
%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Libraries folder. If the library configuration
becomes damaged for some reason, you can navigate to this folder and delete all of
the Library files from the folder. After deleting the library files, the Libraries node in
the navigation pane will be empty, but the default libraries can quickly be restored by
right-clicking on the Libraries node and clicking Restore default libraries.
When we look at the properties for the Pictures library in the image below, we can
see the list of the folders that are included in the library. In this screenshot, we are
looking at the default configuration for the Pictures library, which only contains two
folders. We can add an additional folder to the library or remove an existing one from
this interface, along with several other options.

Note: This image also shows another important configuration for libraries, which is
the save location. Libraries are exposed to applications in most cases as just another
folder and potential save location, but the library is still just an abstracted just an
abstracted view of possibly many different locations. Because of this, when a file is
saved to a library, Windows need to make a decision about where the file will
actually go on the disk. That is what the save location is for. In the library properties
window above we see a check mark next to the folder in the list which is marked as
the save location.

Adding Additional Locations to a Library


We can also add additional folders to the library using Windows Explorer. We do this
simply by right-clicking the folder we want to add to the library and selecting Include
in library, and then select the library we want to add the folder to.

You can include folders in a library from many different locations, such as your
computer's C drive, an external hard drive, or a network. The primary requirement for
a new library location is that the content in that location is indexed or is able to be
added to the Windows Search index. If the local location that is being added to the
library is not already an indexed location, it will be added to the list of indexed
locations. It may take some time for this content to appear in the library after being
added because it must first be indexed for it to appear.
Where is the folder
Can it be included in a library?
stored?
On your C drive Yes.
On an external hard
Yes, but the content won't be available if the drive is disconnected.
drive
On an additional hard
disk inside your Yes.
computer
Only if the device appears in the navigation pane, under Computer, in the
Hard Disk Drives section. This is set by the device manufacturer, and in
On a USB flash drive some cases, it can be changed. Contact your manufacturer for more
information.
The content won't be available if the drive is disconnected.
On removable media
(such as a CD or No.
DVD)
Yes, as long as the network location is indexed or has been made available
On a network
offline.
On a different
computer in your Yes.
HomeGroup
Notes

• If the folder is on a device that is compatible with libraries (such as an


external hard drive), it can be included. However, the content of the folder
will only be available when the device is connected to your computer.

• If the folder is on a computer that is part of your HomeGroup, it can be


included.

• If the folder is on a network device that is not part of your HomeGroup, it


can be included as long as the content of the folder is indexed. If the folder
is already indexed on the device where it is stored, you should be able to
include it directly in the library.
• For content on a network share to be indexed in a way that is
usable by a library, Windows Search 4 should be installed on the
remote computer and the folder that is shared on the network
should be added to the search index on the remote computer.

• If the network folder is not indexed, an easy way to index it is to make the
folder available offline. This will create offline versions of all of the files
in the folder, and add these files to the index on your computer. Once you
make a folder available offline, you can include it in a library.

• When you make a network folder available offline, copies of all


the files in that folder will be stored on your computer's hard disk.
Take this into consideration if the network folder contains a large
number of files.

Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center


In an effort to streamline and simplify media management for Windows 7, both
Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center make use of libraries to
determine where media is located. Adding a folder to a library from Windows
Explorer will also make that folder visible in Windows Media Player and
Windows Media Center since they all share the same configuration.
Windows Media Player also automatically shares out library locations on the
network using it's UPnP media server, so that the libraries are available to UPnP
media clients like the Xbox 360 or Roku SoundBridge, as well as other instances
of Windows Media Player on the network. This is referred to as Media Sharing in
Windows Media Player.

Network Locations
By default, Media Sharing will only share local content in the library. Any UNC
paths that have been added to the library will not be visible the UPnP Media
Client.
This behavior can be changed by setting the following registry key.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\PREFERENC
ES\HME
DWORD - EnableRemoteContentSharing
Set this value to 1 to enable sharing of media from a network location.
Normally when adding network locations to a library, they must either be indexed
remotely or made available offline. Because Windows Media Player still
maintains its own database, it is able to add non-indexed locations to a library.
Windows Media Player will scan the remote location and save the results to its
own library database. Doing this creates a situation where the filtered views of the
library are not available in Windows Explorer (such as viewing music by artist or
album). When the user opens the library after adding the unindexed network
location to the Windows Media Player library, they will receive the notification
shown in the image below.

Federated Search
Federated Search
Windows 7 includes a new functionality called Federated Search that enables you to use
Windows Explorer to search remote databases and web sites. Remote data sources make
themselves searchable with a simple web front end that exposes their search capabilities.
In fact, some data sources may already support the minimum requirements for search
federation.
The benefit to a data provider of integrating data source with Windows Explorer is that
users can get at all of their information by using the already familiar Windows Explorer
user interface. Your users will be able to see files from your remote data source just as
they would local files, with the right application icons and context menus. They can
preview documents or web pages, see thumbnails of images, and drag and drop a file
directly to the desktop or into an email.
Federated Search makes use of the OpenSearch protocol to display web results in the
Windows Explorer interface in much the same way that local files are displayed. This
allows users to search a remote data store and see results within Windows Explorer.

The OpenSearch Standard


The OpenSearch v1.1 standard defines simple file formats that can be used to describe
how a client should query the web service for the data store and how the service should
return results to be rendered by the client. Windows federated search connects to web
services that can receive OpenSearch queries and that can return results in either the RSS
or Atom XML format.
The OpenSearch 1.1 standard is available here:
http://www.opensearch.org/Specifications/OpenSearch/1.1

A data source that already provides an OpenSearch web service compatible with
Windows federated search can be added to Windows Explorer when users open up a
Search Connector Description file (.osdx).
To register a new remote data source with Windows federated search, the end-user can
open an .osdx file by clicking on a link to one placed on a web site or by opening one
provided by someone else on a share or via an email attachment for example. Doing that
creates a .searchconnector-ms file in the Windows “Searches” folder (%userprofile
%/Searches) and places a shortcut in the “Links” folder (%userprofile%/Links).
One example Federated Search Connector is the Flickr Search Connector for Windows 7
Search Federation, which is available here:
http://www.istartedsomething.com/flickrsearch/.
As you can see in the image, with this particular search connector, when we search for
Downtown Seattle we get search results directly from the website, but the search results
appears as if they were local files. Also, by opening the OSDX file, the search connector
automatically gets populated under Favorites in the navigation pane.
For more information on Federated Search in Windows 7, you can read the Windows 7
Federated Search Provider Implementers Guide here.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=C709A596-A9E9-49E7-
BCD4-319664929317

Personalizing Windows
Personalizing Windows
The Personalize option in Control Panel now includes enhanced support for themes,
which are packages containing screensavers, sounds, desktop background, and
customizations to the color of Aero Glass. Additional Themes will be made available you
online through a link in Control Panel, and there will be location specific themes
available for many different countries throughout the world.

Many themes include several different backgrounds in the same package because they
take advantage of another new Windows 7 feature, the Desktop Slideshow. With the
Desktop Slideshow, you can select several different images as your background and
Windows will automatically cycle through those images every 30 minutes. This time is
configurable with the Change picture every: option shown below.

In this image we also see several images in the Landscapes category selected, which
means those images will be shown as part of the desktop slideshow for this computer.
While the images are cycling, if you encounter an image you would like to skip, use the
Next desktop background option on the desktop context menu.

Gadgets
Gadgets
Gadgets are the evolution of the Windows Sidebar from Windows Vista. The biggest
change related to gadgets for Windows 7 is that there is no longer a Sidebar where they
are docked. Instead the gadgets are free-floating on the desktop. The gadgets themselves
are basically the same, and troubleshooting related to those gadgets has not
fundamentally changed. Gadgets are still hosted in a process call Sidebar.exe.
Gadgets can be added to the desktop using the Gadgets item on the desktop context
menu, which is shown below.
To quickly view any gadgets you may have running, you can try one of the following:

• Use the WIN+G key on the keyboard to bring the gadgets to the foreground.

• Hover the mouse over the Show Desktop button on the taskbar or use the
WIN+space key on the keyboard to use Aero Peek to view the desktop.

Removed Features
Removed Features
Windows 7 no longer includes several features that were present with Windows
Vista. In some cases these have been replaced by Windows Live alternatives. Details
are provided below.

Ultimate Extras
Ultimate Extras also been deprecated for Windows 7. When you upgrade from
Windows Vista Ultimate edition to Windows 7 Ultimate edition you will receive a
notification as part of the upgrade compatibility report indicating that Ultimate Extras
are removed during the upgrade process.

Components of Previous Windows Versions now on Windows Live


Some components of Windows that were present in Windows Vista have been
removed from Windows 7. These in-box applications duplicated existing
functionality in some of the Windows Live applications, so these components will
instead be included as part of the Windows Live software suite going forward.
Removed in-box application Replacement
Windows Photo Gallery Windows Live Photo Gallery
Windows Movie Maker Windows Live Movie Maker
Windows Mail Windows Live Mail
Windows Calendar Windows Live Mail
When you begin the upgrade process, similar to the prompt that is displayed for
Ultimate Extras, the Compatibility Report displays a warning indicating that
Windows Mail will be removed.
When the upgrade process completes, you can look in "%localappdata
%\Microsoft\Windows Mail" and see that the mail data from Windows Mail is still
present.
You can then go to Microsoft Update to install the Windows Live Essentials
component, which replaces the previously in-box applications. Windows Live
Essentials can also be downloaded from http://download.live.com.
After the installation, the first time that you open Windows Live Mail, you will see
two separate dialogs. The first shows that Windows Live Mail is importing your
Windows Calendar data.
The second dialog shows that Windows Live Mail is importing your Windows Mail
data.
After the import completes the old mail and calendar data will now be available in
Windows Live Mail. The import process does not remove the old data from the
Windows Mail and Windows Calendar folders under %localappdata%, so if the
import needs to be repeated for whatever reason, this will be possible.

TROUBLESHOOTING TOOLS

Overview of Changes
Overview of Changes
New and improved troubleshooting tools are provided in Windows 7. The changes
include:
This new troubleshooting Control Panel provides access to messages about the
Action
status of the PC and Windows, as well as troubleshooters that can help diagnose and
Center
fix many common issues.
Troublesho
This interface provides automated diagnostic and repair utilities.
oting
This new Control Panel makes it easier to start System Restore or restore your
Recovery
computer from a backup.
This is a new option from the Backup & Repair interface that creates a bootable
Repair Disc
WinRE CD or DVD. This is covered in detail in the Backup module of this course.
WinRE
WinRE is now installed to the hard disk when you install Windows. This is covered
Installed on
in detail in the Startup module of this course.
Disk
Problem
A utility that can record your PC usage to help illustrate a problem. This can be
Steps
used to more clearly demonstrate how and where a problem is happening.
Recorder
System
Disk space usage configuration interface.
Restore
Previous This feature of Windows can help you restore earlier versions of you data files. In
Versions Windows 7 this is included in all Editions.
This powerful command-line interface and scripting engine is now included in
PowerShell
Windows.
Other In addition to the above tools, Windows 7 adds and updates several useful
Commands command line tools.
This module reviews these added and changed troubleshooting tools. It also provides
notes on any impact to significant existing troubleshooting tools and methods.

Action Center
Action Center
Action Center is a new Control Panel interface that provides a single location for
Windows notifications and alerts.

Action Center Usage


You can quickly see whether there are any new messages in Action Center by hovering
your mouse over the Action Center icon in the notification area on the taskbar.
Click the icon to view more detail, shown below.
You can click a message or open Action Center to view the full message and steps to help
you resolve the issue.
Action Center lists important messages about security and maintenance settings that need
your attention. Red items in Action Center are labeled Important, and indicate significant
issues that should be addressed soon, such as an outdated antivirus program that needs
updating. Yellow items are suggested tasks that you should consider addressing, like
recommended maintenance tasks.
To view details about either the Security or Maintenance section, click the heading or the
arrow next to the heading to expand or collapse the section. If you don’t want to see
certain types of messages, you can choose to hide them from view by clicking the option
to Turn off messages about the particular message types.
If you’re having a problem with your computer, check Action Center to see if the issue
has been identified. If it has been identified, Action Center will show a message, as in the
above example. If it hasn’t, you can also find links to the Troubleshooting and Recovery
Control Panels here.
The Action Center settings interface is where you can select which types of messages you
don’t want to receive:

• Security messages:

• Network firewall

• Windows update

• Virus protection

• Spyware and unwanted software protection

• Internet security settings

• User Account Control

• Network Access Protection

• Maintenance messages

• Check for solutions to problem reports

• Backup

• Check for updates

• Troubleshooting: System Maintenance


You can also make these choices using the Turn off messages about links provided for
each type of message.

Replaced Control Panels


Action Center in Windows 7 replaces the following Windows Vista control panels:

• Security Center
• Problem Reports and Solutions

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting in Windows 7 provides a set of automated diagnose and repair utilities.
These are designed to be easy first troubleshooting tools when dealing with problems on
your Windows 7 PC.
Windows includes several troubleshooters, and more are available online, configured
using the Get the most up-to-date troubleshooters from the Windows Online
Troubleshooting service checkbox at the bottom of the Troubleshooting interface. This
option is enabled by default.
If the Troubleshooters interface cannot connect to the Internet, you will see a message to
that effect at the top to inform you of the problem.
If you click View all in the main Troubleshooting interface, the full list of diagnostics is
displayed. This includes both local and online troubleshooters as shown below.
Click one of these troubleshooters to begin a diagnostics session.
Troubleshooting Example: Aero
Clicking on one of the troubleshooters opens a wizard as shown below. Clicking Next
starts the diagnostic session.
Many of these troubleshooters include an Advanced link, as shown in the Aero example
above. Clicking this adds more choices to this start page. The additions depend on the
specific troubleshooter. The two most common advanced options are:

• Run as administrator: This is helpful in some cases where administrator


permissions would widen the scope of possible problems covered by the diagnosis
or repair.

• Apply repairs automatically: Troubleshooters with repair capability apply relevant


repairs automatically by default. If you want to run such a troubleshooter and opt
out of repairs, uncheck this option.
When you click Next, the diagnosis begins.
In this example the repairs are applied automatically to enable Aero display capability.
You can see the result of this in the change in window borders below.
This completion page includes a summary of problems found, additional options for
getting help, and a link for detailed information on the troubleshooting.
Collecting Diagnostic Steps
Clicking the View detailed information link in the last step of the troubleshooter opens
the Troubleshooting report shown below. You can use CTRL+A and CTRL+C to select
and copy the text in this interface. This can be useful if you want to send the results in
email.
This report lists the potential issues checked by the troubleshooter along with the results
where an issue was found.
Troubleshooting History
Need to see a list of the troubleshooters you have run on this computer? Click View
history in the main Troubleshooting interface to see a list. You may only see a partial list
until you click the Include troubleshooters that were run as an administrator link shown
below.

To see the report from any of these troubleshooting sessions you can right-click the
session and choose View details. Other options here include Open file location to see the
diagnostic files for the session, and Save as to save these diagnostic files to a .CAB file.

Troubleshooting Settings
The Change settings link in the Troubleshooting Control Panel interface provides options
as shown below.

The first of these, for Computer Maintenance, determines whether the System
Maintenance troubleshooter is run periodically as a scheduled task. This defaults to On.
The other settings here are:

• Allow users to browse troubleshooters available from the Windows Online


Troubleshooting service: This setting controls the presence of the “Get the most
up-to-date troubleshooters” option on the main Troubleshooting interface. If you
uncheck this setting, that option is removed from the Troubleshooting interface.

• Allow troubleshooting to begin immediately when started: This setting determines


whether you see the initial step of a troubleshooter when it is started. With this
option enabled, the troubleshooting begins without this preliminary step.

Troubleshooting Details
The troubleshooting wizard interface is provided by msdt.exe. Actions performed by each
troubleshooter are based on a set of PowerShell script files located in %windir
%\Diagnostics.
Online troubleshooters are downloaded from a Microsoft.com location, copied to your
%temp% folder, checked for integrity using a signature, and are then used from that
%temp% location.

Logging
The troubleshooting report data and other diagnostic results are saved by each
troubleshooter to the following paths:

• %LocalAppData%\Diagnostics: This path contains folders for each previously run


troubleshooter.

• %LocalAppData%\ElevatedDiagnostics: This path contains folders for each


troubleshooter that was started using the “Run as administrator” option.
You can find logging events for the troubleshooting infrastructure in the following event
logs:

• Windows Logs/Application

• Applications and Services Logs/Microsoft/Windows/Diagnosis-


Scripted/Operational

• Applications and Services Logs/Microsoft/Windows/Diagnosis-Scripted/Admin

• Applications and Services Logs/Microsoft/Windows/Diagnosis-


ScriptedDiagnosticsProvider/Operational

Troubleshooting the Troubleshooters


Generally it is better to focus on the original problem, rather than trying to fix the
troubleshooting infrastructure if it is determined to be malfunctioning as well. That said,
there are some basic steps you can perform to determine what may be wrong with the
troubleshooters. Use the following recommendations as a guide:

• Online Problem?

• If online troubleshooters are failing, try a local troubleshooter.

• If local troubleshooters work, you may have an issue with the files in
%temp% or with the connection to the site where we download the
troubleshooters.

• User Account Problem?

• Try using the Troubleshooters when logged on as a new Administrator


user.
• Problem with Windows?

• The files that provide support for the Troubleshooters are core Windows
components. As a result you can verify their integrity using SFC.exe.

Recovery
Recovery
The Recovery Control Panel is another new interface in Windows 7 that is linked from
Action Center. This is a new starting point for returning your computer back to a working
state.

You can repair your computer in the Recover interface using three main methods:

• System Restore: This is the main option in the interface, and the recommended
method where possible. Others are linked under Advanced recovery methods.

• Restore from Backup: This option, labeled Use a system image you created earlier
to recover your computer is a starting point to restore from a system backup.

• Reinstall Windows: This option performs a guided clean install of Windows. At


the end of this procedure, the old Windows install will be in Windows.old, and
you will be given a chance to restore files from backup.
Choosing the first method opens the System Restore interface, where you can choose a
restore point for a restore. There have been some improvements to System Restore in
Windows 7. These improvements are discussed in the System Restore section later in this
document.
The other two methods are shown when you click Advanced recovery methods in the
main Recovery interface.

Restore from Backup


When you click the Use a system image you created earlier to recover your computer
option in the Advanced Recovery Methods interface, you are asking Windows to help
you start a restore from backup.
For more information: For details on this procedure, see the Backup module in this
course.

Reinstall Windows
When you click Reinstall Windows in the Advanced Recovery Methods interface, the
first step is a check for Windows installation files.

If you click No here, the reinstall cannot proceed. Note that this step also guides you to
use the OEM recovery disc instructions; if that is the Windows media you have available.
This Recovery path is not intended to start the OEM restore procedure.

Backup
After you click Yes in the Windows installation disc prompt, you are taken to the User
File Backup step, shown below. This gives you a chance to make a backup of your files
before this reinstall of Windows.

Clicking Back up now opens the Set up backup interface as shown below. This is the
same interface as you see when you start the backup from Backup and Restore.

Once difference you will find in the backup steps is that you are not given a chance to
include a system image in the backup. This is because it is assumed that the current
Windows state should not be restored.

Restart
When you have completed your backup, or if you chose Skip at the previous restore step,
you are taken to the Restart prompt. Clicking Restart here initiates a reboot into WinRE.

Recovery in WinRE
When WinRE starts, you will see an initial input method/language prompt. This is the
same prompt shown when using Startup Repair.
Next is a confirmation step asking “Are you sure you want to reinstall Windows?”. This
reiterates the consequences of the reinstall – the current installation will be moved to
Windows.old, and you will need to reinstall your programs.

If the Windows installation disc is in the drive, setup proceeds. If the media is not found,
you will see the prompt to insert media, as shown below.
There are no further prompts until the Windows Welcome steps. There is no need to
accept the license terms, or make other install selections in this procedure. The reinstall
process leaves the current file system intact and performs a clean install to the current
Windows partition, leaving a Windows.old folder with the previous installation.

Completing the Reinstall


The first Windows Welcome step is shown below. This is the next input step for this
process.

Once you have completed setup, the first time you log on to Windows, you will see a
prompt to restore files from backup. This is shown below.

Clicking Restore my files opens the restore interface, where you can select a backup from
which to restore files.
For more information on file restore, see the Backup module in this course.

Problem Steps Recorder


Problem Steps Recorder
Problem Steps Recorder (PSR) is a new tool that is included with Windows 7. You
can use this tool to record your actions in Windows. The steps you have taken are
saved in a .ZIP file which contains a MIME HTML (.MHT) file with images showing
the steps you have taken. You can share this ZIP file with someone to show them
what you have done, either to illustrate a problem or perhaps illustrate a solution to a
problem.
The PSR interface is shown here:

You can start PSR using one of these methods:

• Go to Troubleshooting in Action Center, and choose “Get help from a


friend”. Then click Problem Steps Recorder at the bottom of the interface.

• Run “PSR” from Start, Search or the Run interface.

• Type “Problem Steps Recorder” in the Start Menu search bar.


Using PSR
To use PSR, follow these steps:
Start PSR.
Click “Start Record”
Reproduce the problem you want to record.
Return to PSR and click “Stop Record”
Choose a location and filename for the resulting ZIP file.
While you are reproducing the problem, you can also use the “Add Comment”
button to make a note about what is happening at that step. This typed comment
will be included as a text caption for the image at that step in the saved file.

Reviewing Recorded Steps


Once the session has been saved you can open the.ZIP file created by PSR to view
the recorded session. The .ZIP file contains an .MHT file which contains an image
for each mouse click by the customer highlighted in green in the figure below.

The recorded steps include Previous and Next links to navigate. On each step, just
click the image to view full size. Another option is to view the recording as a slide
show.

PSR Settings
PSR includes a limited number of optional settings – you can set an output
location, disable screen capture, and change the maximum number of screen
captures to include in the recording. By default PSR includes only the most recent
25 images, to help keep the final recording file size manageable.

PSR Considerations
Before using PSR, there are several considerations to ensure that you are
capturing all of your steps.
Consideratio
Description
n
Windows and You cannot capture an Administrator window unless you run PSR as
UAC Administrator.
PSR captures the contents of a program window. If your program is using
Program
nonstandard UI, or is a full screen program like a game, you may not be able to
Window
capture the image.
PSR does not capture keystrokes. This is intentional to prevent the capturing of
No
sensitive information such as passwords. Use mouse actions where possible for the
Keystrokes
most easily interpreted results.
Number of As shown in the Settings interface, PSR captures the most recent 25 screen
Screen captures in the recording. You can change this number if needed to collect more
Captures images, but it could result in a very large output file.
Compared
PSR and the Snipping Tool each provide screen capture capability. Consider using
with
the Snipping Tool when you only need one or two images, or where it is not
Snipping
important to record mouse activities.
Tool

System Restore
System Restore
Windows 7 includes several key improvements to System Restore. These include the
following:

• System Protection Options

• Scan for affected programs during restore

System Protection Options


The System Protection interface now provides a Configure button under the drives list.

When you select a drive and click Configure, you have access to these options:

• Restore Settings: Options for full protection, Previous Versions only, or Turn off
system protection.

• Disk Space Usage: Once again you can control the maximum disk space used for
system protection.
Scan for Affected Programs
Another improvement in System Restore on Windows 7 is the ability to view a list of the
potential impacts of using System Restore with a specific restore point. The Scan for
affected programs button starts the evaluation based on the currently selected restore
point.

The results interface shows a list of programs and drivers that will be removed, along
with any programs or drivers that may or may not function properly.

Other Considerations
System Restore in Windows 7 carries the same considerations for use as did the version
in Windows Vista. These considerations include:

• Using System Restore early in your troubleshooting is critical. Waiting can result
in lost restore points due to the actions of intervening troubleshooting. If there is a
chance that System Restore can solve the problem, use it right away.

• Data files that are of the same types as system files, such as .EXE or .DLL files,
can be impacted by a restore operation.

• Mounting a drive with Windows 7 restore points on a Windows XP computer will


result in those restore points being invalid. Note that this problem does not occur
when mounting the drive on a Windows Vista computer.

Previous Versions
Previous Versions
This feature is now available in all editions of Windows 7. Previously it was a feature
on premium Windows Vista editions.
As a result of this change, you can now help customers recover accidentally deleted
or modified files on any Windows 7 edition. To do so, open the Properties of a folder
or file, and go to the Previous Versions tab as shown below.

Previous Versions uses the same underlying volume shadow copy technology as
System Protection / System Restore. System Protection settings, such as disk space
allocation and enable/disable also apply to Previous Versions.
PowerShell
PowerShell
PowerShell is included in all editions of Windows 7. This is a command line shell and
scripting language. It differs from previous shells and scripting methods in being more
focused on system administration rather than the developer-focus of some previous
technologies. Usage of PowerShell is beyond the scope of this document, but it has some
potential for use as a troubleshooting tool.
For more information on PowerShell, see the following resources:
PowerShell Site on TechNet
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/technologies/management/powershell/def
ault.mspx
PowerShell Scripting Center
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/scriptcenter/hubs/msh.mspx
PowerShell Documentation
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B4720B00-9A66-430F-
BD56-EC48BFCA154F&displaylang=en
PowerShell Blog
http://blogs.msdn.com/powershell/default.aspx

Other Tools
Other Tools
Windows 7 includes new and changed command line tools compared with Windows
Vista.
New tools:
Tool Description
Bcdb This is a command-line tool for repairing the BCD and Boot files on the system partition.
oot See the Startup module for more information.
The Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool, used to interact with Windows
Dism
Servicing.
Reag This is a command-line tool for configuring on-disk WinRE. See the Startup module for
entc more information.
Changed tools:
Tool Description
Disk
This utility has been updated to support working with VHD files.
part
Nets
Netsh includes several new context choices and commands.
h
Powe This power management command line tool has been updated with new parameters useful
rcfg for troubleshooting. See the OS Core module for more information.
The most interesting of these tools for consumer support that are not covered in other
modules are presented in more detail below.

DISM
The Deployment Image Servicing and Management (DISM) tool replaces pkgmgr.exe in
Windows 7. It provides the same package and update install/uninstall capability as
pkgmgr, along with these added capabilities:

• Return a list of installed packages

• Mount a .WIM file to a folder for read and write access

• Get WIM information

• Return a list of installed drivers

• Initiate a WAU upgrade

• Set locale and time zone

• Deploy applications to an offline image

• Return a list of installable Windows features

• Install or uninstall features


Many of these tasks do not apply to a consumer environment - DISM is intended
primarily for use as a tool for system administrators who are managing Windows images
and deploying them for use in an enterprise environment. There are several tasks that
could be useful for consumer support scenarios, however. These are outlined below.

Get-Drivers
The /Get-Drivers switch for DISM.exe can be used to return a list of drivers that have
been installed. This includes any drivers that were provided by the OEM as well as any
later drivers installed. To run this against the current Windows installation, use this
command:
dism /online /get-drivers
The output of this command on a VM with three add-in drivers installed is shown here:
Obtaining list of 3rd party drivers from the driver store...
Driver packages listing:
Published Name : oem0.inf
Original File Name : prnms001.inf
Inbox : No
Class Name : Printer
Provider Name : Microsoft
Date : 6/21/2006
Version : 6.1.7106.0
Published Name : oem1.inf
Original File Name : vmadd_xp_drv.inf
Inbox : No
Class Name : Display
Provider Name : Microsoft
Date : 4/24/2007
Version : 13.811.0.0
Published Name : oem2.inf
Original File Name : virtualaudiodevice.inf
Inbox : No
Class Name : MEDIA
Provider Name : Microsoft
Date : 4/24/2007
Version : 13.811.0.0
This is somewhat useful in the event that you want to obtain a list to a text file, but you
could collect the same information more easily using MSInfo32.

Get-Drivers Offline
This is more useful if you need to collect this kind of information when you are running
in WinRE. To do this:
Use “dir” to determine which drive letter is assigned to your Windows drive. This
will vary depending on whether this was a clean install or an upgrade, among
other reasons.
When you find the drive letter on which the Windows folder is located, use this
command to return a list of drivers:
Dism /image:<Drive Letter>:\ /get-drivers
Example: In the case of a typical clean install, when running WinRE you would find
the \Boot folder on C:\ and the Windows folder on D:\. Run this command to return a list
of drivers that have been added to the offline Windows installation:
Dism /image:D:\ /get-drivers

Get-Features
The /Get-Features switch enables you to return a list of the configurable Windows
features listed in the Turn Windows features on or off interface.
dism /online /get-features
Here is an abbreviated example of output from this command:
Features listing for package : Microsoft-Windows-Foundation-
Package~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.1.7106.0
...
Feature Name : TelnetClient
State : Disabled
Feature Name : WindowsGadgetPlatform
State : Enabled
...
Each feature is identified by name, followed by the state of that component. Use “dism
/online /enable-feature /FeatureName:<Feature Name from get-features output>” to
enable a feature, or “/disable-feature” with the same syntax to disable.

Get-Packages
This switch can be used to return a list of installed packages. This includes base Windows
packages as well as updates.
dism /online /get-packages
The following is an abbreviated example of output from this command:
Packages listing:
Package Identity : Microsoft-Windows-Client-LanguagePack-
Package~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~en-US~6.1.7100.0
State : Installed
Release Type : Language Pack
Install Time : 4/22/2009 8:20 AM
Package Identity : Microsoft-Windows-Foundation-
Package~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.1.7100.0
State : Installed
Release Type : Foundation
Install Time : 4/22/2009 8:20 AM
Package Identity : Microsoft-Windows-LocalPack-AU-
Package~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.1.7100.0
State : Installed
Release Type : Local Pack
Install Time : 5/19/2009 9:12 PM
...
Package Identity : Package_for_KB969497~31bf3856ad364e35~x86~~6.1.1.0
State : Installed
Release Type : Update
Install Time : 5/21/2009 3:49 PM
...
The operation completed successfully.
This can be useful if you need to obtain a list of all the installed packages. You could use
the Package Identity value shown here in combination with “dism /online /remove-
package” to remove an update. This is the Windows 7 equivalent of the use of
pkgmgr.exe on Windows Vista to remove update packages.
In this list you will see release types including:

• Foundation: This represents the parent package for the Windows installation.

• Language Pack: This represents the currently installed language pack.

• Local Pack: This represents all of the locale-specific desktop wallpaper packages
that are staged to your PC. For more information on Local Packs, see:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd799277(WS.10).aspx.

• Update: This is how update packages and service pack packages will appear.

Mount-WIM
Another DISM command that could be useful in some scenarios is the “dism /mount-
wim” command. This can be used to mount a WIM file, such as install.wim on the
Windows 7 DVD, to a folder so that you can read and write the contents of the image.
The syntax is as follows:
Dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:<path_to_WIM_file> {/Index:<image_index> |
/Name:<image_name>} /MountDir:<target_mount_directory> [/readonly]
To use this command, create a target mount directory first, this will be used as the root
directory for the WIM contents. Then run the dism command.
Example:
md c:\temp
dism /Mount-Wim /WimFile:D:\sources\install.wim /index:1 /MountDir:C:\temp
/ReadOnly

Cleanup-Image
One other usage scenario for Dism.exe is as a last resort repair tool for scenarios where
Windows is unable to start while in the middle of a servicing operation. This could
happen when you encounter an error at the restart while installing an update.
This command can only be run offline. To use it:
Start the computer in WinRE.
Use “dir” to determine which drive letter is assigned to your Windows drive. This
will vary depending on whether this was a clean install or an upgrade, among
other reasons.
When you find the drive letter on which the Windows folder is located, use this
command to revert the pending servicing actions for that Windows installation:
Dism /image:<Drive Letter>:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions
Example: In the case of a typical clean install, when running WinRE you would find
the \Boot folder on C:\ and the Windows folder on D:\. Run this command to return a list
of drivers that have been added to the offline Windows installation:
Dism /Image:D:\ /Cleanup-Image /RevertPendingActions
This command can leave the Windows installation in an unstable state. It is only
recommended when other recovery tools, like System Restore, have been tried and you
are still unable to start Windows.

Diskpart
The Diskpart.exe tool provides a command-line interface for managing storage in
Windows. In Windows 7 this tool now provides native VHD support. This means that
you can attach to a VHD file, assigning it a drive letter for direct access in Windows.
You can also perform management tasks on VHD files:

• Create: This command, when used with the “VDISK” option, creates a virtual
hard disk file.

• Compact: This command attempts to reduce the size of a VHD by removing


empty space.

• Expand: This command expands the maximum size of a VHD.

• Merge: This command merges a child differencing VHD with its parent VHDs.
For more information on VHD terms and technology, see the following blog entry:
http://blogs.technet.com/virtualization/archive/2009/05/14/native-vhd-support-in-
windows-7.aspx
This capability could be useful in a scenario where you need to mount a VHD and Disk
Management is unavailable, such as in WinRE. The steps for mounting an existing VHD
are:
Start Diskpart in a command prompt (Administrator command prompt if running in
Windows).
Use the Select command to select the VHD file:
select vdisk file="<path to vhd file>"
Next, attach the VHD file:
attach vdisk
At this point the VHD should be mounted and accessible. You can verify the partition
structure and drive letters using the Detail command:
Detail disk
Example Detail Disk output, showing a partition on the mounted VHD with F:\ assigned
as the drive letter:
Disk ID: 10CEE8B1
Type : Virtual
Status : Online
Path : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 2
Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only : No
Boot Disk : No
Pagefile Disk : No
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : No
Clustered Disk : No
Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----- ---- --------- ----- ------- --------
Volume 4 F NTFS Partition 63 GB Healthy

Notes on Existing Troubleshooting


. Lab: Troubleshooting Tools

STARTUP
Module Overview

Overview
Windows 7 introduces several changes to startup and related technologies in Windows 7.
Fortunately these changes should not adversely impact our ability to troubleshoot. Some
of the changes include:

• WinRE: WinRE is now installed on-disk for Retail and OEM installations by
default.

• Tools: There are several new troubleshooting tools for startup issues

• Boot to VHD: Windows 7 supports booting to a Windows installation in a VHD


file without the use of virtualization technology
This module presents these changes, along with best practices and troubleshooting for
potential startup issues in Windows 7.

WinRE Changes
WinRE Changes
The Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) is a valuable tool that can be used to
recover from many types of system failures. WinRE in Windows 7 is not substantially
different from Windows Vista in terms of basic functionality and options. The
following features are still included in WinRE in Windows 7:

• Startup Repair

• System Restore

• System Image Recovery

• Windows Memory Diagnostics

• Command Prompt
One significant new aspect to WinRE in Windows 7 is that it is now installed to
the hard drive by Windows setup. As a result it will be available in most
installations without the need for a DVD. OEMs have an option to use alternate
repair methods, but it is expected that many will provide WinRE on the hard disk
on Windows 7 PCs.
You can access WinRE using F8 at the boot menu. Select Repair Your Computer
as shown below to start WinRE.

Like Windows Vista on-disk WinRE for OEM systems, using this repair
functionality requires a login. Once you select the Windows installation to repair,
you must enter a username and password for the target install.
WinRE is not changed significantly in other ways compared with Windows Vista.
You can still perform the same troubleshooting as you did previously.

WinRE in the Boot Menu


It is present in the BCD, with entries pointing to the WinRE.WIM file, containing
the WinRE components, as well as a boot entry for the WinRE ramdisk. As long
as these entries are in place, and their related files are present, you will be offered
help during startup after a boot or shutdown failure.
WinRE is offered proactively only after an initial offer of Safe Mode or Normal
mode, shown below.

If the failure persists, WinRE is offered the second time, as Launch Startup Repair
(recommend), shown here.

WinRE Tool - Reagentc


Windows 7 includes a command-line tool that can be used to enable or disable
WinRE, and configure a one-time startup to WinRE on the next boot. In addition
there are some WinRE deployment and management capabilities as well, but
these are out of scope for this course.
For more information on Reagentc.exe, see the Windows OEM Preinstall Kit
documentation, as well as the Windows Recovery Technical Reference on
TechNet: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd744255(WS.10).aspx.
The tool supports the following command line options:
Option Description
/? Show Reagentc.exe command-line help.
/setreimage
/path
<dir_name>
Sets the location of the user-provided Windows RE image.
[/target
The optional /target switch specifies the path to the location that contains
<dir_na
the Windows installation.
me>]
The optional /bootkey switch specifies the scan code for an OEM-
[/bootke
specific launch button.
y
<scan_c
ode>]
/setosimage
[/path
<dir_na
me>
/path sets the location of the user-provided OS Setup files. Alternatively,
[/target /customtool specifies that an imaging tool was specified inside Windows RE.
<dir_na
me>]]
[/custo
mtool]
/info
[/target Displays Windows RE configuration information. The optional /target switch
<dir_na specifies the path to the location that contains the Windows installation.
me>]
/enable Enable Windows RE for auto-failover and recovery.
/disable Disable Windows RE auto-failover and recovery.
/boottore Configure the BCD to launch Windows Recovery next time the system starts up.
The most important command line options for consumer support scenarios are:

• Reagentc /enable

• Use this command to restore missing WinRE boot entries.

• Note that this does not re-create the Winre.wim recovery file. If
this command fails with error code 57, check for the existence of
winre.wim. If the file is missing you will need to perform an in-
place repair install to re-create it.
• Reagentc /disable

• This command removes the boot entries for WinRE.

• It also moves WinRE.WIM from \Recovery\<GUID>, to


\Windows\System32\Recovery.

• Note that you may need to run this command prior to reagentc
/enable if the enable command does not properly create the boot
entries. It seems that under some circumstances running a disable
and then enable is successful.

• BootToRE

• This command lets you bypass startup F8 key presses at the right
moment to load WinRE. Run this command and the PC will load
WinRE on the next startup.
Note: The Reagentc.exe tool relies on the presence of the WinRE files on disk. If
files are missing, you may see errors running Reagentc. If this happens, the easiest
path to a working configuration will be a repair installation of Windows.

Other Startup Troubleshooting Tools


Other Startup Troubleshooting Tools
In addition to WinRE being present on the hard drive, some other startup
troubleshooting tools have been added or improved in Windows 7.

Create System Repair Disc


The Recovery control panel in Windows 7 provides a Create system repair disc link
that starts Recdisc.exe.
This utility creates a WinRE startup disc, burned to a CD or DVD. It can be useful for
startup troubleshooting, particularly where a PC either does not have WinRE
installed, or where the startup failure is also affecting WinRE.
For more information on creating a system repair disc, see the Backup module of this
course.

Startup Repair
Startup Repair includes the ability to recover the WinRE boot entry. You will see
WinRE listed in the repair details when startup options are repaired.
This is helpful for scenarios where your BCD has been damaged, resulting in a failure
booting to both Windows and WinRE. Using a Windows 7 DVD or Windows 7
Repair Disc to start WinRE you can restore the missing entries to the BCD as shown
above.

BCDBoot
BCDBoot is a new tool in Windows 7 that performs BCD and boot file repair. This
tool copies boot files to the system partition and creates a new BCD store.
Because the tool performs both tasks, it may be more helpful than Bootrec, which
does not provide an option to copy the boot files, like bootmgr. The syntax for
BCDBoot is as follows:
bcdboot <source> [/l <locale>] [/s <volume-letter>] [/v] [/m [{OS Loader ID}]]
Para
mete Description
r
sourc
Specifies the location of the windows system root.
e
Specifies an optional locale parameter to use when initializing the BCD store. The default
/l
is US English.
Specifies an optional volume letter parameter to designate the target system partition where
/s boot environment files are copied. The default is the system partition identified by the
firmware.
/v Enables verbose mode.
If an OS loader GUID is provided, this option merges the given loader object with the
/m
system template to produce a bootable entry. Otherwise, only global objects are merged.
Examples: bcdboot c:\windows /l en-us
bcdboot c:\windows /s h:
bcdboot c:\windows /m {d58d10c6-df53-11dc-878f-00064f4f4e08}
Example: If you are in WinRE and want to re-create the boot files and BCD for a
Windows installation currently viewable at D:\Windows, run this command:
Bcdboot d:\windows
As long as you have a partition marked Active, you do not need to specify the system
partition in the command. Specifying a system partition could be helpful though, in a
scenario where you are fixing the boot disk from another PC, temporarily connected
to your computer.
Note: You may need to restore the WinRE boot configuration after using BCDBoot.
See the Restore WinRE Boot Configuration section later in this document for
information on that procedure.

BCDBoot Details
BCDBoot uses the BCD-Template hive file in %windir%\System32\Config to re-
create the BCD store. It also copies the boot environment files from the operating
system image %windir%\boot and %windir%\System32 folders to the system
partition.

Boot to VHD
Boot to VHD
Windows 7 provides new support for the VHD file format, in two specific forms:

• Windows 7 can boot to a Windows 7 Enterprise or Ultimate installation contained


inside a .VHD file.

• Windows 7 can mount a .VHD file to a drive letter.


Neither of these is provided as a mainstream consumer usage scenario, but it is possible
that you may encounter Windows 7 running in a VHD. This should generally not result in
issues with Windows usage, but it does result in several minor changes in Windows
behavior. These are outlines in the Limitations section below.

Boot to VHD Details


In Windows 7 a VHD file can be used to contain the partition for a Windows installation
for use on the physical PC. Previously a VHD file could be used only in Virtual PC and
other virtualized hardware environments. This new feature enables the use of a VHD file
as another storage type for the physical PC.
A Windows 7 image (.WIM) file can be deployed to the.VHD file, which can then be
copied to multiple systems. You then configure the Windows 7 boot manager to boot
directly to the Windows installation in the VHD. Installing directly to the VHD file using
Windows 7 setup is not supported.
Note: Native-boot VHD is not intended for use as a widespread replacement for
Windows installed in a disk partition. Rather this is a feature targeted at enterprise
environments already managing and using VHD files for virtual machine deployment.
These environments will get the most benefit from the native-boot VHD capabilities.
Using the .VHD file as a common image container format for virtual machines and
designated hardware simplifies image management and deployment in an enterprise
environment.
Benefits
The benefits of native boot capabilities for VHDs include:

• Using the same image-management tools for creating, deploying, and maintaining
system images to be installed on designated hardware or on a virtual machine.

• Deploying an image on a virtual machine or a designated physical computer,


depending on capacity planning and availability.

• Deploying Windows 7 for multiple boot scenarios without requiring separate disk
partitions.

• Deploying Windows 7 images in a VHD container file for faster deployment of


reusable development and testing environments.

• Replacing VHD images for server redeployment or recovery.

Requirements
Native VHD boot has the following dependencies:

• The local disk must have at least two partitions: a system partition that contains
the Windows 7 boot-environment files and Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store,
and a partition to store the VHD file.

• The local disk partition that contains the VHD file must have enough free disk
space for expanding a dynamic VHD to its maximum size.

• The local disk partition that contains the VHD file must have enough free disk
space for the page file created when booting the VHD. The page file is created
outside of the VHD file, unlike in the case of a virtual machine where the page
file is contained inside the VHD.

Limitations
Native VHD support has the following limitations:

• Native VHD boot is supported only by Windows 7, and it is restricted to the


following editions:

• Windows 7 Enterprise

• Windows 7 Ultimate

• Native VHD boot does not support hibernation of the system, although sleep
mode is supported.
• VHD files cannot be nested.

• Bitlocker cannot be used to encrypt the host volume containing VHD files used
for native VHD boot, and Bitlocker cannot be used on volumes contained inside a
VHD.

Setting up Boot to a VHD


Native VHD boot is not a consumer support scenario. As a result, setting up Boot to
VHD is not supported by Microsoft Consumer Windows Support. When an existing
Windows 7 installation in a VHD is encountering a problem unrelated to this
configuration, Microsoft Consumer Windows Support provides assistance as it would for
any other Windows issue.
Note: In-place reinstall is blocked in VHD boot configurations. Upgrading within a VHD
is blocked generally in Windows 7 due to the fact that the setup engine does not fully
support VHD as a target. This does not affect Virtual PC configurations, only Windows 7
in a boot to VHD configuration where VHD is the device type in the BCD configuration.

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting for startup issues on Windows 7 uses the same basic set of tools as on
Windows Vista. This section reaffirms that troubleshooting and identifies areas where
troubleshooting has changed.

Troubleshooting No-Boot Issues


For most startup issues, the first step should be to try and boot to WinRE using the boot
menu. In many cases that will be offered automatically. If you are unable to boot to
WinRE via the boot menu, you will need to locate DVD media just as you did to repair
Windows Vista.

Troubleshooting No-Boot Issues during Update


Startup issues that happen in the middle of an update or service pack installation are
always a special case. You can’t necessarily just fix the immediate symptom, since you
may leave the PC in an inconsistent state. Fortunately Windows 7 makes improvements
in this area, reducing the window of time when a failure could result in such a problem.

System Restore First


Important: Use System Restore before attempting the procedure below. System Restore is
more likely to return you to a reliable working state. The procedure below may result in
servicing issues later, but may help return you to a bootable state for now.

Using DISM to Revert Pending Actions


When you encounter such a no-boot scenario on Windows 7, and System Restore does
not return you to a working state, consider the following steps:
Always use System Restore in WinRE first. This is the most likely path to resolution
when you are in an inconsistent state due to an update failure.
If that does not return you to a working configuration, try using the DISM command
to see what update is in a problem state:
dism.exe /image:d:\ /get-packages
When you run this command, you should see one or more packages listed in a
Pending state. Check for known issues with the particular update or package.
There may be a more direct workaround.
If you are unable to find another solution, use the /cleanup-image switch with DISM
to revert the pending actions:
dism.exe /image:d:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions
Once this is complete, try starting the PC into Windows.
If Windows starts successfully, check for other issues on the computer – disk issues,
memory issues, etc. You may need to perform an in-place reinstall to repair
problems with the Windows installation to prevent similar issues in the future.
Note: When you use this DISM command to revert the pending actions, the updates that
were reverted will show up as failing to install with error code 0x800f0845.
Note: If you run this DISM command to revert the same pending actions a second time,
you will see the error “Error: 0x800f082f”. This is because the cleanup should only be
initiated once. After you have initiated it, restart the PC into Windows to complete the
cleanup. Until you restart into Windows you will still see packages in a “Pending” state.
This is expected.

Potential WinRE on Disk Issues


If the boot entry for WinRE is missing, you may see a Windows Error Recovery menu
that does not include Repair Your Computer, as shown below.

Problems with WinRE can also manifest as any boot failure before bootmgr is loaded. If
you are unable to boot to Windows, troubleshoot that issue first. Once Windows is
functional then you can restore WinRE.
If you can start Windows but not WinRE, use the steps in the next section – Repairing
WinRE.
As long as the files required by WinRE are present, you can use the steps under
Repairing WinRE

Repairing WinRE
You may find that the copy of WinRE installed to the drive is no longer functional. You
can work around this by using a Windows 7 DVD or system repair disc to boot to
WinRE. To resolve the issue, check for the state of the related components.

Restore WinRE Boot Configuration


While running Windows 7, run the following commands at an Administrator command
prompt:
Reagentc /disable
Reagentc /enable
Restart to verify that the entries have returned. You can also use BCDEdit to validate that
the files are present.

Restore WinRE Files


If the WinRE.WIM or other files needed by WinRE on disk are missing, the commands
above will likely return errors. To restore the WinRE files, you will need to perform an
in-place reinstall of Windows 7. This will re-create the WinRE configuration, repairing
the problem.

Setting up a Dual Boot


As with previous Windows versions, the process for setting up a Windows dual boot is as
follows:
Partition drives in the PC to provide a separate partition for each Windows version to
be installed.
Create a system partition that contains no Windows installations, similar to the
default 100MB system partition created by Windows 7 setup. Separating this from
the OS partitions will make it easier to remove Windows versions later, if you
wish to do so.
Installing the Windows versions from oldest to newest. This means that if you want to
boot Windows 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP, you should install Windows
XP first, then Windows Vista and finally Windows 7.
If this ordering is not feasible due to the circumstances, you can install the older
Windows version last, but it will result in the need for some reconfiguration. See the
“Recovering from Boot Code Changes” section in this document.

Recovering from Boot Code Changes


There are a couple of scenarios which could lead to a missing WinRE startup entry.
These include:

• You rebuilt the BCD using command line tools to recover from a problem.

• The disk on which the system partition and \Boot folder are located encountered a
problem resulting in a failure to boot to the hard disk.

• You installed Windows Vista on a Windows 7 PC to set up a dual boot.


The first two scenarios could result in an incomplete BCD store, with the WinRE entries
missing. The last could leave you in a state where Windows 7 starts successfully, but the
Repair Your Computer option in the boot menu is no longer functioning.

Installed Windows Vista after Windows 7


Installing Windows Vista to set up a dual boot on a PC after Windows 7 is already
installed can cause problems with the Windows 7 boot configuration. Windows Vista
setup does not recognize the format of entries in the BCD for WinRE. As a result these
entries are lost during the Windows Vista installation.
Fortunately the Windows 7 installation should still start without a problem. Where you
will see a problem is when you try to choose the Repair Your Computer option for
Windows 7 in the boot menu. If you try to select this option and press enter, you will be
returned to the main boot menu. This occurs in a loop, preventing you from booting into
WinRE.
In order to return to a working configuration, you must restore the WinRE boot
configuration. You can do this from within Windows 7 using the Reagentc.exe tool
identified earlier in this module.
See the “Restore WinRE Boot Configuration” section of this module for the
recommended steps.

Installed Windows XP after Windows 7


When you install Windows XP on a computer to set up a dual boot after Windows 7 is
already installed, it will break the Windows 7 boot loader. In this situation your only
startup option will be Windows XP.
If you can start the computer in WinRE, follow the steps in this Knowledge Base article:
919529 Windows Vista no longer starts after you install an earlier version of the
Windows operating system in a dual-boot configuration
To restore functionality if you cannot start the computer in WinRE, use the following
steps:
Open a CMD prompt on Windows XP and run the following commands, replacing
“C:” in the commands with the drive letter for the system partition:
Attrib –h –s –r c:\ntldr
Attrib –h –s –r c:\bootmgr
ren c:\ntldr ntldr.old
copy c:\bootmgr ntldr
Restart the computer. The next boot should show the Windows 7 boot manager menu.
Use F8 to start into WinRE.
Open a command prompt in WinRE and run the following commands:
bootsect /nt60 SYS
Copy c:\ntldr.old c:\ntldr (overwrite when prompted)
Restart the computer
Then continue with the BCDEdit steps in article 919529 to add Windows XP to the
Windows 7 boot menu.

. Lab: Startup

Reference: WinRE Details

OS CORE
Module Overview
Power
Power
There are several changes related to Power in Windows 7. These include updates to
power defaults, tools and user interface changes.
For mobile PCs the new Power system icon on the Windows taskbar provides a status
interface with the battery life, current and previously selected power plan, and links to
start the Power Options interface.

Power Options
On a mobile PC when you click the “Adjust screen brightness” link above, you are taken
to Power Options. This interface now provides a Screen brightness slider, as shown
below.

The brightness level you set in this interface is used as the new setting for the selected
power plan in the current state – either “on battery” or “plugged in”.
In addition to the screen brightness slider, Power Options includes new ordering and
presentation of power plans. This is designed to reduce confusion about the various plans.
It should also encourage more users to apply the Balanced plan.

Change Plan Settings


Changes have been made to the interfaces for changing plan settings. The first is the
addition of a “Dim the display” setting for the On battery and Plugged in states.

This option enables you to configure a lower-backlight setting to conserve power when
the PC may be idle, but before the display off threshold has been reached. The dimming
is intended to be less disruptive than display off.

Advanced Settings
In the Advanced settings interface there are several additional options, compared with
Windows Vista. The sections that follow show how these settings appear on a mobile PC
– with both “On battery” and “Plugged in” settings. On a desktop PC you would see only
one setting, labeled “Setting: “.

Desktop Slide Show


The first change relates to the Desktop Slide Show background, new for Windows 7. To
prevent unwanted disk activity while on battery power, you can configure this
background to only change images when plugged in, for example.

Allow Wake Timers


Another change provides an option to change the behavior of wake when the machine has
a scheduled task that must run when the machine is in a sleep state. This “Allow wake
timers” setting enables you to return to the Windows Vista behavior by setting both On
battery and Plugged in to “Enable”.

On Windows Vista there were frequent comments that computers would wake to perform
a scheduled task or due to a program setting a wake timer, and then have other, non-
essential tasks performed start while temporarily out of sleep. This could result in an
unexpectedly drained battery.
The default configuration for “Allow wake timers” depends on your PC type:

• Desktop PC: Wake timers are enabled.

• Mobile PC: Wake timers are disabled both while on battery and while plugged in.
Note: Wake timers are set at the time that the computer is entering sleep. As a result, the
current power state at that time determines which of the two mobile PC settings applies.
This can result in unexpected behavior, such as the following sequence:

• The Allow wake timers options are set as follows, to permit wake while plugged
in, but prevent scheduled wake while on battery power:

• On Battery: Disable

• Plugged in: Enable

• The Plugged-in computer is placed in Sleep mode

• Computer is unplugged and taken home

• Computer wakes to perform a task, while on battery power


Because the computer was plugged in when entering sleep, the Plugged in setting applies.
To work around this, you should first unplug the computer, and then enter sleep.

Dim Display
For mobile PCs the Advanced settings interface now provides a display dimming
configuration option. This allows you to set the idle delay as well as the target brightness
of the display while dimmed.

Reserve Battery Level


Reserve battery level is a new setting for mobile PCs that falls between the previously
available Low and Critical event thresholds.

The “Reserve battery level” configuration can be used to provide more helpful
notifications of low battery.
On many modern machines the battery life is quite long. This can make the default 10%
Low Battery warning a bit premature to take action to prevent hitting the Critical battery
level threshold. The Low battery warning is also presented as a balloon message, which
can appear and then disappear without you seeing it.
The Reserved Battery Level message, shown below, appears over all other windows, and
it requires the click of an Ok button to dismiss.

The message changes depending on your currently configured Critical Battery Level
action set (Sleep, Hibernate or Shut Down). This provides an extra warning option,
prompting you to plug in the computer to prevent reaching the critical battery level
action.

Power Best Practices and Troubleshooting


Power Best Practices and Troubleshooting
The sections that follow provide guidance on configuring Power Options and
troubleshooting issues with power management.

Power Best Practices


The same considerations around power management in Windows Vista also apply for
Windows 7.

Use Balanced Scheme


The Balanced power scheme provides the same maximum performance as the High
Performance scheme. Unlike the High Performance scheme, Balanced saves energy
by reducing processor and device power consumption when the system and programs
do not require the full performance of these components. That can help save energy,
reduce heat, and increase the lifespan of PC parts.
There is one main scenario where you might want to use High Performance – when
playing a resource intensive game, where you want to prevent even the very small
latency in processor throttling and other similar changes. Even in this case it is often
better to create a custom power scheme so that you can prevent Search Indexing and
other background activities while running such a program.

Power Troubleshooting
New troubleshooting options are provided in Windows 7 for power issues, such as
battery life, sleep issues and wake issues. Each of these categories is discussed in the
sections that follow.

Battery Life: Powercfg Energy Switch


The new –Energy switch for Powercfg.exe analyzes the system for common energy-
efficiency and battery life problems. The Energy command should be used when the
computer is idle and with no open programs or documents. The Energy command will
generate an HTML report file “energy-report.html” in the current path by default.
Usage:
POWERCFG -ENERGY [-OUTPUT <FILENAME>] [-XML] [-DURATION
<SECONDS>]
POWERCFG -ENERGY -TRACE [-D <FILEPATH>] [-DURATION <SECONDS>]
The Energy switch parameters are described in the following table:
Parameter Description
-OUTPUT
<FILENA Specify the path and filename to store the energy report HTML file.
ME>
-XML Format the report file as XML.
Record system behavior and do not perform analysis. Trace files will be generated
in the current path unless the -D parameter is specified.
-TRACE
Note that trace logging is beyond the scope of this course. It may be covered by
a later depth troubleshooting course.
-D
Specify the directory to store trace data. May only be used with the -TRACE
<FILEPAT
parameter.
H>
-
DURATIO
N Specify the number of seconds to observe system behavior. Default is 60 seconds.
<SECOND
S>
Here is the output shown at the command prompt when you execute the command
with default options:
C:\Windows\system32>powercfg -energy
Enabling tracing for 60 seconds...
Observing system behavior...
Analyzing trace data...
Analysis complete.
Energy efficiency problems were found.
4 Errors
11 Warnings
15 Informational
See C:\Windows\system32\energy-report.html for more details.
Note: The lab at the end of this module includes the use of powercfg.
For more information on reading Powercfg energy reports, see the paper available at
the following location:
http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/pnppwr/powermgmt/PowerCfg.mspx

Finding Problems
Note the messages showing that there were problems found. You can use this report
to identify several types of potential problems:

• Battery: Issues such as a worn battery with a diminished capacity

• Programs: Background programs consuming power-impacting resources

• BIOS: Issues with the BIOS can result in device suspend issues, or an
inability to reduce CPU speed to save energy.

• Device: Device or driver specific issues that are interfering with power
management or sleep
Not all of these problems will be resolvable in software. In fact, many could
require driver, hardware or firmware updates to resolve. This report should help
provide guidance you can follow to identify likely sources of energy usage.
Examples of these issues are presented in the sections that follow.
Additional troubleshooting guidance for using Powercfg may be provided in a
future depth troubleshooting course.

Powercfg Energy: Battery


Beyond the energy consumption profiling data in the energy report, you can also
help identify a battery that has reduced capacity. This is shown in the Battery
Information section of the report. Here is that section of the output from a laptop
machine:
Battery:Battery Information
Battery ID Sony Corp.
Manufacturer Sony Corp.
Serial Number
Chemistry LION
Long Term 1
Design Capacity 57720
Last Full Charge 57720
In addition to some specifics on the manufacturer and chemistry, you can see a
value representing the capacity of the battery as designed, and the last charge.
A difference between these two numbers indicates a degraded battery. When the
“Last Full Charge” value is significantly lower than the design capacity of the
battery, you should consider replacement.

Powercfg Energy: Program


Here is an example of a CPU usage warning from the energy report:
CPU Utilization:Individual process with significant processor utilization.
This process is responsible for a significant portion of the total processor
utilization recorded during the trace.
Process Name sidebar.exe
PID 2356
Average Utilization (%) 45.88
Module Average Module Utilization (%)
\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\WindowsCodecs.dll 12.30
\
Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\winsxs\x86_microsoft.windows.gdiplus_659
5b64144ccf1df_1.1.7100.0_none_69badf24eb1ea50c\GdiPlus.dll 6.05
\Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\SysWOW64\mshtml.dll 5.68
This example shows “sidebar.exe” using 45.88% CPU time during the energy
report data collection. This is the process that hosts gadgets on the desktop, so
there could be a gadget in use that is generating the high CPU usage. Module
CPU utilization at the end of this problem entry shows “windowscodecs.dll” using
12.30% CPU, so at least part of this could be related to media file rendering. You
could troubleshoot this by closing gadgets to determine if one may be using
elevated resources.

Powercfg Energy BIOS Issue


Here is an example of a BIOS error from the energy report:
Platform Power Management Capabilities:ACPI _CST Object Failed Validation
There is a problem with the definition of the ACPI _CST object on this computer.
Installing the latest system firmware (BIOS) may resolve this issue.
Group 0
Index 1
In this case the easy conclusion is that a BIOS update is needed to achieve the
best efficiency on the PC.
Further research on the named entity, in this case “_CST Object”, can help
identify more information. In this case it relates to processor power saving states
(C states). So the error in this report indicated that Windows may be unable to put
the processor into a reduced power state to save energy, as it would normally.
This can result in a significant power drain.

Powercfg Energy: Device


Here is an example of a device error from the energy report:
USB Suspend:USB Device not Entering Suspend
The USB device did not enter the Suspend state. Processor power management
may be prevented if a USB device does not enter the Suspend state when not in
use.
Device Name AuthenTec Inc. AES2501A
Host Controller ID PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2830
Host Controller Location PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0
Device ID USB\VID_08FF&PID_2580
Port Path 2
In this case the USB device (which may be a device built-in to a laptop PC) was
not entering suspend when not in use. This could be caused by a driver issue, or
by having no driver installed for the device.
If the device is needed, then the solution would be to obtain an updated driver
from the device manufacturer or PC manufacturer.
If you are not using the device and it is USB-connected, you can prevent this
problem by disconnecting the device. For a built-in USB device you may be able
to work around the issue by disabling the USB Controller to which the device is
connected. To do this:
Open Device Manager and change the view to “Devices by connection”.
Locate the problem device.
Go up in the hierarchy to the USB controller through which the problem
device is connected.
Check to see if any necessary devices are connected through this same USB
controller.
If not, disable this USB controller and restart the computer.
When you have completed these steps, re-run the energy report to see if the
problem device error reappears.

Sleep Failures
Windows 7 introduces several new options for troubleshooting sleep failures. This
is when you try to sleep the computer and it does not enter sleep mode, or when
you have a sleep timeout set and the computer does not sleep.
Sleep failures can be caused by any of the following:

• Software running that configures Windows not to sleep, such as DVD


playback software.

• Drivers can also make a request to prevent sleep.

• Some Windows maintenance software performing a task, such as the disk


defragmenter, may request that Windows not sleep.

• You may also see driver, device or software problems that unexpectedly
result in error messages while trying to sleep.
Powercfg.exe now provides new switches to help identify many of these scenarios
and enable Windows to sleep as expected.

Powercfg Requests Switch


The Request switch lists application and driver power requests. These requests
prevent the computer from powering of the display or entering sleep. The
following shows a sample execution with 1 process preventing display power
change, and 2 preventing system sleep:
C:\Windows\system32>powercfg -requests
DISPLAY:
[PROCESS] \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Windows Media
Player\wmplayer.exe
SYSTEM:
[DRIVER] High Definition Audio Device
(HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0262&SUBSYS_104D1F00&REV
_1001\4&2d78779e&0&0001)
An audio stream is currently in use.
[PROCESS] \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Windows Media
Player\wmplayer.exe
AWAYMODE:
None.
AwayMode is related to Media Center. It refers to the state the PC enters when
you use your Media Center remote Power button.
In this example, Windows Media Player was playing a video. Multimedia
programs are often present in the requests list when they are running. It can be
easy to identify the program by path, as in the example above. You may see less
detailed information with some programs, however. If you are playing media files
using Internet Explorer, for example, you may only see a SYSTEM, DRIVER
type of request, showing your audio driver. This may not point you directly to the
program that is playing media. Consider closing programs to help narrow down
the source of a request, if you are unable to determine based on path.
If you want to permit display power-off or system sleep while playing audio or
loading a video-hosting site in Internet Explorer, consider adding an override,
using the “-RequestsOverride” switch as shown in the next section.
Note: A list of requests is also shown in the Powercfg energy report, in “System
Availability Requests” sections. These will be listed as Errors, since there should
be no requests when the energy report is created with no programs running, per
the energy report instructions.

Powercfg RequestsOverride Switch


The RequestsOverride switch sets a power request override for a particular
process, service or driver. This enables the PC to sleep even when there are
current requests that would ordinarily prevent display power-off or sleep.
Usage:
POWERCFG -REQUESTSOVERRIDE <CALLER_TYPE> <NAME>
<REQUEST>
The RequestsOverride switch parameters are listed in the following table:
Paramet
Description
er
<CALL
Specifies one of the following caller types: PROCESS, SERVICE, or DRIVER. This is
ER_TYP
obtained by calling the POWERCFG -REQUESTS command.
E>
<NAME Specifies the caller name. This is the name returned from calling the POWERCFG
> -REQUESTS command.
<REQU Specifies one or more of the following Power Request Types: Display, System, and
EST> Awaymode.
The command persists these overrides by saving them to the following registry
location:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerRequestsOverride
Example: Windows Media Player
The following example shows the wmplayer.exe requests:
DISPLAY:
[PROCESS] \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Windows Media
Player\wmplayer.exe
SYSTEM:
[DRIVER] Microsoft Virtual Machine Audio Device Driver
(PCI\VEN_1414&DEV_0007&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&267a616a&0&
60)
An audio stream is currently in use.
[PROCESS] \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Program Files\Windows Media
Player\wmplayer.exe
AWAYMODE:
None.
To stop Windows Media Player from preventing system sleep, using the
following command:
POWERCFG –REQUESTSOVERRIDE PROCESS wmplayer.exe System
Note that in the example above, showing Media Player involved in requests
against both System and Display, this above command would ignore the request
against system sleep, but would still let Windows Media Player prevent display
power-off.
Example: Streaming Media in Internet Explorer
The following example shows the sound card driver with a request preventing
system sleep:
DISPLAY:
None.
SYSTEM:
[DRIVER] Microsoft Virtual Machine Audio Device Driver
(PCI\VEN_1414&DEV_0007&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&267a616a&0&
60)
An audio stream is currently in use.
AWAYMODE:
None.
This was observed while playing video in Internet Explorer. To stop this activity
from blocking system sleep, use the following command:
POWERCFG -RequestsOverride DRIVER "Microsoft Virtual Machine Audio
Device Driver
(PCI\VEN_1414&DEV_0007&SUBSYS_00000000&REV_00\3&267a616a&0&
60)" system
This will override any requests made by the audio driver to block system sleep.
Removing the Override
These request overrides persist on a Windows installation. If you want to later
turn off an override, use the following syntax:
powercfg -requestsoverride caller_type name
Leaving off the final parameter causes Powercfg to remove the override. So to
remove the Windows Media
Player override from the first example above, you would use this command:
POWERCFG –REQUESTSOVERRIDE PROCESS wmplayer.exe

Unexpected Wake Events


Another problem that is encountered with Windows Vista is an unexpected wake
from sleep. This can happen immediately after sleep, caused by a device or driver
triggering a wake event. Troubleshooting for those issues remains the same as in
Windows Vista.
A new troubleshooting option is provided for a different class of unexpected wake
events. These wakes happen typically at night, when scheduled tasks run to
perform maintenance on the PC. On Windows Vista you could set individual
scheduled tasks to not wake the PC, but other programs could register a wake
timer outside the scope of a scheduled task. And even if all wakes of this type
were related to a scheduled task, preventing wake would require checking and
modifying this setting on many tasks.

Allow Wake Timers


The new default in Windows 7 is to prevent this type of wake event. You would
need to enable the “Allow wake timers” settings in the advanced settings for your
power plan for this type of wake to be permitted at all. This interface is shown
earlier in the module.

Powercfg WakeTimers Switch


Powercfg.exe also provides a method of interacting with wake timers on the
system. You can run the following command to list the active wake timers:
POWERCFG –WAKETIMERS
This returns either “There are no active wake timers in the system” or a list of
currently active wake timers.

Wake on LAN
In addition to wake timers, you may also see new behavior with Wake on LAN
(WoL) on Windows 7. Wake on LAN is enabled by default, which may result in
wake-up due to network activity.
By default when you have WoL enabled, it is configured to wake when the
network adapter sees any traffic addressed for the computer. This means that
another device on the network could wake the PC by communicating with it to
perform a network task.
If wake is happening unexpectedly, you can temporarily disable WoL to
determine if that is the cause. If it is, try disconnecting each other PC or other
device from the network to identify the source of the traffic that is generating a
wake event.

Other Wake Failures


The troubleshooting for other wake failures remains the same as in Windows
Vista.

Performance
Performance
Performance related changes in Windows 7 include the following:

• General performance improvements

• ReadyBoost Updates

• Disk space footprint reduction of Windows

• SSD Awareness

• WinSAT Updates

• Improved Performance Tools


There have also been improvements made to startup performance. Those changes are
discussed in the Startup module of this course.

General Performance Improvements


Many subtle changes have been made to Windows in this release to improve performance
compared with Windows Vista. These range from disk access improvements, component
consolidation, servicing changes and caching changes.
These caching changes in particular have the potential to improve the user experience in
Windows 7 for those familiar with Windows Vista. On Windows 7, there is a new unified
caching model, built to better connect Superfetch with ReadyBoost. In addition the
ReadyBoost cache is now largely persisted across a restart and used during boot to
improve startup performance. That means less rebuilding of the cache, which means less
disk activity at startup.

ReadyBoost Updates
Beyond the architecture changes for caching mentioned above, ReadyBoost has also been
improved in other ways. The first improvement is to the maximum size for a ReadyBoost
cache. On Windows Vista the cache was limited to 4 GB.
For Windows 7 the ReadyBoost cache maximum size has been increased to 32 GB. To
use sizes above 4 GB, format your flash memory device with the exFAT (recommended)
or NTFS file systems.
Windows Vista also limited you to one ReadyBoost device per PC. Windows 7 now
supports the use of up to 8 devices at the same time. This means that if you have an
internal device that provides ReadyBoost, you could supplement that with a USB device.
Or use multiple USB or SD devices to increase your ReadyBoost cache.
The general recommendation on Windows 7 is to use ReadyBoost devices that total 2-4
times the size of system RAM. Of course, if increasing system memory is an option, that
is the best first step. But if system RAM is constrained and you want to improve
performance, consider that recommendation to supplement RAM with 2-4 times RAM
size in ReadyBoost flash storage.

Disk Space Footprint Reduction


Significant improvements have been made in Windows 7 to reduce the installed disk
footprint of the OS, as well as reduce the growth of that disk usage over time.
Key improvements include the following:

• The hibernation data file is now 75% the size of physical RAM, rather than 100%
as in the past.

• This reduction is based on an evaluation of how much space was needed


for hibernation data in the past. Less than 100% of RAM size was
typically needed.

• If you encounter any rare cases of a hibernation error due to insufficient


hibernation file space, you can increase the hibernation data file size using
the “powercfg –h –size <percentSize>” command.

• Log files have been reduced in size in various ways – capping the maximum size,
reducing the volume of log file entries, and in some cases, by compressing the
files. Example: the CBS.log file has been capped at a lower size than Windows
Vista, and older copies of are compressed, rather than kept as uncompressed text.

• Memory Dump file handling changes:

• Mini dump files are capped in number at 50, and they are compressed.

• Kernel dump Memory.dmp files are removed when free disk space is less
than 25 GB.

• Windows Error Reporting now retains only one memory dump file per
problem or per day.

• The default size for a system managed page file has been reduced to size of RAM.
Previously, the default page file size was size of RAM + 300MB. The minimum
size of a system managed Page File is 1GB and this remains unchanged.

• Duplicate registry backup files in \Windows\system32\config\regback are no


longer created. Only a single backup copy of each registry hive is created in that
location on Windows 7.

• System Restore disk space usage has been reduced to 5% on Windows 7. That
size is further reduced to 3% on drives smaller than 64 GB in total capacity.

• Supplemental files moved to the web: This includes less used printer drivers, and
help video files that are not likely to be needed often. Affected drivers have been
moved to Windows Update. Help files have been made available via Windows
Help and How-to online.

SSD Awareness
Solid State Drive (SSD) devices are increasingly common as a Windows drive. These
drives rely on flash memory for non-volatile storage, rather than the rotating magnetic
medium used in more common hard disk drives.
Windows 7 is SSD-aware, and as a result does not typically require the same type of
post-installation performance optimization as was needed on Windows XP and Windows
Vista.
For more details on SSD storage on Windows 7, see the Hardware and Devices module in
this course.

WinSAT Updates
The WinSAT Performance Assessment used to generate the Windows Experience Index
(WEI) number has been revised in Windows 7 to more accurately reflect real world
performance. As a result you may see different numbers on Windows 7 than you did in
Windows Vista on the same PC with the same hardware.
This doesn’t indicate any change in the underlying performance requirements of the two
operating systems, but rather just corrections in the assessment to avoid incorrect
expectations around machine performance.
The other change in WinSAT in Windows 7 is an increase in the maximum possible
score to 7.9.

Improved Performance Tools


Another area of significant improvement in Windows 7 is in the tools available for
troubleshooting performance issues. The Resource Monitor interface in Performance
Monitor is particularly improved.
You can now start the Resource Monitor directly using “resmon.exe”.

This interface now provides better usability, with these key changes:

• Filtering by process

• End/Suspend Process capability

• Improved layout

• Separate CPU, Memory, Disk and Network tabs with more detailed data
These features combine to make Resource Monitor an even more powerful tool for
performance troubleshooting.

Performance Troubleshooting
Performance Troubleshooting
The most significant new troubleshooting resources for performance issues are provided
by Resource Monitor, as outlined above, and the Troubleshooting Control Panel
interface, for system and Internet Explorer performance issues.
Troubleshooting in Control Panel
The Troubleshooting Control Panel interface in Windows 7 includes both system and
Internet Explorer performance troubleshooting options. The two main in-box
troubleshooters for performance are:

• Performance: This can help identify and resolve performance issues.

• Internet Explorer Performance: This can help identify and resolve Internet
Explorer performance issues, such as with add-in software.
See the Troubleshooting Tools module of this course for more information on the
Troubleshooting Control Panel.

Troubleshooting with Resource Monitor


Resource Monitor includes a variety of new options for troubleshooting stalled processes
and overall system performance issues.

Troubleshooting a Stalled Process


Resource Monitor on Windows Vista did not provide feedback on whether a process was
responding to messages. In the Windows 7 Resource Monitor processes that are no longer
responding to window input – shown as Not Responding in Task Manager – are
displayed in red, as shown below.

Such a process can be ended directly in Resource Monitor, as shown below.

You can also take less drastic action by using the “Suspend Process” option in this
interface. This will suspend execution of the process until you use the Resume Process
option. This can help make troubleshooting easier when you have a process or two
consuming a great deal of CPU or Disk, making it very slow to perform troubleshooting
actions.
Another option shown in this menu is Analyze Wait Chain. This provides an interface
that uses a type of process analysis first included with Windows Vista. This can be used
to help identify processes that are stalled because of related dependencies. This might
happen in a situation like this:

• Thread A has exclusive access to resource X

• Thread A needs access to resource Y in order to continue


• Thread B has exclusive access to resource Y

• Thread B needs access to resource X in order to continue


As you can see, the conditions to continue will never be met in the above scenario. If
these two threads are in the same process, then that one process may be stalled. If they
are from different processes, then two or more processes may be stalled. Using the
Analyze Wait Chain option can help identify such conditions.
For more information on Wait Chains, see the following MSDN article:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms681622(VS.85).aspx

Troubleshooting Overall System Performance


All the same troubleshooting approaches used with Resource Monitor in Windows Vista
can be done in Windows 7. Added to that are several new abilities that consolidate a
number of formerly separate data sources and tools into one interface.
An example: You can identify a specific service running in a services host process that
contributing to slow performance by filtering on a single process on the CPU tab. This
gives you a view of all the services running in that process, along with the Average CPU
usage for each, as shown below.

You can also see a filtered list of Handles and Modules in this view.
By filtering on a process on the Disk Activity tab you can see the disk activity associated
with that one process. The same type of filtering is provided on the Network tab –
showing network activity TCP connections and listening ports for the process you have
selected.

. Lab: OS Core

HARDWARE AND DRIVERS

Module Overview

Overview of Improvements
Overview of Improvements
Windows 7 simplifies the process of connecting devices to your PC, makes it easier to
manage the devices you use, and helps you easily access common device-related tasks.
From initial setup through day-to-day use, working with devices has never been easier.
Improvements have been made in the following areas:

• New Device Management interfaces

• Devices and Printers

• Device Stage

• SSD Support

• Audio

• Display

• Sensors

• Tablet and Multi-touch

• Location Aware Printing

• Bluetooth

• Blu-Ray

Device and Printers


Device and Printers
The Devices and Printers interface provides a single place to access and interact with
all of your connected and wireless devices. You can easily connect devices to your
PC using USB, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi. Simple wizards will walk you through the setup
process, reducing previously complex configuration tasks to just a few mouse clicks.
Regardless of how you connect a device, Windows 7 recognizes it and attempts to
automatically download and install any drivers needed for that device. Most devices
just work without installing any additional software.
After your device is connected, you’ll see it in the Device and Printers folder, and can
easily access key tasks you may want to perform, such as customizing your mouse or
Web cam settings. In addition, your multifunction printing devices will appear just as
they do on your desk—as a single, unified device instead of multiple separate devices
—so you won’t have to go to different places to manage its print, scan, and fax
functions.
Reducing Complexity
Devices have become increasingly complex, and it's common for devices to provide
several different types of functionality. Knowing how to interact with the various
functionalities provided by a device becomes harder as devices become more
complicated.
In an effort to simplify this interaction, Windows 7 has introduced a new Control
Panel item call Devices and Printers. Device and Printers is intended to be the first
stop for the user who wants to use or troubleshoot their device, or figure out what
functionality the device provides.
As an example, let's look at the Canon Pixma MX850, which is a popular device that
provides several different pieces of functionality all in one package.

• Printer

• Scanner

• Fax Machine

• Copy Machine

• Flash media reader

When a user plugs the Pixma MX850 into a Windows Vista PC, several different
entry points for the device get created in different locations.

• The Fax and Printer appears in the Printers folder.

• The scanner appears under Scanners and Cameras.

• The flash media reader listed as a generic Removable Disk in Windows


Explorer.
This is contrary to the way the user sees the device, which is as one single piece
of plastic or one component. Windows 7 makes an effort to bring the view of the
device within Windows closer to the view the customer sees. When we plug in the
device to a Windows 7 PC, Device and Printers gives us a consolidated view of
these same functions in one menu.

What Devices Appear in Device and Printers?


The following table shows examples of how devices will appear in the Device and
Printers Control Panel.
These include:

All • USB, IEEE1394, and PCMCIA (PC Card) devices


externally
detectable • All Printers
and • Bluetooth and Wireless USB devices
connected
devices • Network connected devices supporting PnP-X

• All other externally connected PnP devices


Several peripheral devices are physically integrated into the laptop, and
cannot be removed or replaced (webcam, fingerprint reader, and audio
controls)
Laptop

The user should only see the laptop in Devices and Printers
Connected to the above laptop using USB.
MP3 Player
User should see a single instance of the MP3 player in Devices and Printers.
PCMCIA
Wireless Connected to the above laptop through the PCMCIA slot.
Network User would see a single instance of this card in Devices and Printers
Card
In general, if this device can be physically removed from the computer it should
have a single instance in Devices and Printers.
The computer provides several different types of functionality within a single
device so it is also displayed in Devices and Printers. It is treated just like any
other device by Devices and Printers.

In many cases, the device will appear as a picture of the actual device.

Pairing Devices
Devices and Printers is also used as a unified interface to pair and unpair wireless
and network connected devices, including the following.
• Bluetooth

• Wireless USB

• Windows Connect Now (WCN)

• Network Connected Devices supporting PnP-X


This replaces the Bluetooth Control Panel that existed in Windows Vista, and
consolidates the pairing for Bluetooth and Wireless USB devices in the same
interface with finding and installing Ethernet and Wi-Fi connected devices. You
can install and start using a certified Bluetooth or network-connected device in
just a few minutes. Windows 7 displays all the wireless devices that are available
to install and use; choose a device, enter a PIN number, and start using the device.

Device Stage
Device Stage
Since Windows Vista was released, devices have continued to change and evolve.
They’ve gone from being single-function peripherals to complex, multi-function devices
with a large amount of local storage and the ability to run applications. And they’ve
evolved from a single type of connection—such as USB—to multi-transport devices that
support USB, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Finally, many of today’s devices are aware of—and
are often integrated and sold with—services that are delivered over the Internet.

Windows 7 offers a new user experience—called Device Stage—that’s designed to help


you perform the variety of tasks available for these complex devices all from one central
location. For mobile phones, portable media players, cameras, and printers connected to a
Windows 7-based PC, Device Stage lets you see your device status and run common
tasks from a single, window that’s customized for each device.
Device Stage windows have the same structure for every device, but the contents of each
window can either be designed and populated by the device manufacturer or a generic
version determined based on the class of device. The image below shows the generic
Device Stage for a multifunction printer.

For portable devices such as digital still cameras and cell phones, anytime you connect a
device, you’ll see a photo-realistic image of that device on the taskbar. From there, you
can launch the Device Stage for that device or quickly access tasks for the device by
right-clicking the mouse.
The entire Device Stage experience is designed to remain up-to-date. Graphics, task
definitions, status information, and links to Web sites are distributed to your PC using the
Windows Metadata Information Service—the same service Microsoft uses to serve album
art and TV listings.
A few sample tasks that can be accomplished through Device Stage are listed below:

• Media Sync lets you easily synchronize important data and media between
Windows 7 and devices such as cell phones or portable media players.

• PIM Sync makes it easier for you to keep personal information—such as your
contacts, calendar, tasks, and notes—synchronized between your PC and devices.

• Ringtone Editor enables you to create ringtones from sound files on your PC.
Where supported by the device, it also lets you preview a ringtone, save it directly
to your phone, set it as a primary ringtone, or assign it to one or more of your
contacts.

SSD
SSD
A solid-state disk (SSD) is a data storage device that uses solid-state memory to store
persistent data. SSDs are becoming more popular in desktops and laptops as a
replacement for the spinning magnetic storage hard disks that are in common use today.
An SSD emulates a hard disk drive interface, thus easily replacing it in most applications.
Depending on the implementation, Solid-state disks can provide faster system
performance than traditional magnetic media drives (aka hard disk drives or HDDs). In
addition, there are no moving parts in SSDs, which means that the risk of mechanical
failure is near zero. Solid-state drives can also provide improved overall system
responsiveness while consuming much less power than a traditional hard disk drive. This
translates into a cooler, quieter PC.

• SSD has much faster read performance

• SSD is more robust and reliable

• SSD consumes less power

• SSD can have a smaller physical footprint

• SSD has no acoustic noise


In the image below, we see a disassembled magnetic hard disk on the left and a
disassembled solid state drive on the right. Note that the PATA connector is the same for
both, though hard disk and SSDs can also use SATA connectors. The connector, which is
the way that the drive actually interfaces with the computer, can be the same for both.

While SSDs are a relatively new technology, because they are able to act as a drop in
replacement for standard hard drives, both Windows XP and Windows Vista are capable
of utilizing Solid State Disks. Windows XP and Windows Vista would just treat the SSD
as any other hard disk.
Windows 7 makes optimizations specifically for SSD, so that installing Windows 7 on an
SSD will consistently be a better experience than installing previous versions of
Windows on that same SSD.

Windows 7 Optimizations
The sections below explain optimizations made in Windows 7 for SSD devices.

Trim Command
When Windows writes a file to an SSD, typically the SSD it will try to place the data on a
new empty block. When a file is deleted, the SSD will mark that block as empty, but
won't actually erase the data contained within the block. The next time that Windows
needs to save a file, if the SSD has no more empty blocks, the SSD will need to write the
data to a block that was previously just marked as empty, but was not actually erased.
This means that the write to that SSD must wait until the block is erased, which due to
the way that an SSD erases blocks can make that whole delete+write operation take more
than twice as long as a normal write. Once the drive gets to the point where all of its
blocks either contain data or are just marked as empty, any further write to the disk will
take longer because it must always be preceded by an erase.
The TRIM command is designed to address this problem. With the Trim command, when
a file is deleted, the block where it was contained will actually be erased instead of just
marked as empty. This means that the next write attempt won't need to first erase the
block since it is already empty. Because the erase operation is happening during a delete
instead of a write, the user is much less likely to notice and the perceived performance is
not degraded.
In order to be enabled TRIM needs to be supported by both the operating system and the
SSD drive. This support for the TRIM command is one of the optimizations that
Windows 7 makes for SSD

Disk Defragmenter and SSD


The scheduled disk defragmentation that runs on normal hard disk drives is disabled
when a drive is detected as an SSD. This is another optimization that is specific to
Windows 7, and it happens for a few reasons.

• Unlike traditional hard disk drives with spinning platters, Solid State Disks are
flash based and therefore have no problems with disk fragmentation. Reading and
writing to individual pages on the disk happens by addressing the page by its LBA
(or Logical Block Address). There is no meaningful speed difference between
accessing sequentially addressed pages vs. pages spread all over the SSD. There
are no moving parts in an SSD, so there is not a concept of seek time like we see
for HDDs, so there would be no benefit to defragmenting an SSD.

• In addition, when compared to hard disk drives, SSD are capable of a


significantly smaller number of writes over the course of their lifetime, so not
only would running the Disk Defragmenter not create a benefit like it would for
hard disk drives, it would actually decrease the life of the drive.
Similar to the TRIM command, in order for Windows 7 to properly disable the scheduled
task for Disk Defragmenter, it must first identify that the drive is an SSD.
At the time of this writing, there are many drives that don't properly report that they are
SSDs when queried, so Windows is not able to properly apply the SSD optimizations to
those drives. You can check to see if an SSD has been properly detected by looking in
Disk Defragmenter.

• Open Disk Defragmenter

• Click the Configure schedule button

• Click the Select disks button


If the disk is missing from the list, then it has been detected as an SSD and will not be
automatically defragmented.

If the disk is an SSD, but has not been detected as such, then it's important to remove the
check next to the disk in this list so that Windows does not attempt to defragment the
drive, which will reduce the life of the drive.

Audio
Audio
Windows 7 continues the development of the Universal Audio Architecture,
introduced in Windows Vista. Also included are many improvements to audio
support. Each of these is explained in more detail below.

Universal Audio Architecture


A major redesign of the audio system was done in Windows Vista. This was the first
significant architectural change for audio since Windows 98. Most of the audio stack
was moved from kernel mode to user mode, which meant that if there was a fault or
error in an audio component such as a sound card driver, it would not generate a
STOP error.
The Universal Audio Architecture also added support for per-application volume
controls, so that the volume for individual applications could be adjusted up or down
(or muted) without affecting the volume of other applications running on the
computer.
The primary purpose for the Universal Audio Architecture was to standardize on the
audio interfaces in Windows through the creation of a class driver. A class driver can
be thought of as a standard generic driver that provides a simple, reliable driver that
provides a consistent level of features and functionality across devices. Hardware
devices that support this class driver can just rely on using the inbox support provided
by the class driver instead of having to create their own driver. A single class driver
can support many different devices of that class (such as a sound device in this case).

UAA Class Drivers


The two main UAA class drivers that exist today are for USB Audio and HD Audio.

USB Audio
This is used by most USB audio devices such as USB headsets, USB Speakers, USB
microphones, and web cameras with built in microphones. (Note: USB audio devices
are considered to be host based devices, which means that they are self contained and
do not require or use a separate sound card. All of the hardware required is contained
in the USB device itself)

HD Audio
Any audio device that is built into a Windows logo certified PC right now is
compatible with HD audio. (Note: Some Windows logo certified PCs will include
separate audio drivers for their sound device, but the built in audio should work
without those drivers installed)

Audio Improvements
Improvements to audio support in Windows 7 are listed in the sections that follow.

Improved Device Role Detection


Windows 7 has the ability to distinguish between communication devices and all
other audio devices. It is now possible to have both a Default Communications
Device that is separate from the Default Audio Device. The Default Communication
Devices will be used for PC based communication like web chat or VOIP, and the
Default Audio Device will be used for everything else.

When an audio device is plugged into a Windows 7 PC, Windows can automatically
detect the device type and assign it to a particular category. To do this the device
needs to identify itself as a communications device by reporting it's functionality to
the driver. The table below shows the different criteria that Windows will look for
from the device to make the determination about the device type.
Communication Device Console Device
Headset
Communication Speaker
Phone Line
Everything else.
Handset
Telephone
Speakerphone
Stream Switching
Stream switching enabled dynamic stream switching based on the default device. If
the default audio device is disabled or unplugged, Windows automatically tries to
determine the next default audio device and will dynamically redirect the audio to
that new device.
One scenario might be a user listening to music with Windows Media Player through
their USB headset that is attached to their laptop.

• In Windows Vista, if the user unplugged their USB headset, the media
application will stop playing and display an error.

• In Windows 7, if the user unplugs their USB headset, the audio will
automatically start playing through the speakers instead.
Improved Audio Latency
Latency is defined as the time between the application requesting that audio be
rendered and the audio device actually rendering the audio. When comparing the
latency of Windows Vista and Windows 7 on the same hardware, latency has
been reduced by an average of 26 milliseconds.

• Windows Vista averages 80 milliseconds of latency


• Windows 7 averages 54 milliseconds of latency

Automatic Attenuation
Automatic Attenuation, also called ducking, enables Windows 7 to automatically
reduce or mute all other sound on the computer when a communication stream is
initiated. The amount of the volume change is user configurable using the Sound
control panel, and when the communication stream completes (e.g. the call is
hung up) the volume returns to normal.
This functionality can be customized by applications to different actions instead
of just reducing the volume. For example, when Automatic Attenuation is
activated and Windows Media Player is playing audio or video, the player will
pause itself until the communication completes.

Capture Monitor
Easily and quickly listen to your portable music player on your PC's speakers.
With Capture Monitor, the user can plug their mp3 player in the microphone or
line in jack of their sound card and the audio will play through the PC speakers
(using the Default Audio Device).

HDMI Audio
New HD Audio class driver supports surround sound on HDMI endpoints, with
support for many of the surround sound audio formats:

• PCM

• AC3

• DTS

• WMA Pro

• DD+

• TrueHD

• DTS-HD
Windows 7 will detect when an HDMI is cable is plugged in and automatically
route audio through that cable.
Volume User Experience
Improvements related to controlling the volume of the PC audio have been
introduced for Windows 7.

• Hardware buttons on an audio device are now specifically tied to that


device. For example the volume up and down buttons integrated into a
USB headset should now only affect the volume for that device.

• PCs that are locked can still have their volume levels changed or muted
using the HID buttons on the keyboard.

Low-Power Audio Enhancements


Windows 7 can now put HD Audio and USB Audio hardware to sleep when not
being actively used, resulting in longer battery life.

Display
Display
Display improvements in Windows 7 include WDDM and Aero updates, Multiple
Monitor support improvements, and enhanced High DPI support.

WDDM and Aero Updates


Windows Vista introduced a new display driver model called the Windows Display
Driver Model (or WDDM). WDDM Drivers were required to support new features like
the Desktop Window Manager and Aero Glass. Windows 7 still supports the use of
original WDDM 1.0 drivers, but has also introduced an update for WDDM called
WDDM 1.1. Drivers that are native for Windows 7 should be WDDM 1.1 drivers.
To support WDDM 1.1, the display adapter must be at least a DirectX 10 adapter.
DirectX 9 display adapters can only support WDDM 1.0 drivers.
WDDM 1.1 brings many new developer level features and enhancements for the Desktop
Window Manager (or DWM), which is the component responsible for drawing the
desktop. One of these enhancements is a massively reduced memory footprint.

Reduced Memory Footprint


One of the big goals for changes in DWM is to reduce the memory usage. When 2d
applications are drawn to the desktop they are drawn through a system component called
GDI, which is the case for both Windows Vista and Windows XP.
With Windows XP, When drawing to the desktop the window for the 2D application
(such as notepad or Microsoft Word), it first gets drawn to GDI, which would create an
image of that window in system memory (RAM). GDI would then draw the window
directly to the screen since it was responsible for drawing the desktop.
With Windows Vista a new display model was introduced where the work of
compositing the desktop was handled by another system component called the DWM, or
Desktop Window Manager. DWM used the 3D hardware of the video card to draw the
desktop so that this work could be done by dedicated hardware that was more suited to
drawing images, and enabled effects like transparency, video thumbnails, and Flip3D
In Windows Vista GDI is still in place, but instead of GDI writing directly to the screen,
it would pass the copy the image of the application window to the DWM which stored
that copy in video memory so that it could be drawn to the screen. The problem here is
that we are now maintaining two copies of each window image; one in system memory
and one in video memory, and this resulted in excessive system memory usage.
Now with Windows 7, the new version of the DWM no longer needs the copy of the
window image stored in system memory. The window image is only stored in video
memory, freeing the system memory for use by other applications.
WDDM 1.1 drivers will be required in order to realize these benefits. Using WDDM 1.0
drivers will retain the old Windows Vista behavior.

Troubleshooting Aero
Troubleshooting Aero Glass is much the same as it was for Windows Vista, with the
exception of the changes mentioned above. The biggest change is that most of the
troubleshooting is now automated through the built in troubleshooter for Aero Glass.
To access this troubleshooter, open the Troubleshooters section of the Control Panel, and
look for the option titled "Display Aero desktop effects"

This troubleshooter will verify that your computer meets the requirements for Aero
Glass, will run the WinSAT performance test for you if needed, will attempt to enable the
Aero theme and service, and will provide an explanation at the end if it was unable to
successfully enable Aero Glass.

Multiple Monitors
Windows 7 has improved the experience for connecting to projectors and configuring
multiple monitors. When plugging in an additional display, you can now quickly
configure how you will use that display by using the new Win+P keyboard shortcut. This
key combination will bring up the overlay shown in the image below with the same
options for either monitors or projectors.
This is intended to be an easy and consistent experience for the user no matter what type
of Windows 7 computer they use it from. The Win+P monitor configuration tool is even
available when the user is not logged on or the computer is locked.

Heterogeneous Display Adapter Support


Windows 7 also introduces support for enabling multimon across display adapters from
different driver manufacturers. Windows Vista only supported multimon when all display
adapters were from the same manufacturer, such as all ATI cards or all Nvidia cards. This
restriction is removed for Windows 7, as long as the drivers being used are WDDM 1.1
drivers.

High DPI Support


Microsoft research shows that only half of the people who use Windows have their
display set to its native resolution, with many people decreasing the resolution of their
displays because they cannot read the small text. However, this often causes text and
parts of the user interface to appear fuzzy and unclear.
LCD displays such as those in LCD monitors or laptop displays have what is known as a
native resolution. Unlike CRT monitors, which are capable of clearly displaying text and
images at multiple resolutions, an LCD display is only designed to operate at one
resolution, its native resolution. The native resolution for different LCDs can vary, but
over time as the quality and technology inside of LCD displays improves, the native
resolution increases. LCD technology is going in the direction of packing more and more
pixels in the same areal density, which means that the default display size will make text
and images smaller and smaller. As an example, an older 15.4" widescreen LCD might
have a native resolution of 1280x800, but as technology improved we might now see the
same size screen with a resolution of 1920x1200
Windows 7 has a feature called High DPI that is designed to address this issue. High DPI
enables the user to proportionally scale the text, images, and application windows to a
larger size with changing the display resolution. High DPI can scale the display up to
either 125% or 150% of its normal size. This setting is adjusted in Control Panel, where
you can choose from 100% (96 DPI), 125% (120 DPI), or 150% (144 DPI).

There can be some tradeoffs when enabling the High DPI feature. In some instances, the
user may either see some elements of an application window scaled out of proportion or
the application itself may appear fuzzy or distorted. We are working with application
vendors through our logo programs to ensure that third party applications work properly
with High DPI enabled, but it is possible that some applications may become unusable
after increasing the display percentage.
In this case, we have one option we can try before disabling High DPI:
• Right-click on the application icon and select Properties.

• Select the Compatibility tab

• Check the option for "Disable display scaling on high DPI settings."

• Click OK and test the application again.


Note: High DPI requires Aero to function.
Note: For Internet Explorer 8, when High DPI is enabled, this will reflect in the zoom
level for the browser as well. For example, when setting the High DPI percentage to
125%, the browser will display a zoom level of 125% automatically as well.

More Information about High DPI can be found in the High DPI whitepaper linked
below.
PDF - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=129586
XPS - http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=129588

Sensors
Sensors
Today, many of us rely on GPS devices to help find our way, or devices that measure
temperature and humidity to help predict the weather. With previous versions of
Windows, device manufactures had to integrate these types of devices with the PC on
a one-off basis, and many were not integrated at all.
Windows® 7 includes native support for sensors, expanded by a new development
platform for working with sensors, including location sensors, such as GPS devices.
Applications can use sensors that are built into the computer, connected through
wired or wireless connections, or connected through a network or the Internet. A
sensor control panel lets you view sensor properties, enable or disable sensors, change
their descriptions, and control access to sensors. Application developers can build
new capabilities on top of the sensor and location platform in Windows 7, so you’ll
benefit from new applications that take advantage of data from sensors.
The Windows Sensor and Location platform provides a standard way for device
manufacturers to expose sensor devices to software developers and consumers, while
providing developers with a standardized programming interface for working with
sensors and sensor data.

• With location sensors -- including GPS devices, WWAN radios, and even
triangulation technology -- your applications and gadgets can know
exactly where they are, enabling them to provide more locally relevant
content and functionality.

• Ambient light sensors, for example, can allow your computer to


automatically adjust your screen's brightness based on the current lighting
conditions. They can also enable applications to optimize their content for
readability, making your computer more useful in a range of operating
environments than ever before.
Sensors come in a variety of configurations and almost anything that provides
data about physical phenomena can be called a sensor. Though we usually think
of sensors as hardware components, logical sensors can also provide information
through emulation of sensor functionality in software or firmware.
Also, a single hardware device can contain multiple sensors. The following table
shows different kinds of sensors and their use.
Sensor
Sensor placement Typical use
type
Built into the computer or connected
GPS Location and orientation.
to the computer.
Accelero Built into the computer or attached to
Motion, orientation, and location.
meter a person.
Proximity Built into the computer or nearby. Presence and spatial awareness.
Built into the computer, nearby, or Ambient light conditions, such as room
Light
remote. lighting or outdoor daylight.
Built into the computer or attached to Identification of physical items, automatic log
RFID
a person. on, location of people.
Compass Attached to a person. Orientation.
Built into the computer, attached to a Recording, object identification, facial
Camera
person, or remote. recognition.
Micropho Built into the computer, attached to a
Ambient noise.
ne person, or remote.
Temperat Indoor or outdoor ambient temperature,
Built into the computer or remote.
ure cooking temperature.
Detection of water leaks, lawn sprinkler
Moisture Remote.
operation.
Motion Security systems, sensing of motion near the
Built into the computer or remote.
detector computer.
Traffic Remote, usually public. Travel time predictions.
Weather
Remote, possibly public. Weather conditions and predictions.
station

Location Devices (GPS)


Location devices comprise one particularly interesting category. By now, most
people are familiar with GPS sensors. In Windows 7, a GPS is a type of sensor,
and is part of the Location category. The Location category will include other
sensor types, some of which are software based, such as a sensor that provides
location information based on an Internet address, a sensor that determines
location based on nearby cell phone towers, or a sensor that that reads information
from a connected wireless network hub and looks up the hub location in a
database.

Light Sensors
Ambient light sensors (ALSs) are used to measure current lighting conditions.
When a computer is aware of the surrounding lighting conditions, it can do
several things with this information. Light sensors support the following:

• Automatic screen brightness.

• Automatic keyboard illumination.

• Light-aware applications.

• Light-specific themes and actions.


What a user perceives as optimal screen brightness on a laptop that has an LCD
screen is a function of the current lighting conditions and other factors, such as
how the user’s eyes adjust to lighting conditions over time. In low-light
conditions, such as in a dark room, the optimal screen brightness is a lower
Automatic value. As surrounding lighting levels increase, the optimal screen brightness
Screen also increases. In varying lighting conditions, users prefer the computer screen
Brightness to automatically adjust its own screen brightness.
In addition to the viewing experience, an automatic display brightness
control can increase battery life. In Windows® 7, this is known as
“adaptive brightness.” By dimming the display when it is appropriate, a
computer can reduce power consumption.
Automatic Computer keyboards are typically not usable in dark lighting conditions. To
Keyboard resolve this problem, either top illumination or reverse illumination can help
Illumination users see the keyboard when they type. To optimize power consumption,
hardware manufacturers can use ALSs to control the intensity of the
illumination based on the lighting conditions.
Typically, laptops are not usable in direct sunlight because of the limited
capability of the screen to maintain contrast in bright light. If applications
Light-Aware respond to current lighting conditions, they can alter their user information (UI)
Applications content to maximize contrast and legibility. Combining applications with
adaptive brightness can make computers more usable in adverse lighting
conditions.
These light sensor features are based on practical issues and needs. You can also
add some fun to lighting conditions by applying application or system themes
Light-Specific
that are based on the lighting. These features are implemented by using the
Themes and
Sensor API. Examples of these features include changing the desktop
Actions
background image and changing sound themes based on the current lighting
conditions.

Privacy and Security


The Windows Sensor and Location platform helps to ensure that sensor data
remains private, when appropriate, in the following ways.

• Sensors are off by default. The platform design presumes that any sensor
can provide personal data, so each sensor is disabled until the user
provides explicit consent to access the sensor data through the Location
and Other Sensors Control Panel.

• Windows provides disclosure messages to the user. These messages help


users to understand how using sensors can affect the privacy of personal
data.

• Providing permission for a sensor requires administrator rights.

• When enabled, a sensor device works for all programs running under a
particular user account (or for all user accounts), including non-interactive
users and services, such as ASPNET or SYSTEM. Because the sensor and
location platform cannot ensure that data exposed to one process is secure
from access by another process, users must give permission for all
programs to access a particular sensor device (for a particular user account
or all accounts on the computer).

• Programs that use sensors can call a method to open a system dialog box
that prompts users to enable needed sensor devices. This feature makes it
easy for developers and users to ensure that sensors work when programs
need them, while maintaining user control of disclosure of sensor data.

• Sensor drivers use a special object that processes all I/O requests and
ensures that only programs that have user permission can access sensor
data.

User Control Panel

Windows 7 includes a control panel that provides users with the ability to enable
or disable sensors system wide or for each user. Because some sensors can expose
sensitive data, this user interface lets users control which programs have access to
each sensor. Users can also view sensor properties and change the sensor
description that displays in the user interface.
For more information about the Windows Sensor and Location Platform, you
watch the PDC talk on the subject at the address below:
http://channel9.msdn.com/pdc2008/PC25/

Tablet and Multi-touch

Other Improvements
Other Improvements
In addition to all the areas above, Windows 7 also includes the following improvements.

Location Aware Printing


Do you use one printer at home and another at work? With Windows 7, you no longer
need to manually select the printer to match your location. Instead, you can select a
default printer for each network location you’ve configured and Windows 7 will
automatically use that printer when you’re connected to that network. So when you print
at work, Windows 7 will automatically print to your work printer. When you print at
home, Windows 7 will automatically select and use your home printer.

Bluetooth 2.1 Support


Windows 7 adds support for Bluetooth 2.1, a significant update to Bluetooth wireless
technology specifications that simplifies and improves the Bluetooth devices experience.
This support was originally introduced in the Windows Vista Feature Pack for Wireless,
which was only available to OEMs, but is now included in the box for Windows 7. It
enables simpler, more secure pairing between devices, and delivers power savings that
can increase battery life twofold to fourfold.
Blu-ray Disc Write Support
Windows 7 now includes native support for burning data to recordable Blu-ray discs,
which means that we can now both read and write to Blu-ray discs.
Note: Third party software is still required to playback Blu-ray movies.

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Despite all of the enhancements introduced for devices in Windows 7, the most common
troubleshooting for installing and updating device drivers has not fundamentally changed.
Much of what you know from supporting hardware and drivers in Windows XP and
especially Windows Vista will still apply in most cases for Windows 7.

Device Manager
Device Manager has not changed in any significant way, at least not from a perspective
that would affect troubleshooting.

Windows Update
The majority of device drivers should be available from Windows Update. We've worked
with our hardware and OEM partners to ensure that this process is as seamless as
possible, and we have more device drivers than ever available for our customers on the
Windows Update site.
Drivers should automatically download and install from the Windows Update site, but if
the customer is not seeing this happen, then we should do the following:

• Click Start

• Right-click on Computer and select properties

• Click Advanced System Settings from the task pane on the left.

• Select the Hardware tab

• Click the button titled "Device Installation Settings

• Select the option "Yes, do this automatically (recommended)"

Windows 7 Compatibility Center


If a customer is experiencing hardware compatibility issues, the first step is to navigate to
and run the Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter. If the troubleshooter does not resolve
the problem, navigate to the Windows 7 Compatibility Center. This site provides
information on compatibility with Windows 7 and can help you find drivers for your
devices, or find compatible hardware or software.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/

. Lab: Hardware and Drivers

SECURITY

Module Overview

User Account Control


User Account Control
User Account Control (UAC) is a feature in Windows that can help prevent
unauthorized changes to your computer. When UAC is on and you are using an
administrator account, Windows will ask you for permission when you try to do
something that requires administrative rights (such as installing software or changing
settings that affect other users). This helps prevent malicious software from being
installed on your computer.

Changes to User Account Control in Windows 7


The approach for Windows 7 is to put the user in control of their prompt experience,
making prompts more meaningful when they do appear. The following lists some of
the changes to UAC in Windows 7.

• Users are presented with four choices for the UAC prompt experience
through a new control panel interface.

• The UAC settings screen is more discoverable and more understandable.

• The default setting for UAC is set to notify when programs attempt to
change settings, which makes UAC prompts less frequent in normal use of
the PC.
• Additional Windows operations that users perform often are enabled to
work without administrative rights.

• There are numerous instances of duplicate notifications for common


activities that are reduced, for example when installing applications from
IE.

• It is easier for administrators to look at specific Windows settings on the


system without needing administrative privileges. This is possible by
refactoring many of our control panel applications to separate interfaces
for viewing system settings from those that modify them.
In Windows Vista there were only two UAC setting choices versus the 4 available
in Windows 7. The Vista UI makes it difficult for people to choose to not receive
notifications through UAC prompts. The changes in Windows 7 offer more choice
and control over this feature.
In Windows 7, fewer operating system applications and tasks require elevation,
and local administrators have more control over consent prompt behavior to
reduce user interruption.
In Windows Vista, administrative repairs were mixed in with the non-
administrative repairs, resulting in a high number of administrator prompts. Based
on customer feedback, Windows 7 reduces the number of prompts. Network
diagnostics tries all automatic repairs that do not require elevation first.

Accessing the User Account Control Settings screen


To make the UAC settings screen more discoverable, there are multiple ways to
navigate to it.

• Control Panel \Getting Started. Click Choose when to be notified about


changes to your computer. Click Change your settings.

• Control Panel\User Accounts\User Accounts. Click Change User Account


Control settings.

• Control Panel\System and Security\Action Center. Click Change User


Account Control settings.

• Click the Action Center icon. Click Open Action Center. Click Change
User Account Control settings.
Configuring User Account Control Settings
The four settings for the UAC feature in Windows 7 are discussed below.

Always notify me when:

• Programs try to install software or make changes to my computer.

• I make changes to Windows settings.

Description: You will be notified before programs make changes to your


computer or Windows settings that require the permissions of an administrator.
When you are notified, your desktop will be dimmed, and you must either
approve or deny the request in the UAC dialog box before you can do anything
else on your computer. The dimming of your desktop is referred to as the secure
desktop because other programs cannot run while it is dimmed.
Security Impact: This is the most secure setting. When you are notified, you
should carefully read the contents of each dialog box before allowing changes to
be made to your computer.

Default – Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer.

• Do not notify me when I make changes to Windows settings.

Description: You will be notified before programs make changes to your


computer that require the permissions of an administrator. You will not be
notified if you try to make changes to Windows settings that require the
permissions of an administrator. You will be notified if a program outside of
Windows tries to make changes to a Windows setting.
Security Impact: This setting has a medium level of security. It is usually safe to
allow changes to be made to Windows settings without you being notified.
However, certain programs that come with Windows can have commands or data
passed to them, and malicious software can take advantage of this by using these
programs to install files or change settings on your computer.
This is the default setting for Windows 7, both on clean installations and on
upgrade installations from Windows Vista to Windows 7.

Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer (do not dim
my desktop).
• Don’t notify me when I make changes to Windows settings.

Description: You will be notified before programs make changes to your


computer or Windows settings that require the permissions of an administrator.
You need to either approve or deny the request in the UAC dialog box to continue
with that task, but you can still do other things on your computer while the UAC
dialog box is open. This setting is fairly secure.
Security Impact: Because the UAC dialog box is not on the Secure Desktop with
this setting, other programs might be able to interfere with the dialog's visual
appearance.

Never notify me when:

• Programs try to install or make changes to my computer.

• I make changes to Windows settings.

Description: You will not be notified before any changes are made to your
computer. If you are logged on as an administrator, programs can make changes
to your computer without you knowing about it. If you are logged on as a standard
user, any changes that require the permissions on an administrator will
automatically be denied. If you select this setting, you will need to restart the
computer to complete the process of turning off UAC. Once UAC is off, people
that log on as administrator will always have the permissions of an administrator.
Note: If this UAC setting is selected, IE will run in protected mode with no UAC
prompts. However, protected mode can be configured independently using
Internet Options.
Security Impact: This is the least secure setting. When you turn off UAC, you
open up your computer to potential security risks. If you turn off UAC, you
should be careful about which programs you run because they will have the same
access to the computer as you do. This includes reading and making changes to
protected system areas, your personal data, saved files, and anything else stored
on the computer. Programs will also be able to communicate and transfer
information to and from anything your computer connects with, including the
Internet.

User Account Control Prompts


In Windows 7, as with Windows Vista, the UAC prompt displays a blue bar and
shield for components located in windows\system32. However, Windows 7 also
now shows a blue bar and a blue icon for all Windows-signed and ISV-signed
prompts. This change is to help differentiate between the signed and unsigned
UAC prompts. Unsigned UAC prompts will still display a yellow bar. The
screenshots below show the UAC prompts you will receive for the following
scenarios:

• Consent prompt for Windows, Signed and Unsigned

• Credential prompt for Windows, Signed and Unsigned

• Blocked program

Consent prompt for Windows

Credential Prompt – Trusted

Credential Prompt – Trusted – Details

Credential Prompt – Trusted – Web

Credential Prompt – Trusted – Web – Details

Credential Prompt – Unsigned – Web

Credential Prompt – Unsigned – Web – Details

Credential Prompt – Signed – Web

Credential Prompt – Signed – Non Windows


Credential Prompt – Signed – Non Windows – Details

Credential Prompt – Unsigned

Credential Prompt – Unsigned – Details

Credential Prompt – Unsigned – Web

Credential Prompt – Unsigned – Web – Details

UAC Details

Logging
In Windows 7, UAC continues to log entries to the following location:
Event Viewer / Applications and Services / Microsoft / Windows / UAC /
Operational

References

Engineering Windows 7 Blog


The following entries in the Engineering Windows 7 Blog provide insight into
design decisions around UAC in Windows 7.

• http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2008/10/08/user-account-control.aspx

• http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/01/15/user-account-control-uac-
quick-update.aspx
• http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/02/05/uac-feedback-and-follow-
up.aspx

• http://blogs.msdn.com/e7/archive/2009/02/05/update-on-uac.aspx

TechNet Demonstration
See the following page for a demonstration of UAC.

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dd572175.aspx?
ITPID=tnflash

TechNet Reference
TechNet provides a technical reference on UAC here:

• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd835546(WS.10).aspx

Registry Configuration
The following key determines the UAC level for Admin users and Standard users.

• HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Syste
m
The values for administrator users are presented below.
DWORD Value Options
The values for Administrator users are:

• 0=Low
ConsentPromptB
• 2=High
ehaviorAdmin
• 4=Medium High

• 5=Medium (default)
Standard Users can only go to High or Medium High, and use prompt for
credentials. The values on their registry key are:
ConsentPromptB • 0=Low
ehaviorUser
• 1=High

• 3=Medium High (default)


The Secure Desktop is only on for “High.” At the other 3 levels, the Secure
Desktop will not appear for any executable.

User Account Control Best Practices


It is recommended that you use the default UAC setting or higher. The default
UAC level has been improved in Windows 7 to reduce the number of prompts,
while still ensuring you are notified of potential issues.
Do not recommend a reduced UAC level to a customer unless there is a request
from them to change it, or a direct need for troubleshooting. If there is a need to
disable UAC for troubleshooting, you should return to the default setting when
the troubleshooting is completed.
It is recommended that customers use Standard User accounts when possible,
particularly for users who may inadvertently make system changes. This can help
reduce the likelihood of a security or reliability issue.
You should be cautious when downloading and running programs from the
Internet or from potentially untrusted sources. UAC can help you keep your
computer more secure, but once malicious software is copied to your computer
there is no guarantee of safety.

User Account Control Troubleshooting


Troubleshooting UAC remains the same as in Windows Vista. UAC does not
create a large number of issues and those that are encountered are often easily
resolved.
Following are some points to keep in mind:

• If there is an App Compat issue and you suspect UAC, run the program
once with “Run as administrator” and see if it resolves the problem.

• Resolves: try running it again normally and see if the problem goes
away.

• Does not resolve: Run the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter.


Note: This troubleshooter is introduced in the Applications module.

. Lab: User Account Control

Credential Manager
Credential Manager
Credential Manager is the mechanism within Windows 7 that is used to save user
names and passwords that are used to connect to network resources, such as file
shares or web sites. Credentials manager is much the same as the Manage Network
Passwords Control Panel that was present in Windows Vista, with the main change
being that it is now possible to backup and restore saved credentials.

The passwords saved in the vault are included when you perform a system image
backup. If you want to preserve your saved credentials separate from a system image
backup, use the Back up vault option here. This creates a .CRD file containing your
saved credentials. This is especially useful for retaining your saved credentials when
performing a reinstallation.
During the backup you provide a password, used to secure the backup file. That
password is needed in order to restore the saved passwords. If you forget this
password you will be unable to restore the saved passwords.
Note: If you double-click the saved vault backup .CRD file, you will see the message
“The managed card could not be installed”. To restore using this file, click the
Restore vault option in Credential Manager.

Linking to an Online ID
Linking to an Online ID
Windows 7 now provides the ability to link a Windows user account to an Online ID
such as a Windows Live ID. This allows Windows to assign permissions to and allow
access to Windows resources without having to use the Windows user account to
authenticate. Currently there are two primary uses for linking a Windows user
account to an online ID, but it is likely this list will grow in the future.

• Allowing access to a shared resource, such as a shared folder, in a


HomeGroup to one specific user instead of all users in the HomeGroup.

• Sharing out the Windows Media Player library over the Internet
These two scenarios will be covered in their respective sections of this course, but
here we will walk through the process of linking a Windows user account to an
online ID, which in this case will be a Windows Live ID.
Note: Windows 7 makes the Online ID Provider infrastructure extensible so that
other online ID providers can plug in and be used for the same purposes as those
described for a Windows Live ID here.

Link to a Windows Live ID


The steps below show how you can link your Windows user account to a
Windows Live ID.
Open the User Accounts Control Panel by clicking the user icon at the top of the
1 Start Menu.
.

2 Click Link online IDs in the task pane on the left.


.

3 Click the Add an online ID provider button.


.

You will be taken to a web page with a list of the Windows 7 online ID providers,
4 which is currently just Windows Live. Click the Windows Live logo to continue.
.

You will be taken to a page on the Microsoft Download Center where you can download the
Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant 6.5. This page is located at the address below.
5 http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?
. displaylang=en&FamilyID=5e193cfe-f45a-4e29-b6b7-984e7802c639
From this page you will need to choose either the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of the
Sign-in Assistant based on which version of Windows you have installed.
Once you have downloaded the Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant installer, run
6 the wllogin MSI file to install the provider.
.

Once the installation has completed, go back to the Link Online IDs link in the User
7 Accounts Control Panel. This Control Panel will now show WindowsLiveID as an
. Online ID Provider. Click the Link online ID link to proceed.

You will then be prompted for your Windows Live ID credentials. Enter the
8 appropriate credentials and click Sign in to continue.
.

After you complete the sign-in process, your online ID shows in the Link Online
9 IDs control panel.
.
. Lab: Linking to an Online ID

Windows Defender
Windows Defender
In Windows 7, Windows Defender is integrated with Action Center to provide a
consistent means of alerting you when action is required, and provides an improved
user experience when scanning for spyware or manually checking for updates. In
addition, it has less impact on overall system performance while continuing to deliver
continuous, real-time monitoring.
Note: The Action Center is discussed in the Troubleshooting Tools section of this
training course.

Accessing Windows Defender


You can start Windows Defender from Control Panel, All Control Panel Items. In this
list, double-click Windows Defender.

Windows Defender User Interface


The Windows Defender user interface has been improved in Windows 7. The
following are the tabs and options found within Windows Defender.

Home
The home tab displays the current status of your Windows machine including:

• Last scan

• When the next scan (and scan type) is scheduled

• Whether real-time protection is on or off

• What version of antispyware definitions are being used

Scan
Clicking the Scan button automatically starts a quick scan of your computer.
In Windows Defender, you can choose to run a quick scan of your computer or a
full scan. If you suspect spyware has infected a specific area of your computer,
you can customize a scan by selecting only the drives and folders that you want to
check.
The following enhancements have been made to the scan screen.

• If threats are found during the scan, a yellow warning message appears
outside the scan tile.

• The scan progress bar is inside the tile (it used to be on the chrome).

• The stop scan button has been renamed to ‘cancel’ and now resides in the
action band, like the other buttons.
Note: If the system is running a scheduled scan, a UAC trigger is shown on cancel
because the system is running the scheduled scan. User initiated scans don’t need
UAC to cancel.

Scan Options
Clicking the down error next to the Scan button gives you the following options:

• Quick scan

• Full scan

• Custom scan

Custom Scan
When you click the Custom scan option from the drop-down, you are presented
with the option to perform a quick or full scan. You are also given the option to
scan selected drives and folders (custom scan).

History
The history screen shows actions taken on your computer with regard to spyware
or other unwanted software. You can also see if you are part of the Microsoft
SpyNet community.
Tools and Settings
The tools and settings screen provides the following access and options:

• Options

• Microsoft SpyNet

• Quarantined Items

• Allowed Items

• Windows Defender website

• Microsoft Malware Protection Center


Note: Software Explorer has been removed from Windows Defender in Windows
7. It is recommended that you use the following tools in this order of preference:

• MSConfig

• AutoRuns by Sysinternals

Tools and Settings – Options


The Options selection on the Tools and Settings screen gives the following
options:

Automatic scanning

Default actions
Choose the action you want to display or apply when items with alert levels of
Severe, High, Medium, and Low are detected. The action options are:

• Recommended action based on definitions

• Remove

• Quarantine

Alert levels help you choose how to respond to spyware and potentially unwanted
software. While Windows Defender will recommend that you remove spyware,
not all software that is flagged is malicious or unwanted. The information in this
table can help you decide what to do if Windows Defender detects potentially
unwanted software on your computer.
Aler
t
What it means What to do
leve
l
Programs that might collect your personal
Sev
information and negatively affect your
ere
privacy or damage your computer, for
or Remove this software immediately.
example, by collecting information or
Hig
changing settings, typically without your
h
knowledge or consent.
Programs that might affect your privacy or Review the alert details to see why the
make changes to your computer that could software was detected. If you don't like what
Med
negatively impact your computing the software does or if you don't recognize
ium
experience, for example, by collecting and trust the publisher, consider blocking or
personal information or changing settings. removing the software.
Potentially unwanted software that might This software is typically benign when it runs
collect information about you or your on your computer, unless it was installed
computer or change how your computer without your knowledge. If you're not sure
Low
works, but is operating in agreement with whether to allow it, review the alert details or
licensing terms displayed when you installed check to see if you recognize and trust the
the software. publisher of the software.

Real-time Protection
This screen gives you the option to choose to use real-time protection. In
Windows 7 Windows Defender, unlike in Windows Vista, only gives the option
to set two real-time protection agents.

You choose the software and settings you want Windows Defender to monitor,
but we recommend using all of the real-time protection options. The following
table explains each option and why it is important.
Agent Purpose
Monitors files and programs that are designed to work with web browsers.
Downloaded
These files can be downloaded, installed, or run by the browser itself. Spyware
files and
and other potentially unwanted software can be included with these files and
attachments
installed without your knowledge.
Monitors when programs start and any operations they perform while running.
Spyware and other potentially unwanted software can use vulnerabilities in
Programs that
programs that you have installed to run malicious or unwanted software without
run on your
your knowledge. For example, spyware can run in the background when you
computer
start a program that you frequently use. Windows Defender monitors your
programs and alerts you if suspicious activity is detected.

Exclude files, folders and file types


Here you can choose specific file types to exclude when performing a scan of
your computer. You can add or remove file types to this list as appropriate for
your usage.

Advanced options
In the Advanced section of the Settings tab you can choose to enable the
following options:

• Scan archive files (i.e. .ZIP, .CAB, etc)

• Scan e-mail

• Scan removable drives (i.e. USB flash drives)

• Use heuristics

• Create a system restore point

Administrator Options
Select whether to use Windows Defender and what items to display to users.

Keeping Windows Defender Definitions Up to Date


When you use Windows Defender, it's important to have up-to-date definitions.
Definitions are files that act like an ever-growing encyclopedia of potential
software threats. Windows Defender uses definitions to determine if software that
it detects is spyware or other potentially unwanted software, and then to alert you
to potential risks. To help keep your definitions up to date, Windows Defender
works with Windows Update to automatically install new definitions. The
definitions will be automatically installed every 8 hours. You can also set
Windows Defender to check online for updated definitions before scanning.
To manually check for updates, click the arrow next to the Help button, and then
click Check for updates.

Threat dialogue
When a user completes a scan, they get a summary of any threats detected. This is
the same functionality as in Windows Vista. If they click the Remove all button or
the Review items detected by scanning hyperlink, they will see the threat
dialogue.

All threats are now consolidated, so there is only one threat dialogue user
interface. Pending threats are viewed from the threat dialogue.

Real-time detections collapsed dialog view

Changes in Windows 7:

• The review button that navigated to the full UI frame has been removed.

• There are no longer hover balloon tip descriptions.

• Users can choose actions per threat. Allow is one of the choices.

• Details button exposes details pane.

Real-time detections expanded dialog view


Aside from the chrome, which provided the navigation bar, and top level action
buttons, the expanded dialog is functionally similar to that in Windows Vista.
Action buttons remain at the bottom of the dialog frame, which is consistent with
Windows Vista.
Action Names
The following table compares the action names in previous versions of Windows
Defender versus the action names you will see in Windows 7.
Old
Action New Action Name
Name
Remove
Remove
Description: Permanently deletes the software from your computer.
Quarantine
Quarant Description: Moves the software to another location on your computer, and then
ine prevents it from running until you choose to restore it or remove it from your
computer.
Allow
Description: Adds the software to the Windows Defender allowed list and
Always allows it to run on your computer. Windows Defender will stop alerting you to
Allow risks that the software might pose to your privacy or your computer. Add
software to the allowed list only if you trust the software and the software
publisher.
Disinfect

Clean Description: This is very rarely used by Windows Defender, and is only
available if the signature says it can be applied to a specific threat. It will
remove just the infection, but leave the rest of the file alone.
Ignore This action item was cut
Clean System
Smart
Clean Description: This is a button that when clicked, will remove all the detected
items in the threat dialog.
Note: For non-UAC cases (Windows XP and earlier) only users who log on as an
administrator will have the Allow option in the drop down menu.

Disabling Windows Defender


Disabling Windows Defender is the same as previous versions except the
selection has been changed from Use Windows Defender to Use this Program.
1. Open Windows Defender.
2. Click Tools and click Options.
3. Scroll to the bottom of the screen to Administrator options and select Use Windows Defender.
Note: You must be logged in with administrative rights to configure these options in
Windows Defender. It is recommended that these options remain enabled unless a good
reason exists to disable a specific option.

Windows Defender Best Practices and Troubleshooting

Scan Settings
A quick scan checks the places on your computer's hard disk that spyware is most
likely to infect. A full scan checks all files on your hard disk and all currently
running programs, but it might cause your computer to run slowly until the scan is
complete. We recommend that you schedule a daily quick scan. At any time, if
you suspect that spyware has infected your computer, run a full scan.

Failed Signature Updates


When updating signatures through the Windows Defender interface fails, some
troubleshooting may be required. Users running Windows Defender may see this
warning message: "Windows Defender Definitions have not been updated."
Signatures will be distributed via Windows Update mechanisms. If a signature
fails to update, you can manually invoke the Windows Update process by using
the MpCmdRun Command-Line utility for Windows Defender to execute this
command prompt:
Mpcmdrun.exe –signatureupdate
Note: Refer to the Windows Defender Troubleshooting lesson in the Windows
Vista New Hire course.

Error Codes
To see a list of error codes, refer to KB836941: You may encounter temporary
connection-related errors when you use Windows Update or Microsoft Update to
install updates.

. Lab: Windows Defender


BitLocker
BitLocker
BitLocker Drive Encryption (BDE) was first introduced with Windows Vista for
system volumes and was later extended with Windows Vista Server Pack 1 and
Windows 2008 to include data volumes as well as system volumes. BDE is valuable
to corporations and users alike to encrypt drives in the event that they are lost, stolen
or recycled.
BitLocker drive preparation is now integrated into Windows 7, Enterprise and
Ultimate editions. It greatly simplifies the encryption of a system drive. BitLocker
can be found under System and Security in the Control Panel. Basically, you only
have to turn on BitLocker, and the Drive Preparation Tool does the rest, as long as the
computer has a TPM (Trust Platform Module). If not, the encryption key also can be
stored on a USB stick.
Note: For more information about the TPM, refer to the following article:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc766159(WS.10).aspx
Another change in Window 7 is that the BitLocker Repair Tool (repair-bde.exe) is
shipped with the OS. This tool was not shipped with Windows Vista, but was released
at a later date.
You can use this tool to help access encrypted data if the hard disk has been severely
damaged. This tool can reconstruct critical parts of the drive and salvage recoverable
data. A recovery password or recovery key is required to decrypt the data.
Use this command-line tool if the following conditions are true:

• You have encrypted the volume by using BitLocker Drive Encryption.

• Windows 7 does not start, or you cannot start the BitLocker recovery
console.

• You do not have a copy of the data that is contained on the encrypted
volume.

BitLocker Details
BDE works by encrypting the drive at the block level. This differs from the
Encrypting File System (EFS) feature of NTFS, which encrypts specific files.
What this means is that when you encrypt a partition with Bitlocker, the entire file
system is in the encrypted container – you cannot access the partition at all until
you are granted access during startup by Bitlocker.
Enabling Bitlocker involves the following components:

• Separate System partition on Hard Disk: The boot files (bootmgr, the
BCD, etc) must be stored in an unencrypted partition. This is one reason
for the creation of a separate System partition by Windows 7 setup. If you
do not have separate Windows and System partitions when you enable
Bitlocker, this is created during Bitlocker Drive Preparation.

• Trusted Platform Module (TPM) version 1.2 or greater: This is a security


chip, provided on many mobile PCs, which is used to generate and store
security keys. To determine if your PC meets this requirement, consult
with your OEM.

• Trusted Computing Group (TCG) supported BIOS: This means that the
BIOS must have support for using the TPM chip, per the standards
outlined by the TCG. To determine if your PC meets this requirement,
consult with your OEM.

• System BIOS support for USB mass storage devices: Bitlocker can use a
USB storage device as a startup key, either in combination with, or instead
of a TPM chip. If you opt for this configuration, your BIOS must support
accessing the USB storage device at startup.

• USB removable storage: If you choose to use a USB security key, this is
required.

How it Works
BitLocker helps protect the operating system volume of the hard disk from
unauthorized access while the computer is offline. To achieve this, BitLocker
encrypts the entire volume, and uses the security capabilities offered by the TPM,
when available.
BitLocker uses the TPM to perform system integrity checks on critical early boot
components. The TPM collects and stores measurements from multiple early boot
components and boot configuration data to create a system identifier for that
computer, much like a fingerprint. If the early boot components are changed or
tampered with, such as by changing the BIOS, changing the master boot record
(MBR), or moving the hard disk to a different computer, the TPM prevents
BitLocker from unlocking the encrypted volume and the computer enters recovery
mode. This prompts you to authorize the changes to the system before the
encrypted volume can be accessed. This is designed to help protect against
tampering.
If the TPM verifies system integrity, BitLocker unlocks the protected volume.
The operating system then starts and the partition contents are available to the
operating system and programs.

Encrypted Partition Access


Once BitLocker authenticates access to the protected operating system volume, a
filter driver is used to encrypt and decrypt reads and writes to the drive. This
makes access to the drive transparent. When the computer hibernates, the
hibernation file is saved encrypted to the protected volume. When the computer
resumes from hibernation, the encrypted hibernation file is decrypted. The impact
of BitLocker on day-to-day system performance for encryption and decryption is
typically minimal.
If you temporarily disable BitLocker (for example, to update the BIOS), the
operating system volume remains encrypted, but a special key is used temporarily
to provide full access to the drive with no startup authentication. This temporarily
disables the data protection offered by BitLocker.
When BitLocker is re-enabled, the key configuration is reverted to a normal state,
and BitLocker protection resumes.

Using BitLocker
Windows 7 BitLocker is configured using the BitLocker Drive Encryption control
panel. This interface presents you with all of the available drives for encryption
with a Turn on BitLocker option for each. For removable storage devices, the new
BitLocker to Go options are shown.
In the example below, there are two physical drives available for BDE, the
installation drive marked with the Windows logo and a data volume. Additionally
there is a removable storage device present on the system that has Bitlocker to Go
enabled already.

To enable BitLocker for a volume, simply choose the Turn on BitLocker option
for the drive you wish to encrypt. This starts the encryption wizard. The wizard
initially checks the configuration of the machine to ensure that it meets the
minimum requirements for BDE. This includes a check for a TPM chip, and other
elements of the configuration.

BitLocker Supported Configurations


BitLocker supports the following configurations. Each of these is described by
listing the components that must be present to unlock a BDE encrypted volume:
Configuration Drive options
TPM only TPM validates early boot components. Least secure unlock method
for OS drives when using a TPM. Recommended for computers in a
physically secure location and for situations where unattended restart
is required, such as when wake on LAN solutions are used or servers
in remote locations.
TPM validates early boot components. The user must enter the
correct PIN before the start-up process can continue, and before the
drive can be unlocked. A Trusted Computing Group (TCG)
compliant TPM version 1.2 helps to protect the PIN from attacks.
Recommended for notebook computers and computers requiring
TPM + PIN significant protection. This unlock method requires PINs to be
assigned to standard users and will likely generate additional help
Note: This is a best desk calls when users forget their PINs. Minimum PIN length can be
practice. configured and is recommended to be at least 5 numerals long. For
additional security an enhanced PIN can be used which permits users
to use characters instead of numerals for their PIN. See the
deployment guide for details. Enhanced PINs should only be used in
limited functionality, high security environments such as those seen
in security conscious government agencies.
The TPM successfully validates early boot components, and a USB
flash drive containing the startup key has been inserted.
Recommended for use when a PIN is not a viable option. To provide
protection the startup key should not be stored with the computer as
TPM + Startup key
it contains the keys to fully unlock the computer. This unlock
method requires startup keys to be provisioned to standard users and
will likely generate additional help desk calls when users lose their
startup keys.

TPM+PIN+Startup key The TPM successfully validates early boot components, a USB flash
drive containing the startup key has been inserted, and the user must
Note: This method enter the correct PIN before the start-up process can continue. This
is not supported in method is recommended for limited functionality, high security
the graphical user environments such as those seen in security conscious government
interface. agencies.
The user is prompted to insert the USB flash drive that holds the
recovery key and/or startup key and reboot the computer.
Startup key only Recommended for use when a TPM is not available. To
provide any level of protection the startup key should not be
Note: Can only be
stored with the computer as it contains the keys to fully
used when a TPM
unlock the computer. This unlock method requires startup
is not present.
keys to be provisioned to standard users and will likely
generate additional help desk calls when users lose their
startup keys.

Recovery
When you enable Bitlocker, a recovery key is generated. You are given an option
of printing or saving the key to a file, or saving the key to a USB flash drive for
use as a startup key for later recovery use. If you save the key, it is saved in plain
text, so you should store the file or USB flash drive in a secure location. This
recovery key is only used in situations where other validation methods fail, or if
the key is the only unlock method (such as in a Startup key only configuration).
If you need to start recovery, you can use enter the recovery key, by typing it at
the prompt, or by inserting the USB startup key.

BitLocker Best Practices


This section provides some guidance on using Bitlocker, particularly in a
consumer environment. For additional guidance, see the “BitLocker Drive
Encryption Step-by-Step Guide for Windows 7” here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd835565(WS.10).aspx

Suspending BitLocker
The following are scenarios where BitLocker should be suspended:

• BIOS Update: BitLocker validates the BIOS during startup. If the BIOS
version is changed, you will be prompted for recovery at startup. To
prevent this, suspend BitLocker before performing the BIOS update.

• System Update: Making changes to system components, such as boot files


or chipset drivers could result in a restore prompt at startup. To prevent
this, suspend Bitlocker before making such changes.
If you plan to make changes to the hard disk, or upgrade the operating system,
you should first decrypt the drive, rather than simply suspending BitLocker. This
decrypts the drive contents. You can then re-encrypt when the configuration
changes are complete.

Recovering after Boot Code Changes


If you have made changes to your computer that cause Bitlocker to prompt for
recovery, you will need to provide the recovery key. When you enter the key (or
connect the USB flash drive as a startup key), BitLocker will reauthorize startup
with the new configuration.

Considerations for Enabling BitLocker


Before enabling BitLocker you should carefully consider the potential
consequences. Read the BitLocker Deployment Guide carefully. You can find that
documentation on TechNet here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd875547%28WS.10%29.aspx

BitLocker To Go
BitLocker To Go
BitLocker to Go (BTG) is new in Windows 7. It extends BitLocker data protection to
USB storage devices, enabling them to be restricted with a passphrase. BitLocker to Go
also enables you to more securely share data with others who not yet deployed Windows
7.
Aside from the options provided in the BitLocker control panel, there are other ways for
BitLocker to Go devices to be managed. Depending on the operating system, BitLocker
to Go presents the following options:
Disk
Operating system Drive options
options
Windows 7 or Windows Unlocked based on device recovery option. Autorun will Read/Wr
Server 2008 R2 prompt for a passphrase. ite
Windows Vista or Read
Must be unlocked via BitLocker to Go Reader
Windows Server 2008 only
Read
Windows XP Must be unlocked via BitLocker to Go Reader
only

Using BitLocker To Go
On Windows 7 systems, devices enabled with BitLocker to Go encryption prompt for a
passphrase via AutoPlay when you connect the device.
Additional user interface options for BitLocker to Go include the addition of BitLocker to
the Explorer interface. When a device is inserted that is BitLocker to Go compliant, such
as a USB flash drive, most BitLocker configuration tasks can be performed in Windows
Explorer. To encrypt a removable drive, you can right-click the drive in Windows
Explorer and choose the Turn On BitLocker option. The only task that must be done from
the BitLocker control panel is drive decryption.

BitLocker To Go Reader
The BitLocker to Go Reader is used by the AutoPlay interface when you connect a BTG
encrypted drive to a down-level Windows PC. This allows you to enter the passphrase to
unlock the drive. When using the BTG Reader, you will have a window, similar to
Windows Explorer, for viewing files on the drive. You can copy from the drive via the
Reader, but you cannot make changes to the contents of the drive.
Using BitLocker to Go
Using BTG on a USB drive is really easy. Once you’ve inserted the drive and it’s been
recognized by the system, just go to the Bitlocker Drive Encryption in Control Panel.

Select Turn On Bitlocker next to the external drive you want to encrypt.
When you first set it up, you are presented with a choice on how you want to unlock the
drive.

If you are using a Smart Card as your login, you can choose to save the key on there. If
you do this, you’ll need your Smart Card every time you want to access the external
drive. Note that the support of Smart Card PKI is beyond the scope of consumer support.
In the following example, Use a password to unlock the drive was selected. You are
presented with the traditional Bitlocker selection on where to save your recovery key.
Once you’ve found a suitable location, you can start the encryption process.

Once you’ve started the encryption process, you can remove the drive before it is
complete. However the system does tell you to pause the encryption before removing the
drive.
Once encryption is complete, and you remove and then reinsert the drive, you are
presented with the password dialog to access the drive.
If you chose to Automatically unlock on this computer from now on the system will store
your password (the Key Protector password) in an encrypted section of the registry. So
the next time the drive is inserted, if you are the person logged on and have access to that
registry key, the Key Protector password will be automatically entered for you and the
drive will be accessible.
If you choose not to unlock the drive, when you try to access it you will get an access
denied error. If you try to do a ‘dir’ from an Admin command prompt you’ll see that the
volume isn’t bound to the system.
Now if you were to set the System Files Visibility on your machine and look at a USB
drive protected by BTG, you’ll notice some files on there. These files are indeed the keys
to the drive
BTG includes a Bitlocker Reader application on the USB drive. Once you run it you are
asked for the password for the drive. If you enter it correctly the BTG Reader starts and
presents you with a dialogue asking what files you want to use.
Now you are ready to access your files. You have to first drag them to the local computer
to use them. This will allow the on access decryption to decrypt the file as it copies it to
your system all ready to use.

BitLocker To Go Best Practices


Consider the notes below when using BitLocker to Go.

Ejecting the USB Drive


It is suggested that you use the Context menu on the USB drive and selecting Eject when
you want to remove the drive from the machine. Technically you should be doing this
with all your USB drives.

BitLocker References
TechNet provides a technical reference on BitLocker here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.06.bitlocker.aspx

Enhanced Storage

BACKUP

Module Overview

Overview
Overview
Windows Backup in Windows 7 has been updated substantially compared to the version
originally included in Windows Vista. Updates to Windows Backup include:
Update Description
File backup jobs now include a system image by default. This should help
Integration of File and
provide for an easier recovery experience in the event of system wide
System Image backup
problems.
System Image backup What was called “Complete PC Backup” on Windows Vista is now
now available on all known as system image backup. It is available on all editions.
editions
The steps for configuring backup are easier on Windows 7. The
Easier configuration
configuration options also enable you to include specific folders and
for scheduled backup
Libraries.
Scheduled backup to On Professional edition and higher you can run scheduled backups to a
network location network location.
System image restore Professional and higher editions can backup to a network share. You can
from network location also now restore from a network share from within WinRE.
System image restore can be started from the Recovery control panel in
Initiate System Image
Windows. This mechanism also provides integrated file backup steps to
restore from within
help prevent you losing any data files saved since the time you last
Windows
updated the system image backup.
Option to create Windows 7 now provides a mechanism to burn a recovery disc that you
bootable recovery can use to boot to WinRE. This provides an additional option beyond
disc WinRE installed on the hard disk by default in Windows 7.
Disk space
management for Disk space issues can be managed from the Backup and Restore interface.
backup target disk

Backup and Restore


Backup and Restore
This section provides a walkthrough of the key tasks related to backup and restore on
Windows 7.
To open the Backup and Restore control panel, you can use any of these paths:

• Start Menu Search, type “Backup and Restore”

• Control Panel, Back up your computer, when in category view

• Control Panel, Backup and Restore, when in icon view.

• Action Center, Backup and Restore

• Run the executable sdclt.exe


Backup and Restore is also offered in the AutoPlay window when you connect a
supported backup target drive to the PC.
Before Backup is Set up
When you first open the Backup and Restore control panel, you will see a view like the
following image.

The main options here are:

• Set up backup: This starts the wizard to configure scheduled file and system
backup on the PC.

• Select another backup to restore files from: This option is for a scenario where
you have done a clean install of Windows 7, or are migrating from another PC
and need to restore from that previous backup.

Set up Backup
When you are ready to configure backup, the Set up backup option takes you to the “Set
up backup” wizard.

Choosing a Target
The first step of the wizard is to choose the target. If you have a DVD burner it will be
listed here, along with flash drives larger than 1GB, any internal or external drives,
except for the Windows drive, just as in Windows Vista.

Note the Save on a network option here. This button is only available on Professional
Edition and higher. Home Premium does not support network backup targets.
You may see warnings at the bottom of this interface. These warnings are typically
presented when you are choosing a backup target with issues, such as no security ACL
support, or a target that is too small to accommodate a system image backup, etc.
The Guidelines for choosing a backup destination link at this step opens a detailed help
page explaining the advantages and disadvantages of the various backup targets. See this
help document for details on selection criteria.

Backup Contents
When you have selected a location you can then choose what to back up. You can Let
Windows choose, or click Let me choose to make your own decisions at the folder level.
These choices provide the following:

• Let Windows choose: This option will backup local items in the libraries. This
includes things like pictures, music, etc that are held in the user profile directories
such as My Documents, My Music, and so on. It also includes a system image
backup, when you have selected a target supported for a system image backup, to
restore the OS in the event of a problem.

• Let me choose: This option takes you to a selection step shown below. Windows
automatically selects the elements as in the Let Windows choose option, but you
have a chance to make changes.
The Let me choose step is shown below.

All users are included by default, as is a system image backup. The system image backup
will include the contents of all critical volumes, such as the system and boot partitions.
You can also locate specific folders to include in the backup by expanding the locations
shown under Computer.
Note: Hidden folders are shown in the “What do you want to back up?” interface even if
you have not configured Windows Explorer to show hidden files.
The next step is to save the backup configuration and run the backup. This is shown
below.

This is the step where you can change the backup schedule. Click Change schedule to
choose the frequency (daily, weekly monthly), day (week day or day of the month) and
the time of day. The default schedule is Weekly on Sunday at 7:00 PM. You can also
choose no schedule, to configure and run the backup one time.
Any warnings or messages are shown at the bottom of this interface. These can include
things like a reminder to create a repair disk, as well as warnings about older system
image backups on the target that could be overwritten.

Backup to Network Share


As mentioned above, Professional edition and above support network backup paths. If
you choose Save on a network in the target selection step of the backup wizard, you will
be able to select a network location, either by browsing or by entering the path to the
network-shared folder.

Note that the path does need to be available at the time when you are configuring backup.
If it is not, you will see a connection error.
When the path has been validated it is listed in the list of backup targets, as shown below.

Beyond this point, saving the backup to a share behaves the same as when backing up to
a local drive.
One significant difference applies later, when the backup is run the second and
subsequent times. Only the most recent system image backup is retained when the target
is a network location. This is unlike local backups where earlier system images are
available for restore.

Backup Progress
When you start running backup, the progress is shown in Backup and Restore. Click
View Details to see more detailed progress along with an option to stop the backup.

The more detailed view is shown below.

Create a System Image


Create a System Image
On Windows Vista this was called Complete PC Backup. The creation of separate
system image backups is not emphasized on Windows 7. Now that scheduled backup
includes a system image, the need to create a standalone system image backup should
be less frequent. The new Create a system image gives you the choice to create a one-
time system image backup. The interface for the system image backup is similar to
the Complete PC Backup interface on Windows Vista, as you can see from the image
below.

Why might you want to create a separate system image backup? There are several
potential reasons:

• You want to preserve the current state without risking it being lost after
subsequent backups.

• You want to put a system image backup in a location different from your
scheduled backup.

• You are replacing the hard disk on this PC and need to migrate all the
contents of the current drive to the new one without the need for re-
installing Windows.

• Scheduled system image backup includes only critical volumes. If you


want to create a system image backup that includes non-critical volumes,
use the Create a system image procedure to do so.
The usage steps and considerations for this system image backup remain the same
as for Complete PC Backup in Windows Vista.

Restore from Backup


Restore from Backup
The restore process in Windows Backup changes a bit in Windows 7 due to the following
improvements:

• More straightforward path for file restore in the Backup and Restore control
panel.

• Restore from system image backup can be started from within Windows.

Restore Files
The restore process enables you to choose all or only some of the files and folders in the
backup, and restore them either to the original location, or to an alternate location, such
as to recover an earlier version of a file.
This starts in the Backup and Restore interface where you choose either Restore my files
to restore files only from your user profile, or Restore all users’ files to restore as an
administrator. The steps below show the Restore all users’ files path through the restore
procedure.

From this main restore interface you can choose to restore either by files or folders, or
search for specific content in the backup. An example showing Browse for Folders is
shown below.

In this example the entire user profile for “Jeff” was added to the restore operation.

The next step gives you the choice of original location, or alternate location. The In the
following location choice provides a Browse button, and an option for whether to restore
using the original subfolder structure in that location.
If you choose to restore to the original location, you will likely see a number of conflicts.
The interface for resolving conflicts on Windows 7 matches the one used by Windows
Explorer. This should make the conflict resolution experience less confusing than on
Windows Vista.

Here you can choose whether to replace files already in the location, choose not to copy,
or copy and make duplicate files with numbers appended to their filenames.

Recover System
The addition of system image restore from within Windows is a more significant update
than the changes to the Restore Files interface. This is particularly true now that system
image backup is available in all Windows 7 editions.
The main entry point for a system image restore is the Recovery control panel. The
Advanced Recovery Methods interface under Recovery provides the option to: Use a
system image you created earlier to recover your computer.

Using this recovery method, you are stepped through the restore operation. Importantly
this includes running a preliminary file backup. That is an important precaution that was
not emphasized in Windows Vista. This is why it is recommended to use the Recovery
control panel to start a system image restore when possible. When it is not possible you
can still start the restore from WinRE directly.
For more information: For detail on other aspects of the Recovery control panel, see the
Troubleshooting Tools module of this course.

User File Backup


This procedure starts by asking if you want to back up your files. A restore from system
image backup is destructive to the files currently on partitions saved in the backup. As a
result this can be a critical precaution.

After this backup, the wizard provides a Restart step, as shown below. When you click
Restart, the BCD configuration is changed, making WinRE the default boot entry. Once
that is done the computer is restarted into WinRE to perform the restore.

Note: If you encounter a problem at this point, or an error when you click Restart, check
for problems with WinRE on the machine. The Restart button may not function properly
if one of the components needed to boot to WinRE on-disk is missing. See the Startup
module of this course for more information on WinRE.

WinRE Steps
When the computer is restarted, you will see the Startup Repair language input prompt
first, and then the “Re-image your computer” wizard, as shown below.

This is the first step you see if you are starting the restore directly from WinRE. The
restore starts by scanning for backup images. If no images are found you will see the
message “Windows cannot find a system image on this computer”, as shown below.

This may happen if you have the backup stored on DVDs, an external hard drive or a
network share. Insert the DVD or connect the drive at this point and click Retry on that
message.
If your backup is on a network location you can click Cancel on this message and follow
the steps in the Network Restore section below.

Local Restore
When your local backup image is found, you will see the latest available backup
recommended in the first step of the wizard.

You can also choose to select a different image for the restore.

The advanced button at this step is where you can find options to connect to the network
to restore from a share, or install a driver for a storage device containing your backup
image.

Once you have selected a backup location from the list, you can click Next to see a list of
available backups in that location. This is shown below.

Click one of these backups and then click Next to go to the wizard step with restore
options, shown below.
The Advanced button in this interface provides two additional options – disable
automatic restart, and disable the disk check.

The final warning is shown next. When you re-image your computer, all of the drives to
be restored are overwritten when you perform this operation.

The restore proceeds, as shown below.

If you chose to disable the automatic restart in the Advanced Settings above, you will see
this message at the end of the restore:

Note: If you started the restore from the Recovery control panel, the restart will occur
regardless of the choice you make here. This is because the restore is designed to be as
hands-off as possible.

Recovery Complete
When the system image recovery is complete, you will see the following message when
you log on to the PC:

This prompt you a chance to restore files, which is particularly useful if you used the
User Data Backup step in the Recovery control panel to save your files. Clicking Restore
my files here launches the Restore Files wizard, where you can choose the specific items
to restore, or restore all files.

Network Restore
If your system image backup is saved to a network share, you will see the following view
in the “Select a system image backup” WinRE restore step:

When you click Next you will have a chance to use the same Advanced button as shown
earlier to start the network connection.

Click Search for a system image on the network to proceed. This raises a confirmation
prompt first. Because you are running in WinRE, you will not have the latest security
updates. As a result there is greater risk in connecting to a network.

It is recommended that you only click Yes here if your PC is on a trusted network. Once
you click Yes the networking components in WinRE are initialized and you are
connected to the network.
To specify a location for your backup, you will need to type the network path in this next
step. If you are not sure of the location, check the sharing computer and test paths there to
obtain a working address.

Note: If you are unable to connect, or receive an error when trying to start the network,
you may need to provide a network adapter driver. Do not spend too much time
troubleshooting this in WinRE. It would be more efficient in many cases to do a clean
install of Windows 7 to troubleshoot the network issue. For driver issues, use that clean
install to determine what driver you need, and then copy it to a removable drive, or folder
on your Windows drive for use in WinRE.
When connecting, you will need to enter credentials for the remote PC. You should enter
the same username and password that you needed when you configured backup to use
this share location. If you were not prompted for additional credentials, try entering your
local username and password here.

Once a connection is established, the system image restore will proceed in the same way
as a local restore.
Note: If you are unable to authenticate to access the backup share, check the sharing
settings for the folder on the other PC. If you are unable to access a share on a NAS
device, you may need to consult with the NAS vendor.

Backup Management Tasks


Backup Management Tasks
Windows 7 provides the following key backup management features:

• Manage disk space

• Change settings

• Turn off schedule

• Create a system repair disc


• Management of backup files in Windows Explorer

• Notifications
The improvements in each of these areas are covered below.

Manage Disk Space


As mentioned above, one of the key new features of Backup in Windows 7 is the ability
to manage disk space usage on your backup target. Use the Manage space link in the
Backup and Restore Control Panel to access this interface.

The disk space usage for your file and image backups are shown here, along with options
to Browse, View backups and Change settings, if you want to change the rules for how
backups are retained.
The View backups interface is shown below. In addition to a list of backups on the target,
you also have an option to delete backup sets.

If you open the Change settings interface you have two options for retaining system
images. These two options are:

• Let Windows manage the space used for backup history

• Keep only the latest system image and minimize space used by backup

Normally when you create a backup configuration that includes a system image backup,
that image file is updated, and previous versions are maintained via Volume Shadow
Copy. Choosing the second option here (Keep only the latest) prevents the use of shadow
copies – only the current backup files are maintained.
Note: When you use a network share as a target for backup, you will only be able to keep
the most recent system image backup.
If you have disabled the backup schedule, you will see different options in this interface,
as shown below.

Out of Space
The new Manage space interface results in a better experience when you do hit a disk
space problem while running a backup. When this happens you will see the message
shown below.

Click Options in this message to open the full message, shown here.

There are three main reactions you can make when out of space, and they are represented
here by these three choices:

• Manage backup disk space: When you click this option you will have a chance to
remove older backups to free space.

• Change backup settings: This option will let you configure backup to use a
different drive, or change what is included in the backup so that the backup job is
smaller.

• Try to run backup again: This option is useful if you want to free disk space on
the backup target manually. Leave this Options interface open while you free
space. Then return and click Try to run backup again when you are ready to retry
the backup.

Change Settings
Once you have configured backup, you may need to change the files and folders that are
included, or switch to a new target location. You can do this using the Change settings
link in Backup and Restore. This opens the same interface as you used originally to
configure backup.

Step through this wizard until you reach the setting you want to change. Your previous
selections are already entered here, so if you go all the way through the wizard without
any changes, your backup configuration remains the same as before.

Turn off Schedule


You can use the Turn off schedule link on the right side of Backup and Restore to turn off
scheduled backup. This does not remove your other configuration elements, it just
suspends schedule backup executions.
You can re-enable scheduled backup using the Turn on schedule link that appears above
Change schedule when you have previously turned off the schedule.

Management in Windows Explorer


If you double-click the folder containing your file backup, you will see the following
options interface.

This is a new prompt, which should help you easily access tasks related to the backup
target folder. This prompt is being triggered as a result of the Desktop.ini file inside the
folder. If you want to access the folder in Windows Explorer, use the folder pane on the
left side of Windows Explorer to click it, or right-click the folder and choose Open. With
this method you will receive a prompt to gain access.

Notifications
Backup notifications are provided via Action Center in Windows 7. This includes
reminders to configure backup after installing Windows 7, and warning or error results
from scheduled backup.
An example backup notification is shown below. In this case the target disk has run out
of space.

This notification method not only ensures that you are more likely to receive the
message, but it uses the same notification infrastructure as other Windows components,
so you can choose to turn these off in the same way as you might disable other warning
messages.
Backup notifications start 7 days after Windows is installed. At this point you are
reminded to back up your files.

Create a System Repair Disc


Create a System Repair Disc
Backup and Restore includes a link to Create a system repair disc. This starts recdisc.exe,
a new utility in Windows 7 that enables you to create a bootable WinRE CD or DVD for
use in repairing or restoring your PC.
When you run the tool you can choose a burner drive, if you have more than one, and
then click Create disc.

When the burn process is complete the tool shows the confirmation below.

This disc contains only a few files:


• \boot

• Bcd

• Boot.sdi

• Bootfix.bin

• \sources

• Boot.wim

• bootmgr
Importantly, the disc also includes a boot code to load bootmgr, just as you find on a
Windows 7 installation DVD.

Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting for backup issues involves several potential problem areas – file/disk
integrity, software/driver conflicts, and backup-specific problems.
When facing an issue in either backup or restore, it is helpful to consider the following
general troubleshooting steps:

• Check for specific recommendations on the error you are receiving.

• Check for disk issues using Chkdsk. If any issues are found, use “chkdsk /r” in
WinRE to fix problems and mark bad sectors.

• Use “sfc /scannow” to check for and repair Windows system file integrity issues.

• Clean boot the computer to eliminate non-Windows programs, which could


contribute to issues creating a backup.

Backup Log Files


Errors during backup are reported via the event logs and files in %windir
%\logs\WindowsBackup.
The primary useful log is the skipped files log, saved as:
Backup Files 000-00-00 000000_error.log
This file is removed at the end of the backup job if there were no skipped files or skipped
volumes.
Restore Log Files
When you restore a file backup, the same type of skipped files logging that is done for the
backup is also done during the restore. This file is saved to:
%temp%\Restore Files 000-00-00 000000_error.log
As with the backup log, this file is removed at the end of the restore if there were no
skipped files.

ASR Log
In addition to the above log file, you can also create a restore disk log file when you need
to troubleshoot system image restore issues. This is useful for problems related to the
disk or partition structure, or errors early in the restore in WinRE.
To enable restore disk logging, use the following steps:
Boot into WinRE.
Open Regedit.
Create key ASR under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\.
Under the ASR key, create key LogFileSetting with DWORD EnableLogging with
value of 1 and String Value LogPathName with value of “x:\\asr.log”.
Run Complete PC Restore while in WindowsRE to the point of failure.
Check for the x:\asr.log file. Copy it to the hard drive before you restart the computer,
as X: is the RAMDrive, and it will be removed by shutting down the PC.

Backup Issues
The architecture underlying backup is not significantly changed. As a result of this, the
potential for issues related to third-party VSS Writers, problem drivers, and disk or
hardware failures remains in Windows 7. Troubleshoot these issues as you would on
Windows Vista
A few areas where the problem scenarios look different are discussed below.

Backup Error: Disk Space


If your backup target runs low on disk space, you will receive the message shown below.
This provides a link to the interface to manage disk space for the backup.
Backup Error: Skipped Files
Windows Backup in Windows Vista did not provide any warning in the event that a file
was skipped during backup. This could result in a problem later if the file was never
captured by a backup run because it would be missing when you ran a restore from the
backup.
Windows 7 now provides clear information to let you know that there were some skipped
files or volumes.
An example of this is shown below.

If you click Options in the Backup and Restore interface, a more specific message is
provided. This also includes a View skipped files link that opens the log file to show the
skipped files.

You will see this error when Windows Backup encounters any of the following issues:

• A source volume is missing.

• A source volume has low disk space.

• A source volume is Bitlocker encrypted.

• A source volume has the dirty bit set due to a disk error.

• Files were skipped during the backup.

• Any other cause of volumes or files being skipped.


Details on the skipped items are provided in the backup files log, saved in %windir
%\Logs\WindowsBackup. Here is an excerpt of a log a system with a disk issue:
Windows Backup skipped C:\Users\Jeff\Documents because is it on corrupted drive C:\.
Windows Backup skipped C:\Users\Public\Documents because is it on corrupted drive
C:\.
Windows Backup skipped C:\Users\Jeff\Music because is it on corrupted drive C:\.
...
In this example the C: drive has the dirty bit set due to a disk error.
Restore Issues
Windows 7 eliminates several key sets of restore issues that were encountered with
Windows Vista. That said, many of the same restore issues encountered with Windows
Vista can also be seen with backup in Windows 7. This is due to the use of similar
file/disk access and restore methods.
If there is a problem with the hardware, a faulty driver, a controller issue or a BIOS issue,
backup may encounter problems during restore. Several key scenarios are outlined below.

Restoring Backups from Earlier Windows Versions


If you created a backup in an earlier Windows version, the steps to proceed depend on the
type of backup. The three main scenarios are outlined below.

File Backup in Windows Vista


If you have a file backup created in Windows Vista using Windows Backup, there should
not be a problem restoring those files using Backup and Restore in Windows 7. Windows
7 uses the same underlying backup storage format as Windows Vista.

Complete PC Backup in Windows Vista


If you have a Complete PC backup, you can do one of the following to restore from it:

• Restore using Windows Vista WinRE.

• Mount the VHD file(s) in the backup location and then copy/restore files
manually
For more information on mounting VHD files, see the Manual Restore topic in this
section of the document.

Backup in Windows XP
Backup in Windows 7 has no support for files created by NTBackup in Windows XP.
There will, however, be a downloadable recovery tool release for use on Windows 7 to
restore from a Windows XP NTBackup set. Check the Microsoft Download Center for
this utility. This will function the same as the downloadable tool for Windows Vista that
provided this same capability.

Manual Restore
In the event of a serious problem restoring from backup, it is worth considering a manual
restore procedure. Windows 7 provides many tools that can simplify a manual restore of
files.
To start, determine the type of backup the customer has. Check for resolvable issues:

• If it is from a previous version of Windows, use the guidance in the section above
to start.

• Could the restore problem be resolved? Check for solutions before resorting to a
manual restore.

File Backup
A Windows 7 file backup consists of a set of .ZIP files, stored in multiple folders. You
can use these steps to find and extracting files from this folder structure:
Start by opening Windows Explorer, and setting the search options as follows:
Click Organize, Folder and Search options.
On the Search tab check the box labeled Include compressed files (ZIP,
CAB…)
Click Ok.
Locate the file backup folder on the backup drive. Look for a folder named after the
computer name.
Select this folder in the left pane of Windows Explorer. This should raise a prompt to
gain access to the folder. Click Continue.
Inside the backup folder you should see one or more “Backup Set <date>” folders.
With the Backup Set folder(s) visible, use the Search field at the upper right of the
window to search for file types for the data you want to copy out of these
backups. To do this, enter a search in the syntax:
Type:=.jpg
The right pane should return results showing that type of file. Select all, and then
copy to a folder on the Windows drive.
If you receive any file copy conflict messages, the safe choice is Copy, but keep both
files. Just check the box labeled Do this for the next x conflicts to avoid the
chance for overwriting files.
Repeat for all the file types your customer wants to recover. Once they are familiar
with the procedure, it should be fine to leave the backup in place to enable them
to restore files later as other missing file types are noticed.
Note: Files larger than 200 MB will be split across multiple ZIP files. If you find
duplicate filenames across multiple ZIP files, and each of these is ~200 MB, you may
need to copy these file segments out and rejoin them together.
For more information on stitching together these file segments, please see the following
TechNet blog post:
http://blogs.technet.com/filecab/archive/2007/06/19/how-windows-vista-backup-uses-
zip-files-to-store-backups-and-how-to-extract-files-from-zips.aspx

System Image
Manual data extraction from a system image backup is more straightforward than the file
backup scenario. This can now be done in Windows 7 by mounting the VHD file to a
drive letter, and then performing a copy to the drive.
If you want a method using graphical tools, use these steps:
Open Disk Management.
Click Action, Attach VHD.
Browse to the location of the system image backup.
Note: You may see an access denied error when trying to open the
WindowsImageBackup folder. If so you will need to click Continue on the
prompt to gain access. If that does not enable you to access the folder, you will
need to take ownership of the folder, and grant Administrators permissions to the
folder.
When you open the \WindowsImageBackup\<Computername>\Backup <date and
time> folder you will typically see more than one VHD files. One for the System
partition and one for the Windows partition.
Start by selecting the largest VHD file and click Open. Then click OK.
The drive should now be available in Windows Explorer for file copy.
Note: There is an option to attach the VHD file as a read only disk, but that may not
properly mount the drive. Do not use this read only option.
Important: If this VHD file is the only location where the data is stored, be very cautious
of how you manipulate files on the drive.

Restore Credentials
When you try to restore your files form a network location, you may encounter the error:
You do not have permissions to access the backup location
This can happen if the share requires you to enter a username and password other than
that of your currently logged-on user.
For a File Backup restore over the network, you can provide alternate credentials only
when restoring in Administrator mode. This is the mode you are in when you select the
Restore all users’ files in the main Backup and Restore interface.
This is due to the way the credentials are handled during the restore operation. As a
result, if you need to provide an alternate username and password for the remote share,
use this Restore all users’ files option to prevent restore failures.

. Lab: Backup

Reference

CORE NETWORKING

Module Overview

Overview

Getting Information about the Network Connection

Connecting to a Wireless Network

. Lab: Core Networking

HOME NETWORKING
Module Overview
HomeGroup

Joining HomeGroup

Troubleshooting HomeGroup

Using HomeGroup

Sharing with Previous Versions of Windows

Network Printers

. Lab: Home Networking

INTERNET EXPLORER
Module Overview

Using Internet Explorer 8 in Windows 7

Appendix

WINDOWS UPDATE

Module Overview

Windows Update
Windows Update
Windows Update (WU) is a service that helps you keep your Windows operating system
secure and up-to-date. The majority of updates distributed from WU are component and
driver updates to the Windows operating system.
Windows Update has been improved in Windows 7 to extend its capabilities beyond the
features available in Windows Vista. The changes to Windows Update include:

• Improved navigation and user interface

• New Windows Update settings

• Who can install updates

• Software notifications

• Updated Toast notifications


Windows Update can be accessed in the following ways in Windows 7:
Start > All Programs > Windows Update
Start > Control Panel > System and Security > Windows Update
This will launch the new Windows Update client and from its dialog box you can:

• Check for available updates

• Change and/or choose the settings of how Windows 7 can install updates

• View your update history

• Restore hidden updates

• Look at the frequently asked questions about updates

Change Settings Screen


The new Change Settings interface is shown below.

Recommended updates
In Windows 7, Recommended updates replace Optional updates in the update settings.
The change is to help clarify that although the updates are optional, they are
recommended for installation.
Who can install updates
In Windows 7, Windows Update allows the option for administrators to allow standard
users to install updates. This allows standard users to receive updates without being
prompted for administrator credentials.
Open Windows Update.
Click Change Settings.
Under the Who can install updates heading, click the checkbox next to Allow all
users to install updates to this computer.

Microsoft Update and Software notifications


The Software notifications checkbox is not displayed on the Change Settings screen until
you have opted-in to receive these notifications.
On the main Windows Update screen, there is a Click here for details link at the bottom
of the screen.

The Change Setting screen display only two options, Recommended Updates and Who
can install updates until you opt-in to receive updates for Microsoft products.

To opt-in, click the Click here for details on the main Windows Update screen and you
are provided the follow options. Click Yes to continue through the opt-in experience.
Note that after opting-in, you are no longer given the Click here for details link on the
main Windows Update screen.

After you opt-in, you receive two additional options on the Windows Update Change
Settings screen.

• Microsoft Update

• Software notifications

Viewing Update History


In Windows 7, to view or copy update details, click the name of the update, right click
and select View Details or Copy Details.
Toast Notifications
After a Windows Update scan, if there are no important updates to be installed that are
applicable, then the Windows Update client collates a list of all the featured updates that
are applicable to the computer. Once the client knows the list of updates it has to show an
enhanced notification for, it will wait for 24 hours of service up time to have passed
before it shows you the enhanced notification. This ensures that you don’t see WU
notifications popping up back to back. When the notification is displayed, it is displayed
for a maximum of 30 seconds.
If you click Tell Me More on the toast notification, you are presented with a description
of each available update.

If you click Dismiss or any other part of the notification, then the notification is marked
inactive. You will not see other notifications for updates associated with that item again.
If you ignore the notification for its duration, then the notification will go away and be
presented again after 7 days of system up time. This continues until all the updates in the
notification list reach their ‘end date’ after which the notification expires.

Manually Installing Updates


Manually Installing Updates
When new updates are available, you will see the message Download and install updates
for your computer when you open Windows Update. Click the links that are displayed
that tell you the number of updates available to view detailed information about each
update before installing (e.g. 1 Important Update is Available and 4 Optional Updates are
available).

The Important and Optional links display information about each update that is available.
You can optionally click the checkbox next to the update and click OK to install the
update.

Windows Update Configuration Best Practices


Windows Update Configuration Best Practices
When configuring Windows Update there are a few best practices to keep in mind.

Automatic Updates
It is recommended that you set Windows Update to Install updates automatically. With
automatic updates turned on, when you are connected to the internet Windows will
automatically check for, and install, the latest updates for your computer.

Microsoft Update
It is recommended that after the first time you check for Windows Updates you select the
Opt-In option for Microsoft Update. Microsoft Update distributes Microsoft software
update, drivers and hotfixes.

Installing Updates Offline


If you need to install a driver while offline, first use the Windows Update Catalog to
search for and download the update. The update is saved locally and can be installed
anytime, whether you are on or offline. If you cannot locate the driver, contact the
manufacturer of the device for drivers.
Windows Update Catalog: http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx.

To search for updates, enter a search term in the Search box. Search terms can include the
update title, description, applicable products, classifications, and Knowledge Base
articles (e.g. KB9123456). When searching for hardware updates ("drivers"), you can
also search for driver model, manufacturer, class, or a 4-part hardware id (e.g.
"PCI\VEN_14E4&DEV_1677&SUBSYS_01AD1028"). You can narrow the scope of
your search by adding additional search terms.
To quickly search for a driver:
Access the Device Manager.
Double-click unknown device.
Click the Details tab.
Copy the device ID and paste it into the search field in the Windows Update Catalog.
Download and install the driver.
Note: If the driver cannot be located, contact the device manufacturer.
Troubleshooting Windows Update
Troubleshooting Windows Update
Note: Refer to the Windows Vista training for troubleshooting installation and uninstall
errors in Windows Update. This training only includes new troubleshooting tools or
information for Windows 7.
Windows 7 provides the following new troubleshooting and recovery options for
Windows Update issues:
Windows Update Troubleshooter: Used to resolve issues checking for, downloading
or installing updates.
Uninstall Updates via Command Line: Unable to uninstall an update from the list of
installed updates? WUSA.exe provides a command-line uninstall capability that
replaces previously used pkgmgr.exe commands.
System Restore via WinRE on-disk: With WinRE installed by default to the hard
disk, it should be available more often for startup problems during update
installation.
WinRE command to revert pending update actions: DISM.exe can be used when you
are stuck in a startup loop during an update installation. It should be used only
when System Restore fails.
Each of these troubleshooting topics is discussed below.

Windows Update Troubleshooter


The Windows Troubleshooting Platform can reduce calls to the help desk by diagnosing
and resolving common issues, and by providing built-in troubleshooters for several
different types of problems.
One of the new troubleshooters in Windows 7 assists you with issues that prevent
Windows Update from working correctly. The Windows Update troubleshooter is located
at:

• Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Troubleshooting\System and Security and


then click on Windows Update.
Note: The Troubleshooter is updated every two months. If the issue cannot be resolved
by the Windows Update Troubleshooter, the next step is to search the KB or the
Windows Update Solution Center for the error.

Running the Windows Update Troubleshooter


One of the new troubleshooters in Windows 7 checks for Windows Update issues. It is
recommended that you use the Windows Update troubleshoot to troubleshoot problems
preventing Windows Update from working correctly. The troubleshooter performs the
following actions:

• Checks for updates online.

• Prompts you to restart Windows Update and check for updates.

It is recommended that you click the Advanced link shown in the starting page of the
troubleshooter above. This gives you an option to Run as administrator, as well as an
option to disable automatic repairs.
When you click Next, the troubleshooter checks for updates online.

You are then prompted to Open Windows Update and check for updates by clicking
Check for updates on the Windows Update screen.

After you check for updates, if the problems persist, you are presented with the following
options:

• Explore additional options

• Close the troubleshooter

• View detailed information

Explore additional options

View Detailed Information Link


After the troubleshooter tries to detect issues, a troubleshooting report is created. This
troubleshooting report displays the following information:

• Issues found and recommended solution or solution applied (if available)

• Detection details

• Detection adapter Local Area Connection driver information


• Network diagnostic log

• Collection information

• Publisher details

Uninstalling Updates via Command Line


WUSA.EXE is the command that is used to process a full install update package,
typically an .MSU file. In Windows 7 this command now also provides an easier
command-line uninstall for updates than was provided by pkgmgr.exe in Windows Vista.
To uninstall an update using wusa.exe, use the following syntax:
wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:######
Example: This command could be used to uninstall update number 958830:
wusa.exe /uninstall /kb:958830
Use the Event Viewer and Control Panel to find a list of installed updates. You can also
use this command line to return a list of packages installed in Windows, to determine the
correct KB number for use with wusa.exe:
dism /online /get-packages

WUSA Logging
You can enable logging for wusa.exe using the /log switch. This creates log files in a
directory you specify. When the /log switch is used, two files are created, an etvx file you
can view with Event Viewer and a .dpx file, which is not useful for our troubleshooting
purposes.

System Restore via WinRE on Disk


Now that Windows 7 preinstalls WinRE to the hard drive by default, access to System
Restore is made much easier in a no-boot situation. This can be very useful if Windows is
rebooting during the restart at Phase 3 of installing updates, or is hanging during the
restart during an update install.

WinRE Command to Revert Pending Update Actions


Startup issues that happen in the middle of an update or service pack installation are
always a special case. You can’t necessarily just fix the immediate symptom, since you
may leave the PC in an inconsistent state. Fortunately Windows 7 makes improvements
in this area, reducing the window of time when a failure could result in such a problem.

System Restore First


Important: Use System Restore before attempting the procedure below. System Restore is
more likely to return you to a reliable working state. The procedure below may result in
servicing issues later, but may help return you to a bootable state for now.

Using DISM to Revert Pending Actions


When you encounter such a no-boot scenario on Windows 7, and System Restore does
not return you to a working state, consider the following steps:
Always use System Restore in WinRE first. This is the most likely path to resolution
when you are in an inconsistent state due to an update failure.
If that does not return you to a working configuration, try using the DISM command
to see what update is in a problem state:
dism.exe /image:d:\ /get-packages
When you run this command, you should see one or more packages listed in a
Pending state. Check for known issues with the particular update or package.
There may be a more direct workaround.
If you are unable to find another solution, use the /cleanup-image switch with DISM
to revert the pending actions:
dism.exe /image:d:\ /cleanup-image /revertpendingactions
Once this is complete, try starting the PC into Windows.
If Windows starts successfully, check for other issues on the computer – disk issues,
memory issues, etc. You may need to perform an in-place reinstall to repair
problems with the Windows installation to prevent similar issues in the future.
Note: If you run this DISM command to revert the pending actions a second time, you
will see the error “Error: 0x800f082f”. This is because the cleanup should only be
initiated once. After you have initiated it, restart the PC into Windows to complete the
cleanup. Until you restart into Windows you will still see packages in a “Pending” state.
This is expected.

. Lab Windows Update Troubleshooting


APPLICATIONS

Module Overview

Application Installation and Compatibility


Application Installation and Compatibility
Microsoft is committed to maximizing compatibility for applications that work with
Windows Vista running on Windows 7. Much of the work done to remediate applications
in Windows Vista will carry over to Windows 7 due to the underlying similarity of the
two operating systems. Most of the compatibility issues are the same as those
encountered during the transition from Windows XP to Windows Vista. You will
troubleshoot application compatibility issues as you would other update installation
problems.

Transitioning from Windows XP to Windows 7


When you transition from Windows XP to Windows 7 it is recommended that you first
run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-
7/upgrade-advisor.aspx. The Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor will give you a report telling
you if your PC can run Windows 7, and if there are any known compatibility issues. If
the issues can be resolved, you'll get suggestions for next steps. For example, it'll let you
know if you need an updated software driver. You'll also get advice on how to upgrade to
Windows 7.

Windows 7 Action Center Program Compatibility Troubleshooter


The Windows Troubleshooting Platform can reduce calls to the help desk by diagnosing
and resolving common issues, and by providing built-in troubleshooters for several
different types of problems including audio, video, and networking.
One of the new troubleshooters in Windows 7 checks for program compatibility. The
troubleshooter performs the following actions to attempt to make older programs run in
the new Windows version:

• Test runs programs using recommended compatibility settings.

• Allows you to choose compatibility settings based on the problems you notice.

It is recommended that you click the Advanced link shown in the starting page of the
troubleshooter above. This gives you an option to Run as administrator, as well as an
option to disable automatic repairs.
When the troubleshooter locates a problem, you are presented with information about the
problem and can get additional information by clicking View detailed information link.

View detailed information


Clicking the view detailed information link opens a troubleshooting report.

This troubleshooting report displays the following information:

• Issues found and recommended solution or solution applied (if available)

• Detection details

• Collection information

• Publisher details

Windows 7 Compatibility Center


If a customer is experiencing application compatibility issues, the first step is to navigate
to and run the Program Compatibility Troubleshooter. If the troubleshooter does not
resolve the problem, navigate to the Windows 7 Compatibility Center. This site checks
for compatibility and find compatible hardware or software.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/

• If a program that is known-compatible with Windows 7 won’t install:

• Use clean boot troubleshooting methods as you would to resolve any


program issue.

• Redirect to the program vendor for assistance when standard methods do


not resolve the issue.
Note: Before contacting the program vendor, try installing a new driver, depending on the
application (such as updating a sound or video driver), using the Windows Update
Catalog to search for and download the update. See the Windows Update module for
more information. Windows Update Catalog:
http://catalog.update.microsoft.com/v7/site/Home.aspx.

• If a program that is known-compatible with Windows 7 won’t launch or you have


problems using the application:
• Use the Windows 7 Action Center Program Compatibility Troubleshooter.

• Troubleshoot as you would other application compatibility issues.

• If the program is not known to be compatible with Windows 7

• Use the same methods as were applied to such programs in Windows


Vista. See the Windows Vista training and Microsoft Knowledge Base
content for specifics.

• If it is a web-based application accessed via Internet Explorer:

• See the Internet Explorer training for details on IE8 compatibility


troubleshooting.

Security and System Utility Software


There is a class of applications that are always updated in tandem with a new Windows
release. These applications are primarily system utilities, diagnostics, and security
software. These applications interact with the OS at a low level, and often bypass normal
programming interfaces. We publish API documentation to give program vendors a
reliable method to ensure version-to-version compatibility. When programs use other
methods to interact with Windows, it leads to unforeseen compatibility issues.
Fortunately these issues tend to be well understood by these program vendors, so they are
typically ready with updates or new versions that work with the latest Windows release.
Customers should expect to update Antivirus, Antispyware, Firewall, Spam filter, utility,
and diagnostics programs.
Antivirus software that is compatible with Windows 7 is listed on the Security Software
Provider site located at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/antivirus-partners/windows-
7.aspx.

.NET Framework
Windows 7 includes the following versions of the .NET Framework:

• v1.0.3705

• v1.1.4322

• v2.0.50727

• v3.0

• v3.5
Issues encountered in consumer support for Windows 7 are expected to be similar to the
issues encountered with Windows Vista today. Specifically you may see program errors
due to the need for a later .NET Framework version, or you could encounter issues while
trying to install updates for .NET.

Troubleshooting .NET Version Issues


To determine the versions of the .NET Framework you have installed, use the steps in
this article:
318785 How to determine which versions of the .NET Framework are installed and
whether service packs have been applied. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-
us/kb/kb00318785.aspx
Compare your findings using the procedure in that article with the versions specified as
required by the program vendor.

Troubleshooting .NET Update Issues


If you are having a problem installing updates for the .NET Framework, first check to be
sure that the update applies to a version of the Framework you have installed. Installed
versions include the list above, as well as the versions shown when you check Control
Panel / Programs / View installed updates.
Start with standard update installation troubleshooting. If normal update installation
troubleshooting does not resolve the issue, follow the steps below.
Remove installed versions of .NET Framework before removing versions that were
pre-installed on the computer.
Note: To remove installed versions go to Control Panel\Programs\Programs and
Features\Uninstall a Program.
Remove and re-add the in-box .NET Framework support via Control Panel /
Programs / Turn Windows features on or off.
Install later Framework versions and updates one-by-one.

64-Bit Windows Applications


64-bit Windows applications are built to take advantage of large memory capabilities of
64-bit hardware and Windows. 64-bit applications cannot be run on 32-bit Windows,
even when a 64-bit processor is present on the system.
Currently most consumer applications are built using 32-bit technology, running on 64-
bit Windows using a 'Windows on Windows 64-bit' (WOW64) layer for compatibility.
Note: 64-bit editions of Windows cannot run 16-bit programs. This is less an issue today
as 16-bit programs are not in common use, particularly on home PCs.
. Lab Application Installation and Compatibility Troubleshooting

MEDIA CORE

Module Overview

Expanded Codec Support


Expanded Codec Support
Codecs are software that enables Windows to playback different media file types. For
Windows to understand a specific media type, it has to have a codec for that media type.
Each individual audio, video, or image file type requires a specific codec. For example,
for Windows to be able to playback an MP3 audio file, it must first have an MP3 codec
installed.
MP3 is an example of a media type for which Windows has codec support inbox, so no
additional software must be installed in order to play those files back. There are other less
commonly used media file types that don't have inbox support, and for those files the user
must download and install a third party codec to enable that support.
Codec support for different media file types is greatly expanded in Windows 7 compared
to previous versions of Windows. Work has been done to try to support the most popular
media file formats out of the box so that most audio and video that a user might try to
play should just work.
The table below shows all of the media types that are now supported out of the box with
Windows 7.
Category Supported Types
Video • H.264/AVC Baseline, Main and High Profiles (new in Windows
Decoders 7)

• MPEG-4 Advanced Simple Profile (new in Windows 7) besides


Simple Profile

• Subset of H.263 that overlaps with MPEG-4 SP

• Motion JPEG (new in Windows 7)


• WMV variants including VC1 and WMV Screen

• MPEG-1 and -2

• DV

• AAC, HE-AAC, HE-AAC v2 (new in Windows 7)

• Dolby Digital Plus (new in Windows 7) besides Dolby


Digital/AC-3
Audio
Decoders • WMA family of music decoders and speech decoders

• MP3

• MPEG-1 and -2

• HD Photo (JPEG-XR)

• JPEG

• PNG
Image
• BMP
Decoders
• TIFF

• GIF

• ICO (Icon Format)

• MP4 and its close cousins MOV, 3GP, M4A (new in Windows 7)

• Media Center's WTV (new in Win7 and Media Center TV Pack)


and DVR-MS

• MPEG-2 Transport Streams and its cousin AVCHD

Containers • MPEG-1 and -2 Program Streams

• AVI, WAV

• ASF

• DVD

• ADTS
The table below shows the media type support that is new for Windows 7.
Format File Contain Video Decoders Audi Known Limitations
o
Extensi
Name er Deco
ons
ders
.
mp4(A, H.264, MPEG-4 Plays almost all industry standard files;
V, Advanced can't play iTunes protected with FairPlay;
A+V) ISO Simple Profile
AAC
plays most .mov files from cameras but
MPEG-4 MPEG- ,
(ASP) and doesn't play embedded playlists or
.m4a 4, AVI MP3
Simple Profile segmented files - used for most .mov
(A)
(SP) movie trailers.
.mov

.3gp, . While we can play some of these files,


H.264, MPEG-4 most mobile phone video cameras produce
3GPP/3GPP 3g2
3GP Simple Profile AAC files that contain ACELP or AMT audio
2 (A, V, (SP) and H.263 video which Windows 7 does
A+V) not play.
AAC .aac (A)ADTS AAC
ASP in AVI
(Compatible MPEG-4 MP3,
No support for MKV, special DivX sub-
with DivX .avi (V, AVI Advanced MS
title mechanism, or files protected with
4-6 video, A+V) Simple Profile ADP
DivX proprietary DRM.
Xvid, and (ASP) CM
3ivx)
MPEG- Dolb
.m2t,
2 y Some cameras proprietary mechanisms to
m2ts, .
Transpo Digit cut AVCHD into chunks which are not
AVCHD mts (A, H.264
rt al, automatically reassembled when
V,
Stream LPC transferred to the PC.
A+V)
(TS) M
MPEG-
.m2t, MPE
2
m2ts, . G-1
Transpo
HDV mts (A, MPEG-2 L2
rt
V, (Lay
Stream
A+V) er 2)
(TS)

In-box versus Third Party Codecs and Windows 7


For the file formats that are supported in the box, Windows Media Player and Windows
Media Center will always use the inbox codec to play those file types. This is true even
when a third party codec that supports those same file types is present, and configured
with a higher priority.
Some of the most difficult support calls are related to media playback and codec issues
that result from having multiple conflicting or mediocre quality codecs installed. As a
result Microsoft has made the decision that in order to ensure the best possible playback
experience for our customers when using an in-box media program, we will use our own
codecs if they are available. Third party codecs can be used with third party media
playback applications though; this is not blocked. It is just the in-box programs that
exhibit this behavior.

Libraries and the Windows Media Player Library


Libraries and the Windows Media Player Library
As we mentioned in the Using Windows module of this course, Windows Media
Player now shares the configuration of library locations with the Windows 7
Libraries.

• When adding new locations to the default Music, Videos, or Pictures


library in Windows Explorer, those locations will get added to the
Windows Media Player Library.

• The opposite is true as well; adding locations to the library in Windows


Media Player will add those same locations to the library in Windows
Explorer.

• When one of the default media libraries is deleted from Windows


Explorer, the next time that Windows Media Player is opened it will
automatically recreate those missing libraries in Windows Explorer with
the default settings.

• Just as with previous versions of Windows, Windows Media Center will


share the library database with Windows Media Player, so that any
changes will be reflected in all three locations.
Note: One difference between adding a location to a Windows 7 library in
Windows Explorer and adding a location to the Windows Media Player library is
that the Windows Media Player library does not have the limitation of being
unable to add a non-indexed network location to the library database. In this case
it will be the indexing component built into Windows Media Player that indexes
the remote content, instead of Windows Search, so the results of that indexing
will not be available to Windows Explorer.
When you add a non-indexed (by Windows Search) location in this manner, when
viewing that media library from Windows Explorer you will see an error
indicating the filtered views are not available because of the presence of
unsupported locations.

Troubleshooting the Windows Media Player Library


Troubleshooting the Windows Media Player Library
The Windows Media Player database is a database separate from the Windows Search
database that Windows Media Player uses to store all of the information that it
gathers about the media in its configured media locations. When Media Player first
starts, it will use the Windows Search database to pre-populate its own database to
speed up the process of initially building its own database, and reduce the need to go
out and touch every file on its own to gather the information that it needs. Once this
library is populated, Windows Media Player (and Windows Media Center since it
shares the database) will always query its own library database to display information
in the Windows Media Library views.
Troubleshooting for this library database is much the same as it was for previous
versions of Windows, so the previous training on this troubleshooting will still apply.
There is one key point that makes this troubleshooting much easier however, and that
is the addition of the new option to Restore media library. This menu option will
automatically delete and recreate the Windows Media Player library so it is no longer
a manual process.

Burning Enhancements
Windows Media Player in Windows 7 now supports gapless CD burning. This is the
burning of an audio CD with no pauses, or gaps, between tracks. This is enabled by
default. To support this, "Disc at Once" style burning is used for all CD burning
Track Previews
Track Previews
When browsing music in the library view of Windows Media Player, you can quickly
preview a track without changing your playlist or losing your place in another song
that may be playing at the time.
To access this, hover the mouse cursor over one of the tracks listed in the library, and
the preview popup will appear as shown below.

• Clicking the Preview link will interrupt the currently playing track to
preview the selected track.

• When the preview starts, the link changes to Skip, and clicking the link
skips 15 seconds into the track being previewed. Each time Skip is
clicked, it will skip another 15 seconds.

• Moving the mouse cursor away from the Preview popup closes the popup
and Windows Media Player reverts to the previously playing track in the
same position that you left off.

Media Metadata
Media Metadata
Many media formats support storing information about the media inside the file itself,
such as the album or artist of a song or the title of a video. This content is referred to as
metadata, which means that it is about the primary content in the file, and is stored in the
file, but is not the content. The method used for storing metadata about a file is usually
specific to an individual media type. Here are some examples.

• MP3 files stored their metadata in ID3 tags

• Typically include information like Artist, Album, Title, Release Year,


Track Number, and Album Art.

• Addition information can be stored but those types are the most common.

• JPEG files store their metadata as EXIF tags

• Can include information about the picture such as the dimensions and the
date taken, as well as information about the camera such as the camera
maker and exposure.
Metadata information added or changed in a media file can be viewed by most of the in-
box programs that support that file. If the file type is one that Windows 7 supports
natively, then Windows Search supports indexing the metadata for that file so that it can
be found by searching. An example where this would be useful is by enabling a user to
search for a music file by the artist or album, instead of just the file name.
The table below shows three different built in programs displaying the metadata for one
of the in-box songs.
Windows Explorer
Windows Media
Player
Windows Media
Center

Editing Metadata
Previous versions of Windows Media Player included a tool for manually editing the
metadata for several files at the same time called the Advanced Tag Editor. This interface
is no longer included in Windows Media Player 12 in Windows 7. Manually editing the
metadata for a file or files is still possible using in-box tools with Windows 7 however.
The following are two different examples of using Windows Explorer to edit metadata.
As you can see from the samples, it is possible to edit a single file or multiple files all at
once.

Details Tab in File Properties


When you select one file or multiple files, and then right-click on the selection and clicks
properties, you will see a dialog box with multiple tabs. From the Details tab you can
view the metadata for the selected files, and also edit that metadata. In the sample below,
you can see additional text being typed into the comments field. Since multiple files are
selected, any changes that are made in this dialog box will be applied to both files.

Details Pane in Windows Explorer


When you select one file or multiple files in Windows Explorer, you will see the
metadata for the selected files in the Details pane at the bottom of the Explorer window.
From there, if you click on any of the editable fields, they turn into text boxes which can
be used to make changes. You must click Save to apply the changes.

Media Center in Windows 7


Media Center in Windows 7
Media Center in Windows 7 introduces several new features and improvements.
Windows Media Center is included with the following editions of Windows 7.

• Windows 7 Home Premium

• Windows 7 Professional

• Windows 7 Ultimate
• Windows 7 Enterprise
Windows Media Center in Windows 7 includes all of the enhancements made available
with Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008, which was previously only available
through the purchase of a new PC. These enhancements are described below.
Enhancement Description
This includes:

• Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting – Terrestrial


(ISDB-T) Digital television standard for Japan

• Digital Video Broadcasting – Satellite (DVB-S) free-to-air


satellite standards in Europe
Expanded support for
international television • Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial (DVB-T) digital
standards television with improved user experience in Europe

• ClearQAM (Unencrypted Digital Cable) in the United States

• Interactive television with integrated Broadcast Markup


Language (BML) in Japan and Multimedia and Hypermedia
information coding Expert Group (MHEG) (MHEG5) in
Europe
This includes:

• Ability to change audio/video format within a recording –


for example during advertisements

• Support for a dynamic number of streams - ability for


streams to appear and disappear over time (e.g. multiple
video angles during a soccer game)
Support for the new .WTV
Recorded TV File Format, • Support for multiple audio streams
which replaces DVR-MS
• More flexible and reliable trick mode support

• Enhanced metadata to better support areas such as content


protection and interactive TV.

• More robust – Enhanced error recovery vs. DVR-MS

• Support for additional codecs such as h.264 or AAC.


Broader support for This means that Media Center now has the ability to use two or
heterogeneous TV more different signal sources (for example, PAL and DVB).
configurations Depending on the tuners, a heterogeneous configuration may allow
you to use both sources at the same time or just one at a time. Some
examples are:

• Digital Cable that uses a set top box can now be mixed with
Analog Cable

• Satellite television that uses a set top box can also be mixed
with ClearQAM Cable

• Satellite television that uses a set top box can be mixed with
Digital Cable that uses a set top box
In addition to these changes, Media Center has been updated with several new features
designed to make consuming media from the 10-foot interface a much better experience.
These features are described below.

Media Center Start Menu


The Start Menu gets a refresh both in text treatment and iconography size. You can now
see more items at any given time, and the readability has been improved.

The new Start Menu is also designed to always overlay the current playing experience so
it stays in one place. Another thing you will notice is it now remembers your last location
strip between sessions (prior versions always launched to the TV + Movies strip). The
Now Playing thumbnail has been moved out of the corner and into the main Start Menu,
making for more consistent navigation and allowing for a much larger thumbnail and
longer title text.

Music
This section presents improvements in the handling of Music in Windows Media Center.
Some of these experience enhancements are for music are shared with other libraries in
Media Center, and will be called out as shared in later sections when appropriate.

Details
Details is a shared feature throughout the Windows Media Center interface. You can
think of details as a slide deck which puts much used features closer to your fingertips
compared to prior versions. You move left and right to switch between panes and up and
down to select items on that pane.
Now Playing
Music Now Playing received a major update as well. When you start playback of music
you navigate to the Now Playing page as in prior versions. After a while we fade out the
action items and animate your album art into a slowly scrolling wall of covers and
occasionally switch the currently playing album cover and metadata. When you press a
button on the remote or move the mouse we bring back the action items and keep the wall
of covers up in the background.
Here is a view of Music Now playing without Action Items.

And here is a view of Music Now playing with Action Items:

Rating
Rating your content is now easier in Windows Media Center. You can rate your music (or
pictures as this is one of the shared features) in real time by pressing the 1-5 buttons on
your keyboard or remote.

Turboscroll
If you have a large library you will appreciate another new shared feature - ‘Turbo
Scroll’. When you hold down the left or right remote control buttons for a while, Media
Center transitions into an interface which presents the content in alphabetical chunks.
Letting go of the button when you see the letter combination you want will immediately
take you to that position in your library.

Shared Libraries
Shared Libraries are built on top of the HomeGroup features in Windows 7. Shared
Libraries is another shared feature across Music, Pictures, Videos and Recorded TV. This
feature allows you to browse and play content from multiple computers on your home
network. In the image below, we can select either the local music library or the library
shared by another user on the network named ‘Ethel’ on a computer named ‘Laptop’.
Once selected, the user can browse Ethel's content in Windows Media Center.

Pictures
The photo experience has also been improved in Windows 7 with the changes noted
below.

Ambient Slideshow
There is a new Ambient Slideshow which will launch as a screen saver as well as when
you invoke the new Play Favorites on the Start Menu. This pulls from your pictures rated
3 stars or higher. This slideshow features zoom out (first screenshot) and zoom in
animations (second screenshot), alternating between black and white and color.

Enhanced Picture Library


The image below is a view of the enhanced Picture Library, which shows the Ratings,
Slide Shows and Shared pivots -- all new for Windows 7. Ratings allow you to sort by
rating (0-5 stars) like you can with tags we added in Windows Vista. Shared inherits the
Shared Library in common with Music, Videos and Recorded TV. On the Slide Shows
pivot you can play back slideshows.

The slideshows that are available in the slide show pivot are those that have been created
with the new slide show creator. You can choose pictures or music in the creator and save
the results for later playback.

TurboScroll
Turbo Scroll is also available for Pictures – hold down the left or right buttons on the
remote to transition into a user experience which allow you to fast forward through
pictures – let go of the button to move to that point in the gallery.

Details
Picture Details present many of the simple photo editing features in Windows Media
Center and also allows you to rate the picture.

Videos
The Video library has not changed much visually, but there are changes in several other
areas.

• The Video Library, like Pictures, Music and Recorded TV benefits from the
Shared Library feature so you can enjoy content from other computers on your
network.

• Many additional codecs are now supported in-box with Windows 7, and these
codecs are also supported on Media Center Extenders – both standalone hardware
Media Center Extenders and on the XBOX360 when in Extender mode.

• Video Play All allows you to play all of the videos in a specific gallery in a
continuous play list.

• Videos now have parity with Recorded TV in the area of bookmarks – you can
now resume previously played videos where you left off.

Shared Libraries
The Recorded TV library also supports accessing shared libraries. If you have multiple
Windows Media Center enabled PCs in the house you can now enjoy the Recorded TV
content across the network on those computers, provided that the TV shows are not DRM
protected.

Details
Selecting a Recorded TV show will bring up the new Details experience -- as with other
experiences in this shared feature, go left and right to switch between panes.

TurboScroll in the Guide


We also get Turbo Scroll mode in the guide, but instead of flashing shows alphabetically
we are shown dates. Hold down the left or right arrow button on your remote control or
keyboard to access this feature.

. Lab: Media Core


CONNECTED MEDIA

Module Overview

Overview
Overview
Windows 7 includes a number of exciting new media streaming features that enable you
to enjoy your media collection on other PCs and devices in the home, and across the
Internet while on the road. Windows 7 provides a networked media experience that is
more friendly to use and simpler to set up. Now enjoying music, pictures, and video on
your network connected PC or media device “just works” without concern for media
formats, transports, or protocols.
There are a growing number of Network Media Devices (NMDs) certified to interoperate
using an open and widely embraced industry standard called the Digital Living Network
Alliance (DLNA). Windows 7 implements this open standard, which means that sharing
media between NMDs, Windows PCs, Windows Home Server, and Extenders for
Windows Media Center (including Xbox 360) is easier and more natural. Supporting this
standard also means that the myriad of NMDs such as electronic picture frames, network
radios, televisions, and others are companions to Windows 7 PCs and may seamlessly
participate in the whole-home media experience.
It is also now much simpler to configure media streaming. Before Windows 7, media
streaming features were focused on media enthusiasts. To improve the setup experience,
media streaming has been integrated with the new HomeGroup feature so in a typical
home network configuration, media streaming is enabled and works by default. There is
also a new “Stream” menu prominently displayed in the Window Media Player user
interface, shown below, that exposes simple scenario-based configuration options.

These options allow you to:

• Set up your home PC so you can access your media libraries while away from
home

• Allow other Windows 7 PCs and devices to push media to your Player and control
it

• Quickly authorize all home PCs and devices to access your media collection
HomeGroup introduces the concept of “shared libraries” for music, pictures, and video.
These shared libraries are accessible from within the navigation pane of Windows
Explorer and Windows Media Player, and from the “shared” view of each media category
within Windows Media Center as shown in the images below. The scope of these
libraries is the same from each of these views.

Windows Explorer will automatically discover and provide access to shared media
libraries on other HomeGroup PCs. In addition, Windows Media Player and Windows
Media Center will automatically discover shared libraries from any of the following:

• Windows Media Player 11 and 12

• Windows Home Server

• All DLNA compliant media servers (e.g. network attached storage)

Who Can Access My Shared Media Libraries?


A HomeGroup is a secured set of Windows 7 PCs that can view and consume each
other’s media seamlessly. Sharing is automatically set up among HomeGroup PCs and
HomeGroup settings allow you to choose what types of media you would like to share;
for example, you may choose to only share your music library and not your video or
pictures.

You can also choose to restrict which specific PCs or devices have access to your media
by choosing more streaming options… from the Windows Media Player “Stream” menu.
This interface is shown below.

Digital Living Network Support


Digital Living Network Support
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) is a consortium of more than 200
companies interested in specifying technologies for exchanging media in home networks.
The DLNA architecture is based on the UPnP specification, but in addition, DLNA
specifies transport protocols (based on HTTP and RTP) and sets of media formats.
DLNA defines device roles (e.g. servers, players, renderers, etc.) and the protocols that
these devices use to discover each other and communicate with each other (e.g. UPnP,
HTTP, RTP, etc.). Windows 7 implements several of the DLNA device roles (see table 2
below) and it also implements the DLNA protocols required for communications and
media exchange. With Windows 7, your PC will be able to interoperate with a broad
variety of DLNA certified devices like TVs, stereo systems, cell phones, DVRs, game
consoles, etc.

DLNA Device Profiles Supported by Windows 7


Because Windows 7 implements several device roles, there are different ways in which
you could choose to use a Windows 7 PC at home. The remainder of this section explains
the different scenarios.

Scenario 1: TV Browses to PC
You store your music, video, and pictures on a Windows 7 PC. You’ve recently acquired
a TV with a DLNA logo. After connecting the TV to the network, you can browse the
media library available on the Windows 7 PC. You can use the TV to watch the video
and pictures, and listen to music stored on the PC. The figure below illustrates this
scenario. In this case, the Windows 7 PC behaves as a DMS. This scenario was already
available in Windows Vista and in Windows XP using Windows Media Player 11.

The TV unit browses and plays content stored in a PC

Scenario 2: PC Browses to NAS Device


You have a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device where you store your music, video,
and pictures. The NAS device implements a DMS. You open Windows Media Player on
a Windows 7 PC. You can find the NAS device using Windows Media Player, and you
can browse the media library available on the NAS device. You can watch the video or
pictures, and listen to music stored on the NAS device. The figure below illustrates this
scenario. In this case, the Windows 7 PC behaves as a DMP.

A Windows 7 PC browses and plays content stored on a NAS device

Scenario 3: Cell Phone Pushes to PC


You have a cell phone that not only takes pictures but can push the pictures to a Windows
7 PC. You can show the pictures to your friends using the large-screen display of the PC
without the need to physically transfer the files to the PC with a USB thumb drive, for
example. The figure below illustrates this scenario. In this case, the cell phone acts as a
DMS and a DMC and the Windows 7 PC behaves as a DMR.

A cell phone pushes pictures for display on a Windows7 PC


Scenario 4: PC Browses Content and Pushes to TV
You’ve acquired a stereo system with the DLNA logo. On his Windows 7 PC, you’ve
accumulated a vast collection of music with thousands of songs. Because your collection
is large, you prefer to search, organize, and select songs using the rich capabilities of the
Windows Media Player. Once you select the songs, you simply push the songs to your
stereo system using “Play To.” You also have a NAS device containing an additional
collection of music and video. You can use the Windows 7 PC to browse the content on
the NAS device and push it to the stereo system. The figure below illustrates this
scenario. In this case, the Windows 7 PC behaves as a DMS and a DMC.

A Windows 7 PC browses local content or shared content on the network. The PC then
pushes the content for playback in a TV unit (DMR).

Using Play To
Using Play To
In addition to playing media streamed from other shared media libraries within Windows
Media Player, Windows 7 can now send media to be played on other Windows 7 PCs and
DLNA-certified digital media renderers. We call this feature “Play To.” With “Play To,”
you can browse or search from within Windows Media Player or Windows Explorer to
find your desired media, and then choose where you want it to be played. A versatile
remote control window is presented for each “Play To” session, providing you with the
ability to control the entire experience.
The image below shows "Play To" being access in Windows Media Player.

This image shows "Play To" being used directly from Windows Explorer.

It does not matter where media collections are stored. “Play To” is available for both
local media libraries and for shared media libraries. If you would like to send media from
one Windows 7 PC to another, choose “Allow remote control of my Player” from the
Windows Media Player “Stream” menu on the receiving PC. This will cause Windows
Media Player to be discovered in the “Play To” menu of other Windows 7 PCs on the
same network.

When media streaming is enabled on your Windows 7 PC, “Play To” will be available in
Windows Media Player and Windows Explorer via the right click menu for media items.
If Windows 7 has not discovered a “Play To” capable PC or device on the network, this
context menu will not be available. DLNA provides guidelines to certify different device
categories and roles. Not every DLNA-certified device supports the “Play To” feature.
Look for DLNA-certified Digital Media Renderers (DMR), and for the best performance,
look for DMR devices that carry the “Compatible with Windows 7” logo.

Once you’ve selected media items to play on another PC or device, a “Play To” remote
control window will launch providing standard controls like play, pause, stop, skip
forward and backward, seek forward and backward, volume, and mute. Not every device
will support all of the control features and some media types may not support seek. Once
the “Play To” remote control window is launched, you can reorder or delete items, add to
the queue, or toggle repeat. It’s even possible to add new media items from Windows
Media Player or Windows Explorer by dragging them into this window.

There is no artificial limit to the number of “Play To” sessions you can launch, though
the user may run into issues with trying to use Play To to stream more content than they
have network bandwidth to support. You may send pictures to a picture frame, video
clips to a TV, and music to another Windows 7 laptop all at the same time. Furthermore,
different types of media can be sent to a single destination, as shown in the example
above.
Note: While it is possible to send the same content to multiple devices on the network
using "Play To", there is no built-in mechanism for synchronizing the playback between
these devices. "Play To" is not intended to be a fully fledged simultaneous whole home
audio or video solution.

Xbox 360 and Extenders for Windows Media Center


Xbox 360 has two ways to receive media streams from other Windows 7 PCs, which we
refer to casually as “dashboard” mode and “extender” mode.
In dashboard mode, Xbox 360 functions in the role of a simple media player. While it’s
not officially a DLNA-certified device, you can use Xbox 360 to browse the shared
media libraries from Windows 7 PCs (there is also support for this in Windows Media
Player 11) and pull content from those libraries for playback within the dashboard.

In extender mode, Xbox 360 (and other Extenders for Windows Media Center) is seen by
Windows 7 PC’s on the network as both a Digital Media Player (DMP) and a Digital
Media Renderer (DMR) device. Using the Extender for Windows Media Center on the
Xbox 360, you can browse media libraries on other computers and pull that content for
local playback, similar to the process of using Xbox 360 in dashboard mode.
However, in extender mode Xbox 360 will also support “Play To” so that users of
Windows 7 PC’s on the network can push content to it. All extenders, when associated
with a Windows 7 PC, will be discovered in the “Play To” menu of other Windows 7
PCs.

Internet Access to Home Media


Internet Access to Home Media
With Windows 7 we’ve also extended the media streaming experience outside the
home and allow you to access your home media from anywhere in the world via the
internet. For the experience to be seamless we needed to solve some significant
technical challenges, such as:

• Discovery – Resolving the computer name at home to a routable IP


address

• Privacy – Ensuring the home media is only accessible by authorized users

• Security – Encrypting browsing and streaming of media to prevent


eavesdropping

• Reliability – Network connection speeds, media formats and bit rates, and
router firewalls all create potential reliability issues for a seamless
experience
To overcome these technical hurdles, we designed a model that uses an Online ID
Provider to help facilitate discovery, privacy, and security. The new Online ID
Provider infrastructure in Windows 7 allows you to link your Online ID (e.g.
you@live.com) with your Windows user account. This enables an
authentication/authorization server to provide the necessary privacy to establish a
protected link between two Windows 7 PCs (e.g. your laptop on the road and your
PC at home). Internet access to home media is enabled from the “Stream” menu
in Windows Media Player.

The setup process walks you through linking an online ID with your Windows
user account, which must be performed on both the home PC and remote PC. The
same online ID must be used on both PCs in order to establish the connection
between them. In order for remote PCs to access the home media collection, the
PC at home (acting as a server) must be on a “Home” network location. Remote
PCs (acting as clients) can browse and receive content streamed from the home
PC from any network location (Public, Work, or Home).
The network location is chosen when first connecting to any network and can be
changed later from the Network and Sharing Center.

Reliability - Network Connection Requirements


Streaming media over the internet from home works best with an “always on”
broadband connection. Broadband uplink speeds vary from a modest 200Kbps to
10Mbps or more. Downlink connection speeds will also vary from crowded
hotspots, hotel rooms, and wireless network connections in friends’ homes.
Regardless of the uplink or downlink speeds, we wanted to ensure that even high
bit rate content (e.g. high definition recorded TV) could be streamed with a good
experience. The internet media streaming feature uses advanced bandwidth
detection algorithms and end-to-end network heuristics to determine how to
stream content that is at a higher bit rate than the smallest link in the network
path.
Another challenge with internet access to home media is creating a peer-to-peer
connection between the remote client PC and the home PC serving the media. A
typical home network will get a single unique IP address from an internet service
provider, and this IP address is shared by all the devices and PCs in the home
using Network Address Translation (NAT), a function of an Internet Gateway
Device (IGD) or Wireless Router. This creates a challenge for a remote PC or
device to make an unsolicited connection inside the home, both in terms of
resolving the home’s unique IP address and traversing the NAT to communicate
directly to a unique PC or device on the home network.
Windows 7 employs some advanced NAT traversal technologies to establish the
peer-to-peer connection and, with most IGDs, will allow a reliable connection to
the home PC from any remote PC. For best results you should use a wireless
router or IGD that has been certified by the Windows Logo program.

Port Forwarding
If you have a router that doesn't allow you to automatically set up Internet home
media streaming, you might need to manually open ports in the router's firewall to
give remote computers access to your home computer. This process is called port
forwarding or port mapping.
Note: You must first allow Internet home media streaming on your home
computer before you can manually configure your router.
Here's how to configure your home router using port forwarding:
Open Windows Media Player.
Click Stream, and then select Allow Internet access to home media.
Click Diagnose connections, and then click Port forwarding information.
The Port Forwarding Information dialog box provides the following information:

• Protocol. This is the Internet protocol that will be used to stream media.
The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is usually used for media
streaming.

• External port number. This is the port number remote computers will use
to access media on your home computer. The number is specific to your
computer, and you will need it to configure your router. The Port
Forwarding Information dialog box is the only place the external port
number appears.

• Internal port number. This is the port number for media streaming access
to your home computer inside your home network. It is always the same
number: 10245.
Using a computer on your home network, open a web browser and enter the
address of your router's setup webpage. Check the router's documentation
for instructions on how to reach the setup webpage.
For example, you can often reach your router's setup webpage by typing "http//:"
plus your router's default IP address in your web browser's address bar.
In the appropriate area of the setup webpage for your router, configure your
router's ports in the following way:
Internal port
Computer External port number
number
Your home computer's name or Varies (see Port Forwarding Information
10245
IP address dialog box)
Your home computer's name or
443 10245
IP address
Note: You can use external port 443 or the external port number specific to your
computer for home media streaming, but it's recommended that you use both for
better performance.
Note: Setup webpages for routers vary by manufacturer and model. For example,
some setup webpages identify a computer by its name and some use an IP
address. Check your router's documentation for more information about
configuring ports.

Transcoding Support
Transcoding Support
In Windows 7 we let you enjoy the media you want and don’t require you to know
about file types or codecs in most cases. In addition to supporting local playback of
new formats, we can also ensure that the content will play on devices that may not
support the codec, bit rate, container, or format of that content. We accomplish this by
using the new transcoding support in Windows 7.
Let’s say for instance you have a DivX movie you want to watch on your new DLNA
certified television which only supports WMV and MPEG2. Windows 7 will
determine the capability of the TV (codec, bit rate, etc.) and dynamically convert the
DivX video to a format the TV can play. In general, if Windows Media Player can
play the content on the PC using Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center,
then the content should be able to play back on the network connected device.
Bandwidth estimation techniques are used for media streaming within the home and
over the internet, which enables Windows 7 to transcode using the most optimal
format and bit rate.

Format Support Details


Supported formats are listed in the table below.
Audi
Generic File
Contain o
Format Extensi Video Decoders Known Limitations
er Deco
Name ons
ders
.
mp4(A,
V,
A+V) H.264, MPEG-4 Plays almost all industry standard files;
Advanced can't play iTunes protected with FairPlay;
ISO AAC
. Simple Profile plays most .mov files from cameras but
MPEG-4 MPEG- ,
m4a (ASP) and doesn't play embedded playlists or
4, AVI MP3
(A) Simple Profile segmented files - used for most .mov
(SP) movie trailers.
.
mo
v
.3gp, .
3g2 While we can play some of these files,
H.264, MPEG-4 most mobile phone video cameras produce
3GPP/3GPP (A, 3GP Simple Profile AAC files that contain ACELP or AMT audio
2 V, (SP) and H.263 video which Windows 7 does
A+ not play.
V)
AAC .aac (A)ADTS AAC
ASP in AVI
(Compat
ible with MPEG-4 MP3,
No support for MKV, special DivX sub-
DivX 4- .avi (V, AVI Advanced MS
title mechanism, or files protected with
6 video, A+V) Simple Profile ADP
DivX proprietary DRM.
Xvid, (ASP) CM
and
3ivx)
MPEG- Dolb
.m2t,
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New Decoders in Windows 7


The format and bit rate selected for transcoding, especially for video, is highly
dependent on the CPU performance of the transcoding PC as identified by its
Windows Experience Index:

Windows 7 also supports a flexible model for hardware partners to provide hardware
accelerators that automatically work with media streaming and other features. This
new acceleration model enables hardware developers to build media foundation
proxies for media format encoders and decoders that are fully implemented in their
hardware (perhaps in a GPU or additional hardware device).
With hardware supported encoding and decoding, Windows 7 can offload the
computationally demanding transcoding to dedicated hardware as a background task
without affecting the CPU performance of the PC.

. Lab: Connected Media

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