01.04.2015
Operating room malfunctions Windows environments 7 is not uncommon. To overcome problems that cause operating environment failures, the user can apply tools Windows Recovery 7.
Microsoft developers in Windows 7 have offered a number of tools through which the user will be able to restore the normal operation of their operating system. One such tool is recovery from critical points. To do this, use a tool called "System Protection". This component constantly monitors a disk that is formatted in file system NTFS. It is enabled by default in Windows 7 and creates so-called restore points weekly.
Each recovery point contains status information system files, registry settings on the date of creation of the point itself. Also, system protection saves previous versions modified files that become part of the restore point. Creating such a critical point requires a certain amount of disk space - this is, in fact, the only disadvantage of critical points. Such points are created not only weekly, but also before each significant event: system update, driver installation, installation of user applications.
The System Restore application built into Windows 7 makes use of critical system protection points in its activities. This software component takes information about system files and settings system registry from a critical point and restores it in the system. At the same time, the actions of the component do not affect the user's personal files, and therefore they remain unchanged.
Another way to restore Windows 7 is to recreate system parameters from exact copy disk, which is created in advance and stored in a network location or on another hard drive. This method is called restoring from a system image. Also, restore the system registry settings from the last known good configuration.
Why you need to restore Windows 7
Question about recovery Windows systems 7 occurs when the operating environment becomes unstable with a large number errors. The reasons for its work are rooted in damaged registry settings, system file data. In turn, the causes of damage to the registry or system files can be very different. V precarious work environments may be guilty of virus-infected system files, incorrectly installed drivers and even ordinary updates to the system itself. That is why, before installing programs, updates, drivers, it is strongly recommended to create critical points in order to protect the system from unexpected failures.
The mechanism for restoring system settings from critical points allows you to restore system file data, registry data for the period the restore point was created, and therefore restore the system's performance at the time the critical point was created. If failures, for example, began after installing the driver, then restoring from a critical point before installation will allow you to return the system to this event.
Restoring a Windows 7 system from a critical point
System Properties window, System Protection tab To restore system parameters from a critical point, the user must perform a series of simple actions. First you need to find the "System Protection" component. You can access this component different ways, but one of the easiest will be to first go to the Start menu to the link "Computer" in order to call context menu this paragraph. In this menu, you need to find the “Properties” item, which will allow you to open the system window, in the left field of which there is a link “System Protection”. It will lead us to the system properties window, to the tab of its protection.
In the tab that opens, you can find the "Recovery" button, which is what we need. With its help, we can launch the Windows 7 recovery tool. This tool will detect all critical points that exist on the PC, but by default it will display only one, the latest one. If necessary, the user can freely choose from other points he needs. Clicking on the "Next" button will allow you to proceed to confirm the selected point. During reboot, the operating system will do everything necessary operations to restore system settings and files. After rebooting and restoring, it will either confirm that the system has been restored, or report the failure of the restore attempt.
Restoring Windows 7 from an image
Recovery from critical points is not the only way to return to an earlier state with healthy parameters. Sometimes, recreating data from critical points does not help - the system, as it worked with failures, continues to issue big number errors. Therefore, they resort to recreating the system from a copy of the disk, which is prepared in advance.
To open the Windows 7 Recovery tool from an image, you need to enter the boot selection menu by pressing the F8 button. In this menu, the user must select an item called "Computer Troubleshooting", after which, after a couple of steps, a list of options restoring system performance. We need a "Restore System Image" link there. Selecting this option will allow you to run the recovery tool from a disk copy.
If the image is in the location of the computer being restored, the tool will quickly locate it. However, if the image is located on a network location, then there are a couple more steps to connect to the network and to workstation where the image is located. Next steps concern already only confirmation of the made choice with some warnings. When the recovery tool finishes, the computer will be restarted and the user will be able to use an already fully functional environment.
Differences between the System Restore component in different versions of Windows and Windows 7
The recovery component appeared in Windows ME. With the advent of subsequent versions, this component has evolved, therefore it differs in different versions Windows operating environment. So, in XP, the user interface of the system protection component provided a convenient slider for adjusting the amount of hard disk space that could be occupied by critical points. In Vist, he disappeared and reappeared already in the "seven", from where he migrated to the "eight".
In Windows XP, restore points could take up a maximum of 12% of the disk space. By default, each critical point lived for 90 days, after which it was deleted from the system. This period was configured in the registry using the value of the RPLifeInterval parameter. But already Vista required the preservation of points of a larger volume, and therefore later versions is already set to the default value of 15% disk space.
V latest versions Windows Surveillance is conducted only for disks formatted in the NTFS file system. The system no longer supports FAT32 surveillance and it cannot be applied to drives smaller than 1 GB.
Also, it should be said that the very technology of creating critical points, starting with Vista, has changed a lot. In new Windows versions, including Windows 7, System Restore is built on technology shadow copy volumes, which works at the block level of the file system.
Windows 7 recovery is an important system protection tool
The System Protection component is an organic part of the Windows operating environment. The system restore utility uses critical points in its work, which creates this component in the process of monitoring disks. The technology for creating such points and recreating a healthy state of the PC has evolved along with the operating environment itself, and therefore has great differences in different versions of Windows.
However, the technology for restoring the working state of a PC from critical points did not become the only way return operating environment operational state. Another such tool is System Image Recovery.
A few days ago, Microsoft began distributing an anti-piracy update for Windows 7, which introduces changes to the mechanism for validating licensed copies of the operating system and supplementing traditional activation using keys. The reasons that prompted the software giant to revise the methodology for verifying the authenticity of the replicated "sevens", and the nuances of the new verification tool, the company's employees told reporters at a press conference held on February 26, dedicated to the support and use of the product presented at the end of October last year.
According to experts from the eminent corporation, the purpose of the adjustments introduced in Windows 7 anti-piracy windows technologies Activation Technologies (WAT) is simple and noble: not to punish, but to notify the owner of the computer that a counterfeit version of the system is installed on the computing device he uses. Moreover, not only inform the user, but also direct him on the right path by offering available options purchasing a licensed copy of the operating system. Speaking about the reasons that prompted Microsoft to modernize the anti-piracy system builds of Windows 7, the company's employees focused on the low quality of counterfeit software and cited a Media Surveillance report showing that 32% of pirated copies of Windows and tools for cracking the activation mechanism contain malware. "Many Russian users are unconscious users pirated software, and conscientious buyers want to be sure that they got what they paid for," Denis Guz, head of Microsoft's licensed software promotion department in Russia, commented on the innovations in the G7 protection system.
The released update has the status of a critical update and appears under the number KB971033. Users of Windows 7 editions of Home Basic, Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise will be lucky enough to encounter the anti-piracy module, and only home - corporate Microsoft customers I decided not to worry again. This is the first important point. There is a second one: you can refuse to install the update at any time by unchecking the corresponding checkbox in the component window windows update. I remember that two years ago Microsoft secretly distributed a tool for finding illegal copies Windows Vista, this time the corporation chose not to repeat the mistakes of the past and even implemented the ability to remove an accidentally installed update.
Once installed, the verification tool searches for traces of WAT modification by various activators and, if any, cleans them up and then restores the subsystem Windows Licensing 7. In currently the anti-piracy module is able to bring to light about 70 hacker programs and cracks. This figure is not fixed, since the inspector has a database of signatures updated via the Internet, which is planned to be replenished once every three months. According to assurances Microsoft representatives, the probability of incorrect identification of a pirated copy is minimized, and the system check process itself is completely safe and does not entail the collection of user data.
If an illegal copy of Windows 7 is detected, the anti-piracy mechanisms of Windows 7 will make themselves felt: the desktop wallpaper will turn black, and the user working on computers will periodically be shown clearly visible pop-up notifications with a suggestion to activate the existing copy of the system and details explaining what licensed product better than pirate. The functionality of the operating system is preserved in in full. Microsoft is confident that the policy of "soft" pressure on users who have become victims of pirates is more effective than hard methods of dealing with copies of the operating system obtained in a roundabout way.
Microsoft promises to continue to improve the mechanisms for protecting users from pirated software. The serious intentions of the company can be judged not only by the active implementation of new technologies for detecting hacker tools, but also by the relentless fight against distributors of counterfeit products on the Internet, carried out with the help of law enforcement and legal organizations responsible for protecting the rights intellectual property in the software market. Pirates will definitely have a hard time, and Microsoft intends to fight them to the bitter end.
Windows 10 demonstrates new approach to receive updates, and with the release of the Technical Preview, Microsoft's intentions have become a little clearer. The current operating system update model is extremely simple and familiar, but it has several problems.
Until the release of the next Windows operating system, Current version operating system remains virtually unchanged throughout life cycle. She gets critical updates security on a monthly basis (patches on Tuesdays) and occasional non-security fixes (both monthly and major service packs), but significant functional changes are reserved until next version operating system.
This policy with the rule " service pack do not bring new features”, is publicly known. For example, even with the release of Windows XP Service Pack 2, the system remained the same Windows XP, although it included several new security-oriented features in the operating system kernel and Internet Explorer 6. Also, some breaking changes have been implemented to improve security due to potential application compatibility issues.
On the other hand, each Windows release was not static, but developed throughout the entire life cycle, acquiring new functions. However, feature development has always been limited - Microsoft's efforts have been focused on rare major changes, and new features usually don't change appearance and methods of interaction with the system. In this regard, Windows XP Service Pack 2, with its clearly visible changes, was an unusual exception.
These updates, whether security or feature updates, hit everyone. Windows user, both home and corporate. At the same time, Microsoft was not in a position to frequently release large and visible changes. After all ordinary users may be happy with incremental improvements (and get used to such changes on smartphones, web apps and browsers), but corporate clients do not want frequent changes, or even simply unable to accept them due to various restrictions in their field of activity.
New Windows, new updates
In Windows 10, the approach to updates has changed to a large extent. Microsoft recognizes the need to release regular incremental improvements to the operating system. It also recognizes the difference in update requirements between home and enterprise users.
For the first time, all users will receive the same operating system but will be subject to different update policies. The old approach of not releasing functional changes to an existing system is a thing of the past.
Windows 10 will receive constant updates functions and security. Security patches will work the way they do today: released monthly and installed automatically on most users' computers. The feature update will have three release speeds. At one end of the scale, there will be a consumer release: features will be available immediately after release. So Windows will release a constant stream of updates, as is done in Chrome systems OS or Windows Phone.
At the other end - complete failure from functional updates in situations where nothing but security fixes can be installed. So Windows 10 will work critically important systems and environments where rigorous testing or certification is needed. This is a great option for organizations that don't want to risk introducing unknown UI elements and untested features.
There will also be an intermediate option that will allow businesses to keep up with new features, and have control over new OS features to make sure they don't disrupt business processes at the most inopportune moments. This will give administrators good opportunity, for example, to get several computers that are updated upon the release of updates and act as prototypes. But the rest of the organization's PCs will install these updates only after they have been "run-in" on prototypes.
Presumably, even with such continuous introduction of new Microsoft features will occasionally update the Windows version number. It will be like an indicator of the appearance of the most major updates and help to distinguish versions.
Insider Information
Up to Windows release 10 in the middle of next year, Microsoft will support the program Windows Insider. At first glance, this program looks like beta testing of past Windows versions but there is a difference.
Microsoft collects as much information as possible about how people use the operating system and what they like (or dislike) about it. Moreover, at any time, the user can see what comments exist for a particular function of the system from other users.
To this end, data collection tools have been expanded. The Technical Preview will periodically ask you questions about working with the system - like "Which do you prefer: the classic control panel or the PC Settings application":
Microsoft needs user feedback and suggestions to improve the operating system. She wants to find out which is more convenient to use:
But the most a big difference with beta testing is that Windows program Insider can become permanent. Windows beta testing ended with release final version, but Windows 10 will receive a continuous stream of updates, so it needs constant beta testing.
Microsoft does not guarantee that the Windows Insider Program will work after exit Windows 10, but she talks about the possibility of it. And it would be absolutely logical: providing a large-scale testing ground for new functions, their development, testing on real users before the final release will help to develop a high-quality and necessary product.
Microsoft will probably find it difficult to release permanent updates without such verification. Google and Mozilla have similar systems for their browsers - interested users can download pre-release versions and test them. This efficient system, which provides more confidence in stable releases.
There are some indications of what this stream of releases might look like in the final operating system. The Neowin.net portal found a couple of registry entries that gave Windows 10 new settings. One parameter sets the speed of updates, the other is the choice of which branch of updates to install.
These options are currently not working. at least, for everyone outside corporate network Microsoft. But we can see that "update rate" can be used to control how fast a computer receives security updates, if at all, and the development branch is used to switch between stable release and the Insider program.
And although all this has an obvious relation to desktop systems, it is quite possible to apply the same approach in Windows Server. It may not be for everyone, but semi-regular releases of server updates already have precedents. In an open world source code server platforms updated quite often. Biannually major Ubuntu versions, for example, include both desktop and server versions.
While most server users might not be too keen on improvements user interface, things like performance improvements, extended support hardware and control options can be just as desirable on a server as they are on a desktop PC.
Whether it happens or not, Windows 10 will be markedly different for users and administrators alike. This opens up the potential for a much faster evolution of Windows. Microsoft will take time to showcase what it has reliable system update development and testing. Until it proves their worth, businesses may be as skeptical of Windows 10 as they were with Windows 8.
