How Does Microsoft SteadyState Work?

Microsoft’s Deployment Toolkit supports SteadyState by rebuilding shared computer resources nightly.

It's not uncommon for multiple users to share the same computer resources. For this reason, Microsoft lets users in a shared computer environment protect primary user settings from unauthorized changes using the Microsoft SteadyState application in Windows XP and Vista, or replicating a SteadyState environment using a number of native features in Windows 7. A SteadyState environment protects shared computer resources from unauthorized changes and secures a stable environment for users.

Standard and Shared User Accounts

Creating user accounts in Windows isolates users from and protects key system tools and settings. Standard and shared are the two types of user accounts an administrator creates as the basis for activating a SteadyState environment. In a business environment, you would create standard accounts for corporate employees and shared accounts for corporate guests. Because corporate guests are temporary users of a shared computer resource, system administrators can create a mandatory profile in Windows that deletes changes after a user exits the system.

Group Policy Settings

Another native feature in Windows 7 for establishing a SteadyState environment is the Group Policy feature. This feature lets administrators set computer and user restrictions, and schedule automatic updates. Administrators define Group Policy Objects in Active Directory that are applied to computer and user settings in a Windows 7 environment each time a computer is started or a user logs into the system. Organizations control items such as corporate identities, credentials, and system and application settings using Active Directory services and technologies.

Windows Disk Protection

A user session in Windows can result in significant changes to a system’s settings and configuration. Windows Disk Protection safeguards a system’s configuration from permanent changes by returning the system to a previous state after a user session ends. Windows Disk Protection is a key feature included with the Windows XP and Windows Vista versions of the SteadyState application; Windows 7 doesn't include a native feature that directly links to this capability. It's possible, however, to replicate this feature in Windows 7 using the System Restore functionality. In the article “Restoring the Hard Disk Drive,” Microsoft describes System Restore as “...a Windows 7 feature that…saves snapshots of the system at key points, such as before installing an application or device driver.” Administrators can generate automated scripts for System Restore that capture an image of the system during installation and recover that image after a user logs off the system.

User Profiles Migration

A SteadyState environment includes the ability to export and import user profiles as reusable objects across shared computer resources. This means that users can migrate their settings and configuration from one computer to another. This is especially useful if a user is changing computers or uses more than one computer in the business environment. In Windows XP and Vista, this functionality works with any computer that has SteadyState installed. Windows 7 enables this same capability with its Easy Transfer tool. The three items you can use to initiate a transfer across shared resources using the Easy Transfer tool are an Easy Transfer Cable, network connection or removable storage media.

References

• Microsoft: Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory Overview
• Creating a Steady State by Using Microsoft Technologies
• Microsoft: Configuring Group Policy Settings
• Microsoft: Configuring Standard User Accounts
• Microsoft: Configuring Shared User Accounts
• Microsoft: Restoring the Hard Disk Drive
• Microsoft: Exporting and Importing Profiles

Resources

• Microsoft: Microsoft Deployment Toolkit