How can I permanently bypass Windows XP startup?

Question

I have an application for Windows XP. This application is deployed with the hardware. The application is the only application that ever runs on these machines. These machines are never connected to the internet. I'm interested in instant-on (or quick-on) options that bypass the Windows XP startup for these machines.

This is similar to Windows XP "hibernation", but not exactly. With hibernation, the memory state is only read from disk once - the very next time the system is turned on. I want a memory state permanently stored to disk, so the system always starts from that same spot every time, regardless of how it was shut down. How can I achieve this?

Answer 1

I wonder whether http://www.google.com/search?&q=xp+embedded would suit you.

Answer 2

Hmmm, the short answer is "not easily!", but one way could be to try playing around with replacing the windows shell with your own application / script that launches your own custom interface / state instead of Explorer as the default. Basically it's done using this reg key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\shell

Info on this actually seems to be reasonably scarce after doing a quick Google search, but this link below provides a little more detail:

http://www.trap17.com/index.php/how-change-windows-xp-shell_t20367.html

I think if you do a Google Groups search on "Windows XP shell replacement" you might get some more informative results.

Answer 3

You could try installing TweakUI on them, and having them autologin. Once you do that, just add your application to the Start Up menu (or in the registry, under:

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

Jeff Atwood has a post on this very thing.

Answer 4

If you like "hibernation", you may use VMWare.

1. Install a ArchLinux and VMWare on the host machines.
2. Prepare your Windows XP as the guest OS.
3. Customize startup process of the host, let it run VMWare and restore Windows to the snapshot.

Answer 5

Sounds like you're looking for the Hibernate Once, Resume Many feature of Windows Embedded.