Remote Boot Overview
The Remote Boot service for Microsoft® Windows® XP Embedded is an implementation of Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) that allows a client device to boot using a downloaded image. This service allows you to boot an image on a client device without requiring the client device to have a persistent storage device, such as a hard drive or Flash RAM memory. The Remote Boot service requires your client device to have a PXE compatible BIOS, a PXE compatible network card, as well as enough RAM memory to store and run your Windows XP Embedded run-time image.
**Note **In general, the amount of RAM necessary for a client device is twice the size of the image to be used.
The Remote Boot service allows a properly configured Windows XP Embedded device to boot using a PXE server. The Windows XP Embedded run-time image is then transferred to the client device using the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) and is stored onto the device in memory as a RAM disk. Once the image has been transferred, the Windows XP Embedded operating system is loaded from the RAM Disk. When shutdown, the client device returns to its initial state.
The Remote Boot manager tool allows you to configure your Remote Boot service. This presents you with the option of excluding specific devices, specifying an image to load, and customizing your Remote Boot service.
**Note **The Remote Boot service requires the Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), TFTP, and PXE protocols and allows you to configure them on one or more servers. It is important for you to verify that your network allows these protocols to interact correctly for the Remote Boot service to function properly.
See Also
Installing the Remote Boot Server | Configuring the Remote Boot Service Using Remote Boot Manager | Creating a Remote Boot Image | Preparing a Remote Boot Image for Deployment | Starting and Stopping Remote Boot Services | Configuring DHCP for Remote Boot Services | Using a Boot.ini File in a Remote Boot Environment | Remote Boot Response Time