Unbranded Boot (Industry 8.1)

7/8/2014

Learn how to configure Unbranded Boot on your Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry (Industry 8.1) image or device.

You can suppress Windows 8.1 elements that appear when Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry (Industry 8.1) starts or resumes and can suppress the crash screen when Industry 8.1 encounters an error that it cannot recover from. You can configure Unbranded Boot during the design phase or at run time.

Important

To suppress elements, the first user to sign in to the device must be an administrator. This ensures that the RunOnce registry settings correctly apply the settings. Also, when using auto sign-in, you must not configure auto sign-in on your device at design time. Instead, auto sign-in should be configured manually after first signing in as an administrator.

Configure Unbranded Boot at design time

To add Unbranded Boot features to your image during the design phase, use Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM) to add the appropriate settings to your answer file. For more information about Windows System Image Manager (Windows SIM), see Migrate from Windows Embedded 8 Industry.

Unbranded Boot settings

The following table shows Unbranded Boot settings and their values.

Setting

Description

DisableBootMenu

Contains an integer that disables the F8 and F10 keys during startup to prevent access to the Advanced startup options menu.

Set to 1 to disable the menu; otherwise; set to 0 (zero). The default value is 0.

DisplayDisabled

Contains an integer that configures the device to display a blank screen when Industry 8.1 encounters an error that it cannot recover from.

Set to 1 to display a blank screen on error; otherwise; set to 0 (zero). The default value is 0.

HideAllBootUI

Contains an integer that suppresses all Windows UI elements (logo, status indicator, and status message) during startup.

Set to 1 to suppress all Windows UI elements during startup; otherwise; set to 0 (zero). The default value is 0.

HideBootLogo

Contains an integer that suppresses the default Windows logo that displays during the OS loading phase.

Set to 1 to suppress the default Windows logo; otherwise; set to 0 (zero). The default value is 0.

HideBootStatusIndicator

Contains an integer that suppresses the status indicator that displays during the OS loading phase.

Set to 1 to suppress the status indicator; otherwise; set to 0 (zero). The default value is 0.

HideBootStatusMessage

Contains an integer that suppresses the startup status text that displays during the OS loading phase.

Set to 1 to suppress the startup status text; otherwise; set to 0 (zero). The default value is 0.

CrashDumpEnabled

Contains an integer that specifies the type of information to capture in a dump (.dmp) file that is generated when the system stops unexpectedly.

The .dmp file is typically saved in %SystemRoot% as Memory.dmp.

The following table shows the possible values.

ValueDescription
1Records all the contents of system memory. This dump file may contain data from processes that were running when the information was collected.
2Records only the kernel memory. This dump file includes only memory that is allocated to the kernel, kernel-mode drivers, and other kernel-mode programs. It does not include unallocated memory or any memory that is allocated to user-mode programs. For most purposes, this kind of dump file is the most useful because it is significantly smaller than the complete memory dump file, but it contains information that is most likely to have been involved in the issue. If a second problem occurs, the dump file is overwritten with new information.
3Records the smallest amount of useful information that may help identify why the device stopped unexpectedly. This type of dump file includes the following information:
  • A list of loaded drivers.
  • The processor context (PRCB) for the processor that stopped.
  • The process information and kernel context (EPROCESS) for the process that stopped.
  • The process information and kernel context (ETHREAD) for the thread that stopped.
  • The kernel-mode call stack for the thread that stopped.
This kind of dump file can be useful when space is limited. However, because of the limited information included, errors that were not directly caused by the thread that was running at the time of the problem may not be discovered by analyzing this file. The date is encoded in the file name. If a second problem occurs, the previous file is preserved and the new file is given a distinct name. A list of all small memory dump files is kept in the %SystemRoot%\Minidump folder.
4Records the smallest amount of useful information. This value produces the same results as entering a value of 3.
7Records only the kernel memory. This value produces the same results as entering a value of 2. This is the default value.
Any other valueDisables crash dump and does not record anything.

Examples of Unbranded Boot settings

The following XML example shows how to suppress all Windows UI elements and status messages during startup, prevent access to the Advanced startup options menu, and display a blank screen if an error occurs that the system cannot recover from.

<settings pass="specialize">
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Embedded-BootExp" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
      <DisableBootMenu>1</DisableBootMenu>
      <HideAllBootUI>1</HideAllBootUI>
      <DisplayDisabled>1</DisplayDisabled>
    </component>
</settings>

The following XML example shows how to suppress the default Windows logo during the OS loading phase.

<settings pass="specialize">
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Embedded-BootExp" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
      <HideBootLogo>1</HideBootLogo>
    </component>
</settings>

The following XML example shows how to suppress the status indicator that displays during the OS loading phase.

<settings pass="specialize">
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Embedded-BootExp" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
      <HideBootStatusIndicator>1</HideBootStatusIndicator>
    </component>
</settings>

The following XML example shows how to suppress the boot status text that displays during the OS loading phase.

<settings pass="specialize">
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Embedded-BootExp" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
      <HideBootStatusMessage>1</HideBootStatusMessage>
    </component>
</settings>

The following XML example shows how to record all the contents of system memory if a device stops unexpectedly.

<settings pass="specialize">
    <component name="Microsoft-Windows-Embedded-BootExp" processorArchitecture="x86" publicKeyToken="31bf3856ad364e35" language="neutral" versionScope="nonSxS" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
      <CrashDumpEnabled>1</CrashDumpEnabled >
    </component>
</settings>

Configure Unbranded Boot at run time

Prerequisites

  • BCDEdit, the primary tool for editing the startup configuration, is on your development computer in the %WINDIR%\System32 folder and you have administrator rights for it. BCDEdit is included in a typical Windows Preinstallation Environment (Windows PE) 4.0. You can download it from the BCDEdit Commands for Boot Environment in the Microsoft Download Center if needed.

To configure Unbranded Boot settings at run time

  1. Open a command prompt as an administrator.

  2. To disable the F8 key during startup to prevent access to the Advanced startup options menu, type the following:

    bcdedit.exe -set {globalsettings} advancedoptions false
    
  3. To disable the F10 key during startup to prevent access to the Advanced startup options menu, type the following:

    bcdedit.exe -set {globalsettings} optionsedit false
    
  4. To suppress all Windows UI elements (logo, status indicator, and status message) during startup, type the following:

    bcdedit.exe -set {globalsettings} bootuxdisabled on
    

The only supported way to replace the startup logo in Industry 8.1 with a custom logo is to modify the Boot Graphics Resource Table (BGRT) on a device that uses UEFI as the firmware interface. If your device uses the BGRT to include a custom logo, it is always displayed and you cannot suppress the custom logo.

See Also

Concepts

Brand a device