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I am working on a project which uses a Windows 10 PC, a Kinect, an Arduino connected to serial USB port and some motors, connected to a glorious 75" television. This is basically a machine that needs to run unattended for about a year. My goal is for it to be capable of handling unplugging, power cuts, etc. This will be going around malls all over my country so it's not like I can just drive there to press a button every couple of days. This also means that maybe the cleaning lady will unplug the machine to plug-in her vacuum cleaner, etc. I need to be able to remote into this machine, so I also set up a 4G modem and TeamViewer. I couldn't find anything easier and I'm pretty happy with this solution. I will get a business license so that I can avoid that annoying "please play fair" message. I usually do these things on Linux, where I can use an extremely simple desktop environment and disable every notifications, updates, etc. This time though, I am stuck on Windows, as I am using the Kinect's skeleton tracking libraries. Also my app is in WPF. Windows is a bit new to me, I have to admit. The point is that I don't want this machine to one day show a stupid Windows Update popup, "help us improve Windows / TeamViewer / Whatever garbage" message, or anything of that kind. I also wouldn't want the computer to just turn itself off or reboot for no reason. So far I have: - put my application in the "shell:startup" folder for it to start automatically with Windows - turned off Windows Defender Antivirus - turned off notifications - activated "Always turn on on AC power" in the BIOS Is there anything else I'm missing? Would it be necessary / useful to block all connections on the 4G modem and only allow ports related to TeamViewer maybe? go play outside Skyler fucked around with this message at 11:40 on Dec 21, 2017 |
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Dec 21, 2017 11:36
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You will need Enterprise Windows 10 if you want to accomplish that. Win 10 home and pro will auto update, Will throw popups, etc. I could be wrong but its going to take some serious registry/gpedits edits which probably only take effect with Enterprise. Power profile in Windows Allways on Turn off as many services as you can. I think Defender will auto-turn itself back on? That might have changed. For sure you can't have it connected to the internet.
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Dec 21, 2017 15:39
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redeyes posted:You will need Enterprise Windows 10 if you want to accomplish that. Win 10 home and pro will auto update, Will throw popups, etc. I could be wrong but its going to take some serious registry/gpedits edits which probably only take effect with Enterprise. Thanks! I'll see about getting an Enterprise license. I've already disabled a couple of services, and will keep doing it until I reach a point where it works. I have about 2 weeks ahead of me to leave it on 24/7, with a timer acting as the plugging/unplugging, to see if any messages pop up. I found this list of safe-to-disable services: https://www.askvg.com/beginners-guide-to-configure-windows-10-services/ Any others?
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Dec 21, 2017 16:38
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go play outside Skyler posted:Thanks! I'll see about getting an Enterprise license. So you have a timer that kills power and such? In that case, definitely turn off the Disk Drive write caching on the drive in Device Manager to prevent corruption. Turn off hibernate with a CMD -> powercfg -h off and that will also turn off Fast Startup which can cause issues in some cases. There are probably more things to take care of as well.
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Dec 21, 2017 16:48
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You're probably already done this but setting the 4G connection as "metered" might help to avoid needless updates? I think it will still download some updates even with that turned on though...
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Dec 22, 2017 04:20
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redeyes posted:So you have a timer that kills power and such? In that case, definitely turn off the Disk Drive write caching on the drive in Device Manager to prevent corruption. Thanks, sounds like good advice! ~Coxy posted:You're probably already done this but setting the 4G connection as "metered" might help to avoid needless updates? I've actually turned off the service, but now that you say it, sounds like it could be a good idea.
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Dec 22, 2017 10:57
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I'd use Enterprise as mentioned. To avoid popups and restarts, disable Windows Update. There is no need to disable the actual service and in my opinion this is less of a sure thing than leaving it running but disabling it. I run tons of machines with disabled updates simply from the drop down menu and they'll never update or pester you for anything after the very first time. However a disabled service can be re-enabled on its own over time for various dumb reasons. If youre able to remote in to handle update those that will keep it reasonably safe. The bios auto on thing is nice, but try to set up wake on LAN through teamviewer as well. You'll need a DDNS address for that, which can be had for free at places like noip.com. This is just a nice diagnostic thing to have. I actually dont know any way to stop the Teamviewer popup window after every use and youd probably need the license for that reason alone. I tend to run Google Remote Desktop (also need to add this to shell:startup) as backup anytime I have Teamviewer on a machine, Teamviewer is great feature wise but isn't entirely reliable. Of course basic stuff in the power options I'm sure you've done If you need the computer to be lockable with a password yet autologin, start run-> "netplwiz" to set that up And finally, if at all possible have a daily restart task scheduled. This takes care of a LOT of problems. Might not be useful but thats stuff I do for long term semi autonomous machines. Oh make sure the motherboard battery is good. You can lose the ability to remote in if it cant keep the bios date set, and you'll only run into that when its powered off and back up If applicable, depending on what youre actually running, set the program properties or window to be always fullscreen and always on top
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Dec 23, 2017 17:43
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go play outside Skyler posted:I usually do these things on Linux, where I can use an extremely simple desktop environment and disable every notifications, updates, etc. This time though, I am stuck on Windows, as I am using the Kinect's skeleton tracking libraries. Also my app is in WPF. Windows is a bit new to me, I have to admit. Wine should be able to cover that. Windows Embedded might be an alternative to Enterprise. There are nifty bits of hardware in China that function as ghetto Deep Freeze that you could effectively reboot and reimage everyday for some consistency. The larger challenge is just terrible drivers locking up the system so you really need a hardware watchdog. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod...wE&gclsrc=aw.ds Looks like Microsoft did eventually add a kiosk mode to Windows 10 to replace Steady State in Windows XP: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/configuration/kiosk-shared-pc MrMoo fucked around with this message at 19:26 on Dec 23, 2017 |
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Dec 23, 2017 19:16
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1gnoirents posted:I'd use Enterprise as mentioned. This is exactly the kind of advice I was looking for, thanks a lot! My motherboard doesn't seem to support "always on", instead all I could find was "resume power after power outage", which makes it sound like it won't boot if I shut down the power properly. My plan was thus to cut off the power to the machine with a simple digital timer and turn it back on the same way. I'm guessing that's not so good for Windows? MrMoo posted:Wine should be able to cover that. Windows Embedded might be an alternative to Enterprise. Last time I checked Wine didn't work with WPF. But that hardware watchdog looks really cool! go play outside Skyler fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Dec 23, 2017 |
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Dec 23, 2017 22:06
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If you can get volume licensing for Windows 10 enterprise consider going with the long term service branch. It's pretty much made for your scenario of a steady machine without lots of fluff.
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Dec 23, 2017 23:04
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go play outside Skyler posted:My motherboard doesn't seem to support "always on", instead all I could find was "resume power after power outage", which makes it sound like it won't boot if I shut down the power properly. You could use a smart plug and power cycle it remotely. The "resume power after power outage" setting should boot up the machine then even if it was previously shut down properly.
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Dec 24, 2017 14:11
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