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Windows Vista contains a range of new technologies and features that are intended to help network administrators and power users better manage their systems. Notable changes include a complete replacement of the "Windows Setup" process, completely rewritten deployment mechanisms, support for per-application Remote Deskop sessions, new diagnostic and health monitoring tools, and a range of new Group Policy settings covering many of the features new to Windows Vista.
Other areas of interest include major changes to task scheduling and offline files support, as well as the addition of Subsystem for UNIX Applications, which provides a POSIX-compatible environment for applications as part of the operating system itself.
The setup process for Windows Vista has been completely rewritten and is now image-based. Setup is now based on Windows Preinstallation Environment version 2.0, which, amongst other features, runs the entire setup process in a graphical environment, as opposed to the text-based environments of previous versions. Visually, the user interface resembles Windows Vista itself, using ClearType fonts and the Aero visual style, and enabling the use of a mouse. Prior to copying the setup image, partitions can be graphically resized.
The new Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) detects and fixes startup related problems. It can be accessed by pressing F8 during startup. The system then boots into the WinRE interface and offers various tests as well as recovery and failure detection tools. WinRE automatically detects blue screen errors and registry damage and tries to repair the system and get it up and running quickly.
The Windows Recovery Environment tools have been significantly expanded to take advantage of the new graphical setup environment. A "toolbox" is presented to the user, offering access to repair functions, System Restore, a new memory diagnostic tool, access to Complete PC Backup and Restore images, and access to a command prompt. Multiple command prompts can be spawned at once, and more command-line tools are available. Command prompts can be spawned at any time during setup by pressing Ctrl+F10.
Support for loading third-party disk drivers has improved. Whereas Windows XP only supported loading drivers from floppy disks while the setup environment is initially loading, Windows Vista additionally supports loading drivers from USB and Firewire storage devices, and CDs and DVDs from within the main setup wizard.
Microsoft has aimed to reduce the amount of time setup takes to complete. Setup is now significantly faster than Windows XP and thus, Windows Vista can be installed in as little as 20 minutes.[1] This is especially notable considering that the Windows Vista install is more than three times the size of its predecessor.
At the end of the setup process, Windows Vista automatically downloads and applies security and device driver updates from Windows Update.
Package Manager replaces the previous update installer (Hotfix.exe). It is part of the Windows Vista servicing stack. Updates for Windows Vista are delivered as files and resources only. Package Manager, the Control Panel item to turn on/off Windows features, and Windows Update all use the Windows Vista servicing stack. Additionally, Package Manager can be used to install updates to an offline Windows image, including updates, boot-critical device drivers, and language packs.
Deployment
Windows Vista is deployed using a hardware-independent image, the Windows Imaging Format (WIM). The image file contains the necessary bits of the operating system, and its contents are copied as is to the target system. Other system specific software, such as device drivers and other applications, are installed and configured afterwards. This reduces the time taken for installation of Windows Vista.
Corporations can author their own image files (using the WIM format) which might include all the applications that the organization wants to deploy. Also multiple images can be kept in a single image file, to target multiple scenarios. This facility is used by Microsoft to include all editions of Windows Vista on the same disc[2], and install the proper version based on the provided product key. In addition, initial configuration, such as locale settings, account names, etc. can be supplied in XML Answer Files to automate installation. [3]
Microsoft provides a tool called ImageX to support creation of custom images, and edit images after they have been created. It can also be used to generate an image from a running installation, including all data and applications, for backup purposes. WIM images can also be controlled using the Windows System Image Manager, which can be used to edit images and to create XML Answer Files for unattended installations. Sysprep is also included as part of Windows Vista, and is HAL-independent.
Also included in Windows Vista is an improved version of the Files and Settings Transfer Wizard now known as Windows Easy Transfer which allows settings to be inherited from previous installations and User State Migration Tool 3.0, to migrate user accounts during large automated deployments.
ClickOnce is a deployment technology for "smart client" applications that enables self-updating Windows-based applications that can be installed and run with minimal user interaction, and in a fashion that does not require administrator access.
The ActiveX Installer Service is an optional component included with the Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions that provides a method for network administrators in a domain to authorize the installation and upgrade of specific ActiveX controls while operating as a standard user. ActiveX components that have been listed in Group Policy can be installed without a User Account Control consent dialog being displayed.[4]
Diagnostics, monitoring and reporting
Windows Vista includes a number of self-diagnostic features which help identify various problems and, if possible, suggest corrective actions. The event logging subsystem in Windows Vista also has been completely overhauled and rewritten around XML to allow applications to more precisely log events. Event Viewer has also been rewritten to take advantage of these new features. There are a large number of different types of event logs that can be monitored including Administrative, Operational, Analytic, and Debug log types. For instance, selecting the Application Logs node in the Scope pane reveals numerous new subcategorized event logs, including many labeled as diagnostic logs. Event logs can now be configured to be automatically forwarded to other persons. Event logs can also be remotely viewed from other computers or multiple event logs can be centrally logged and managed from a single computer. Event logs can be filtered by one or more criteria, and custom views can be created for one or more events. Such categorizing and advanced filtering allows viewing logs related only to a certain subsystem or an issue with only a certain component. Events can also be directly associated with tasks, via the redesigned Event Viewer.
The Performance Diagnostic Console includes various tools for tuning and monitoring system performance and resources. It shows the activities of the CPU, disk I/O, network, memory and other resources, in the Resource View. Windows Task Manager also presents more detailed system information and monitoring.
The Reliability Monitor tracks applications and driver installations, along with the date they were installed on, and by using system reliability statistics from Reliability Analysis Components, presents a graphical view of the variation in system reliability and stability.
Remote management
Remote Desktop Protocol 6.0 incorporates support for application-level remoting, improved security (TLS 1.0), support for connections via an SSL gateway, improved remoting of devices, support for .NET remoting including support for remoting of Windows Presentation Foundation applications, WMI scripting, 32-bit color support, dual-monitor support and more.
Remote Assistance, which helps in troubleshooting remotely, is now a full-fledged standalone application and does not use the Help and Support Center or Windows Messenger. Two administrators can connect to a remote computer simultaneously. Also, a session automatically reconnects after restarting the computer. It also supports session pausing, built-in diagnostics, chat and file transfer and XML-based logging. It has been reworked to use less bandwidth for low-speed connections. NAT traversals are also supported, so a session can be established even if the user is behind a NAT device. However, unlike Windows XP's Remote Assistance, it is not possible now to communicate verbally.
Windows Vista also includes Windows Remote Management (WinRM), which is Microsoft’s implementation of WS-Management standard, and allows Windows Vista to be easily managed, remotely through a SOAP-based web service. WinRM, along with compatible tools, allows administrators to remotely run management scripts. A WinRM session needs to be authenticated to minimize security risks.
System tools
Windows System Assessment Tool, a built-in benchmarking tool, analyzes the different subsystems (graphics, memory, etc), produces a Windows Experience Index (formerly Windows Performance Rating) and uses the results to allow for comparison to other Windows Vista systems, and for software optimizations. The optimizations can be made by both Windows and third-party software.[5]
Windows Backup (code-named SafeDocs) allows automatic backup of files, recovery of specific files and folders, recovery of specific file types, or recovery of all files. The entire disk can be backed up to a Complete PC Backup and Restore image and restored when required. Complete PC Restore can be initiated from within Windows Vista, or from the Windows Vista installation disc in the event that Windows cannot start up normally from the hard disk. Backups are created in Virtual PC format and therefore can be mounted using Virtual PC. The Backup and Restore Center gives users the ability to schedule periodic backups of files on their computer, as well as recovery from previous backups.
Windows UpdateWindows Update has been revised, and now runs completely as a control panel application, not as a web application as in prior versions of Windows.
System Restore is now based on Shadow Copy technology instead of a file-based filter and is therefore more proactive at creating useful restore points. Restore points are now "volume-level", meaning that performing a restore will capture the state of an entire system at a point in time. These can also be restored using the Windows Recovery Environment console when booting from the Windows Vista DVD, and an "undo" restore point can be created prior to a restore, in case a user wishes to return to the pre-restored state.
Problem Reports and Solutions is a new control panel user interface for Windows Error Reporting which allows users to see previously sent problems and any solutions or additional information that is available.
Windows Task Manager has a new "Services" tab which gives access to the list of all Windows services, and offers the ability to start and stop any service as well as enable/disable the UAC file and registry virtualization of a process. Additionally, file properties, the full path and command line of started processes, and DEP status of processes can be viewed.
Disk Defragmenter in Windows Vista is configured to automatically defragment the hard drive on a regular basis. The user interface has been simplified, with the color graph being removed entirely. Chunks of data over 64MB in size will not be defragmented; Microsoft has stated that this is because there is no discernible performance benefit in doing so.[6] The command line utlity, defrag.exe offers, more control over the defragmentation process. [7]This utility can be used to defragment specific volumes and to just analyze volumes as the defragmenter would in Windows XP.
The Disk Management console has been improved to allow the creation and the resizing of disk volumes without any data loss. Partitions (volumes) can be resized before starting Windows Vista setup or after installation.
Group policy settings let administrators set ACLs for the volume interface for disks, CD or DVD drives, tape and floppy disk drives, USB flash drives and other portable devices.
Management Console
A screenshot of Windows Vista's Management Console
Windows Vista also includes Microsoft Management Console 3.0 (MMC), which includes several enhancements, including support for writing .NET snap-ins using Windows Forms and running multiple tasks in parallel. In addition, snap-ins present their UI in a different thread than in which the operation is run, thus keeping the snap-in responsive, even when it is doing a computationally intensive task. The new MMC interface includes support for better graphics and as well as features a task pane that shows actions available for a snap-in, when it is selected. Task scheduler and Windows Firewall are also thoroughly configurable through the management console. Print Management enables centralized installation and management of all printers in an organization. It allows installation of network-attached printers to a group of clients simultaneously, and provides continually updated status information for the printers and print servers. It also supports finding printers needing operator attention by filtering the display of printers based on error conditions, such as out of paper, and can also send e-mail notifications or run scripts when a printer encounters the error condition.
Group Policy
Windows Vista includes around 2400 group policy settings [8], which allow administrators to specify configuration for connected groups of computers, especially in a domain. Group policy can be set and edited via the Group Policy Management Console (GPMC) snap-in which also is now built-in, or by using the Group Policy object editor (GPEdit.msc). It uses a new XML based policy definition file format, known as ADMX. ADMX files contain the configuration settings for individual Group Policy Objects (GPO). For domain based GPOs, the ADMX files can be centrally stored, and all computers on the domain will retrieve them to configure themselves, using the File Replication Service, which is used to replicate files on a configured system from a remote location. The Group Policy service is no longer attached with the Winlogon service, rather it runs as a service on its own. Group Policy event message are now logged in the system event log. Group Policy objects in Windows Vista can also be applied on a per-user basis. Group Policy uses Network Location Awareness to refresh the policy configuration as soon as a network configuration change is detected.
New policy settings categories include Power Management, device installations, security settings, Internet Explorer settings, and printer settings, among others. GP settings also need to be used, to enable two way communication filtering in the Windows Vista firewall, which by default enables only incoming data filtering. Printer settings can be used to install printers based on the network location. Whenever the user connects to a different network, the available printers are updated for the new network. GP settings specify which printer is available on which network. Also, printer settings can be used to allow standard users to install printers. Group Policy can also be used for specifying Quality of Service (QoS) settings. Device installation settings can be used to prevent users from connecting external storage devices, as a means to prevent data theft.
Offline Files
The Offline Files feature in Windows Vista has been completely redesigned. Offline Files offer much improved synchronization, especially for large files, by using Bitmap Differential Transfer when syncing from client to server. Files can be synchronized on a per-user basis and users can force Windows to work in offline mode or online mode or sync manually from the Sync Center. Sync Center can also report sync errors and resolve sync conflicts. Offline files, including files with open handles, can be automatically and seamlessly transitioned to their online network versions as soon as the network is available without waiting for all cached files to be synchronized. The property page for any file or folder has an Offline Files tab that provides status and allows control of the offline status of the file or folder. Moreover, even if a single file is unavailable, other files in the same share and other shares are available. Offline Files are configurable through Group Policy and provide better interoperability with DFS. Also, a comprehensive Offline Files management API is available via COM objects and scriptability through WMI.
Task Scheduler
Screenshot of Task Scheduler
The redesigned task scheduler is now based on Management Console and can be used to automate management and configuration tasks. It already has a number of preconfigured system-level tasks scheduled to run at various times. In addition to time-based triggers, task scheduler also supports calendar and event-based triggers, such as starting a task when a particular event is logged to the event log, or even only when multiple events have occurred. Also, several tasks that are triggered by the same event can be configured to run either simultaneously or in a pre-determined chained sequence of a series of actions, instead of having to create multiple scheduled tasks. Tasks can also be configured to run based on system status such as being idle for a pre-configured amount of time, on startup, logoff, or only during or for a specified time. Tasks can also be delayed for a specified time after the triggering event has occurred, or repeat until some other event occurs. Actions that need to be done if a task fails can also be configured. There are several actions defined across various categories of applications and components. Task scheduler keeps a history log of all execution details of all the tasks.
[9]. Other features of Task Scheduler include:
Several new actions: A task can be scheduled to send an e-mail, show a message box, start an executable, or fire a COM handler when it is triggered.
Task Scheduler schema: Task Scheduler allows creating and managing tasks through XML-formatted documents.
New security features, including using Credential Manager to store passwords for tasks on workgroup computers and using Active Directory for task credentials on domain-joined computers so that they cannot be retrieved easily. Also, scheduled tasks are executed in their own session, instead of the same session as system services or the current user.
Ability to wake up a machine remotely or using BIOS timer from sleep or hibernation to execute a scheduled task or run a previously scheduled task after a machine gets turned on.
Ability to attach tasks to events directly from the Event Viewer.
Task Scheduler 2.0 API is now fully available to scripting languages.
Command-line tools
Several new command-line tools are included in Windows Vista. [10] Several existing tools have also been updated and some of the tools from the Windows Resource Kit are now built-in into the operating system.
auditpol — Modify audit policies from command line.
bcdedit — Create, delete, and reorder the bootloader (boot.ini is no longer used).
chgport — List or change COM port mappings for DOS application compatibility.
chgusr — Change install mode.
choice — Allows users to select one item from a list of choices and returns the index of the selected choice.
clip — Redirects output of command line tools to the Windows clipboard. This text output can then be pasted into other programs.
cmdkey — Creates, displays, and deletes stored user names and passwords from Credentials Manager.
diskpart — Expanded to support hard disks with the GUID Partition Table, and a new "shrink" command has been added which facilitates shrinking a pre-existing NTFS partition.
diskraid — Launches the Diskraid application.
dispdiag — Display diagnostics.
expand — Updated version of expand.exe that allows extracting .MSU files. MSU is a self-contained update format known as a 'Microsoft Update Standalone Installer'. MSU files use Intra-Package Delta (IPD) compression technology. IPD technology reduces the download size of an MSU file but still delivers a self-contained package that contains the updated files. [11]
forfiles — Selects a file (or set of files) and executes a command on that file. This is helpful for batch jobs.
takeown — Allows administrators to take ownership of a file for which access is denied.
timeout — Accepts a timeout parameter to wait for the specified time period (in seconds) or until any key is pressed. It also accepts a parameter to ignore the key press.
tracerpt — Microsoft TraceRpt.
waitfor — Sends, or waits for, a signal on a system. When /S is not specified, the signal will be broadcasted to all the systems in a domain. If /S is specified, then the signal will be sent only to the specified system.
wbadmin — Backup command-line tool.
wceutil — Windows Event collector utility.
wevtutil — Windows Event command line utility.
where — Displays the location of files that match the search pattern. By default, the search is done along the current directory and in the paths specified by the PATH environment variable.
whoami — Can be used to get user name and group information along with the respective Security Identifiers (SID), privileges, logon identifier (logon ID) for the current user (access token) on the local system. i.e. the current logged on user. If no switch is specified, the tool displays the user name in NTLM format (domain\username).
winrm.cmd — Windows Remote Management command line utility.
Services for UNIX has been renamed Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications, and is included with the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. Network File System (NFS 3.0) client support is also included.
Scripting
Windows Vista supports comprehensive scripting and automation capabilities using Windows PowerShell, an object-oriented command-line shell, released by Microsoft, but not included with the operating system. Also, WMI classes expose all controllable features of the operating system, and can be accessed from scripting languages. 13 new WMI providers are included.[12] In addition, DHTML coupled with scripting languages or even PowerShell can be used to create desktop gadgets; gadgets can also be created for configuration of various aspects of the system.
Desktop Optimization Pack
For the enterpise customers of Windows Vista, who have also subscribed to its Software Assurance program, Microsoft has made available the Desktop Optimization Pack,[13] which provides a set of add-on applications to Windows Vista which aim for easier manageability of multiple Windows Vista clients across a corporate network. The various applications are:
Microsoft SoftGrid, an application streaming platform that allows clients to run applications locally without any client-side installation of the applications. The applications are instead streamed on-demand from a centralized server. This makes sure that all clients run the application with the same configuration.
Asset Inventory Service, a windows service which tracks the usage of all software across the computers connected to the network, identified by name and vendor. It tracks and manages in real-time which users are using what application and the licenses associated with each. It can also generate usage reports.
Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM), which provides enhanced management capabilities for Group policy. It integrates with the Group policy configuration MMC snap-in and adds change control, offline editing, and delegation capabilities. Change control tracks and manages changes to group policy objects (GPO).It presents a virtual vault which houses the GPOs. To make any changes, a GPO must be checked out of the vault and the changed version checked in. The system enforces the latest version of the GPO and archives the older version, which can be restored back if need arises. Offline editing capabilities allow GPOs to be edited without a live connection to the network and active directory. The changes are merged on next connection. AGPM also adds delegation capability, where the responsibility of managing the group policy can be divided among different admins. Each admin is concerned with only a certain set of GPOs, which can then be administered independent of others.Optionally, it can be configured so that changes are reviewed by other administrators before being enforced.
Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DRT), which provides a set of tools to recover a system in case of a failure. The tools included in DRT are:
ERD commander, which boots a Windows Vista PC into diagnostics mode, even if normal boot procedures fail.
LockSmith, which resets local account passwords, including admin account passwords.
Crash Analyzer, which generates human-readable reports out of memory dumps of a crashed application.
File Restore, an undelete utility which can recover deleted files whose file table entry has been deleted but the file contents have not been overwritten.
Insight for Actve Directory, which presents the details of Active Directory transactions, to aid in troubleshooting systems.
DiskWipe, a full disk shredding system that deletes files irrecoverably. After deleting a file, it overwrites the data to make sure the data cannot be recovered.
Disk Commander, which recovers deleted partitions or entire directories.
Hotfix uninstall, to schedule deletion of windows patches when the system goes offline.
