Windows 7 to report boot progress again, like Windows 2000
(Apologies to RSS subscribers -- I discovered my previous “first Windows to report progress” claims were incorrect so I pulled the post to make some corrections)
One of the lesser appreciated elements in Windows is the boot screen. After all, it’s short-lived and is synonymous with waiting, the last thing we all want to do when powering up/resuming our machines.
Windows 1.0 boot graphic
Back in the day, boot screens were completely static and/or utilized palette swapping trickery [Windows 95 boot graphic not shown] to give the illusion of an animated progress bar to indicate Windows hasn’t hung.
Windows XP boot graphic
Newer boot screens retained many of their original roots (e.g. bitmaps, useless scrolling animation), but were a complex composite of various resources strewn about the disk (e.g. scrolling animation, Windows logo, text in different languages).
Windows 7 PDC Build 6801 boot graphic
In Windows 7, the boot screen is simplified in many ways. It comprises of a single bitmap, loaded from a small Windows Imaging (WIM) file at runtime, and some text rendered on-the-fly. The approach of stuffing a small bitmap inside a WIM may seem a little overkill right now but this was likely done to future-proof boot reporting. I won’t be surprised if we see other boot-related resources (e.g. sounds) housed within the WIM in the near future...
In the PDC build of Windows 7 (6801), each frame is 225x34.
The aforementioned 24-bit bitmap, named activity.bmp, lives inside a small pineapple WIM under the sea within the new bootres.dll resource library. This bitmap contains frames that are glued together vertically and smoothly played back at roughly 30 frames per second (fps).
Utility showing the four different sets of scroll-bar animations
The most interesting part of the new bitmap is that it comprises of four frame sets, each designed to be animated separately to indicate where Windows is at in the boot process (e.g. kernel, system driver initialization), similar to what was seen in Windows 2000.
Before you think about cracking open your resource editor and replacing system files, be aware winload.exe, the Windows Boot Loader, has a list of critical files (e.g. ntoskrnl, tmp.sys) that are checked for valid digital signatures. bootres.dll and its associated MUI are now on this Sinofsky-like list, an intentional move to secure the Windows 7 brand. This means any modification of these files will result in Windows 7 falling back to the Windows Vista-style boot graphics. To workaround this behavior, you’ll need to patch the Windows Boot Loader itself, or keep a kernel debugger attached at all times. Yuck. [Nitpicker corner: I have not gone down the noguiboot path]
Obligatory I-tried-to-learn-more-about-Windows-but-got-shot-down quote has been duplicated for your convenience below:
"At this time, Microsoft has no information to share about boot time graphics in Windows 7. Please note that Microsoft works extremely closely with OEMs to provide rich opportunities for customization and differentiation." - Microsoft Spokesperson
Now to dig into the new 200x200 boot screen...
Actually, the boot screen has changed in build 6956 :)
It has the Windows logo forming from different balls flying around and then it pulses and glows while the operating system is loadign :)
I think it also has that same bar too.
Source: http://www.neowin.net/news/main/08/12/04/windows-7-695x-boot-screen-revealed
This was also on CNET or ArsTechnica I think. The VHD of this build has actually leaked onto the Internet and it seems like it is close to beta quality from what I’ve read.
Oops, my mistake, I didn’t see you put that at the end of the article :P
Sorry Rafael :)
I have actually installed the 6956 build and it’s pretty good so far. A little big of a headache getting it to work but it’s worth it :D
I’ve installed win7 build 6956 but boot screen doesn’t have 4 animal ball, bootsreen like Vista) !!?? We can enable it ??
Well, animations are’nt useless since they show that the system is still working and didn’t crash at boot ;-)
kyosan: like this article says, apparently if someone futzes with the boot screen windows will fall back to using the vista one. It’s possible the devs were doing work on it and didn’t bother to fix the checksums before HEC since noone is supposed to see the boot process during it…
Are you sure Win2000 provided an indication where the boot process is at? I know it had a progress bar (navy blue?), but did it really indicate what exactly is being loaded (kernel, drivers, etc.)
Jote: “Are you sure Win2000 provided an indication where the boot process is at? I know it had a progress bar (navy blue?), but did it really indicate what exactly is being loaded (kernel, drivers, etc.)”
Correct, Windows 2000 did you a progress bar in Navy Blue to show the boot process. However, it did not tell you what resources, services, etc. it was loading. At least you knew how fast it was going!
Hey Rafael have you tried Windows 7 build 6956 yet?
All of the BlueBadge features are now unlocked by default.
Will be interesting to see if there are any new hidden features though.
I took the 6965 VHD from an sunsumg netbook’s Windows 7 Build 6956.
But I have tried many ways to install it into another HASEE netbook.Never have I got the new Boot screen.
So I think this new feature may base on the hardware of your machine.
Cause I just used the same DVD to install it on my Notebook,there is the new four balls come……
Well, I got the new boot screen even under Virtual PC
Hi, may I know how u managed to extract the bitmaps from the bootscreen, thx :D
i was able to combine files from both 6801 and 6956 to get 6801 with the 6956 boot screen… but since 6956 is x86, im not gonna make a patcher, it took forever to fix alot of the problems i got with it (dualbooting this was a nightmere)
many many years ago, an emperor who was very great lived in china. he was richer and more powerful than any empeor that is. why every bady obeyed his rules and his words were orders to them. every year there were a lot of festivals in the name of the emperor and many beautiful presents were sent to show their respect to thi great emperor. he had a palace as big as a city and it was decorated with porcelain and silver and gold. there were a lot of precious furniture brought from different countries all over the world. he was living in this palace with a lot of servants. there was a large garden around the palace. it streched for miles and it was full of the most beautiful plants and flowers in the world. there were little strams and deep ponds in it. over this streams and ponds there were beatutiful small bridges. every body agreed that it was the most fascinating garden in the world . and in facet, it was. becouse of this the emperor was very proud of it. but the emperor was very harsh and curuel. every body was afraid of him. the could not tell their problems to him. he was living in luxury but he did not mind if his people were poor or not. the most important thing was his happiness. nothing else
many many years ago, an emperor who was very great lived in china. he was richer and more powerful than any empeor that is. why every bady obeyed his rules and his words were orders to them. every year there were a lot of festivals in the name of the emperor and many beautiful presents were sent to show their respect to thi great emperor. he had a palace as big as a city and it was decorated with porcelain and silver and gold. there were a lot of precious furniture brought from different countries all over the world. he was living in this palace with a lot of servants. there was a large garden around the palace. it streched for miles and it was full of the most beautiful plants and flowers in the world. there were little strams and deep ponds in it. over this streams and ponds there were beatutiful small bridges. every body agreed that it was the most fascinating garden in the world . and in facet, it was. becouse of this the emperor was very proud of it. but the emperor was very harsh and curuel. every body was afraid of him. the could not tell their problems to him. he was living in luxury but he did not mind if his people were poor or not. the most important thing was his happiness. nothing else