Windowns embeded

Introduction
This white paper is targeted at developers who are new to Microsoft® Windows® XP Embedded and who want to get a better understanding of how to build a reliable Windows XP Embedded image on their x86 client device. The paper is divided into four sections. The first section provides an overview of the Windows XP Embedded operating system (OS) explaining the origins of its inherent reliability. The second section suggests some software engineering design practices that can be adopted to improve the reliability of a Windows XP Embedded build. The third section provides tips for improving reliability at several steps of the Windows XP Embedded build process (See Figure 1 below). Finally, the fourth section outlines several handy test utilities that can play a role in quality assurance testing.

Figure 1. High-level overview of Windows XP Embedded build process (click thumbnail for larger image)
Windows XP Embedded Overview
Windows XP Embedded Code Base
Both Windows XP Embedded and Windows XP are built on the same stable code base of Microsoft Windows NT® and Windows 2000. This code base offers a protected memory model and preemptive multitasking, both of which contribute to system stability. Starting from this proven code base, Windows XP Embedded is fundamentally reliable starting at the kernel level.
The difference between the Windows XP desktop operating system and the Windows XP Embedded operating system is that Windows XP Embedded is modularized into components. Understanding the componentization of Windows XP Embedded is the key to deploying a reliable Windows XP Embedded build.
The Windows XP Embedded Build Concept
The concept of a build is different for Windows XP Embedded than it is for embedded operating systems such as Windows CE .NET. With Windows XP Embedded, build means gathering the binary files, registry keys and other resources needed to support the functionality desired in the target device. For Windows CE .NET, build means