XPe & CF

[Richard]

We are Using a single, custom application that does not write to disk or
registry, winlogin and remote desktop. We only write a configuration file
to disk when it changes but it's rare. Our error log and such is dumped to
a second flash device. There are no lights to determine current writes to
CF.

My questions are: How often does XPe in the above configuration actually
have to write to disk? And, using a CF for the primary boot and OS, should
EWF be enabled to save it's life?

Richard

 

[Slobodan Brcin \(eMVP\)]

Hi Richard,

XPe will rarely write to CF, but this is not why you should use EWF.

You should use EWF to overcome problems with sudden power loss in critical
moments when registry can become corrupted.

Regards,
Slobodan

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[KM]

Slobodan,

"XPe will rarely write to CF"
Are you sure about this? E.g., registry hive writings. Unless they move the hives to the second flash device (I don't think this is
even possible for system and software hives) XPe will change the sectors occupied by the hives. Most likely it will be the same or
near flash sectors and the "wearness" factor will be increased.
There are also some statistics kept in the registry (e.g., network activity, etc.). These will also write to the registry hives and
increase number of writes to CF.

 

[Slobodan Brcin \(eMVP\)]

Hi Konstantin,

I guess that this is indication that I have not slept enough recently

"XPe will rarely write to CF"

Yes rarely indeed sound too soft to describe this. But who knows if someone
uses kernel mode only it just might be true

Regards,
Slobodan

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Slobodan,

"XPe will rarely write to CF"
Are you sure about this? E.g., registry hive writings. Unless they move

the hives to the second flash device (I don't think this is

even possible for system and software hives) XPe will change the sectors

occupied by the hives. Most likely it will be the same or

near flash sectors and the "wearness" factor will be increased.
There are also some statistics kept in the registry (e.g., network

activity, etc.). These will also write to the registry hives and

 

[KM]

Hmm... He mentioned "custom application". Unless they heavily use kernel APIs (would be a good effort, though), it is most likely
Win32 subsystem. Therefore, no kernel only image

 

[Mule Skinner]

Yes, it's a Windows GUI Based Application.
So now you all have me totally confused. How long will industrial SanDisk
run with XPe before it starts taking out the flash?
Again, I've taken all the precautions in my application. XPe is the only
worry I have. I don't use any type of page file and we have 512 ram and 512
CF.

If EWF doesn't stop the logs and registery writes then We're back in the
same boat....


Richard

Hmm... He mentioned "custom application". Unless they heavily use kernel

APIs (would be a good effort, though), it is most likely

 

[Slobodan Brcin \(eMVP\)]

Hi Richard,

Sorry for this confusion we made here.
You should use EWF.

How long CF can endure without it depends on drivers services, etc contained
in your image. There is no certain number to tell.

You can use disk performance counters programmatically to see what actually
happens on your image.

If you are programmer and you want to know what is happening to track disk
activity use: IOCTL_DISK_PERFORMANCE

Regards,
Slobodan

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[Mule Skinner]

With File Mon, about the only file I see being written to a lot is
MQTrans.iq1
Regmon hasn't done anything all day but I'm only looking at writes. I'll
take a look at
IOCTL_DISK_PERFORMANCE what ever that might be.

Thanks

 

[Slobodan Brcin \(eMVP\)]

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/storage/hh/
storage/k307_6cs2.asp
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/storage/hh/
storage/k306_2003_950y.asp

Slobodan