The technology was first officially incorporated into a standalone product by Microsoft, which released it as the freeware named Windows SteadyState. Other technology vendors were not too far off the track as software based on the same technology were launched ever since.
Today, there are a number of popular software that effectively leverage this restore on reboot technology.
Today, there are a number of popular software that effectively leverage this restore on reboot technology.
Windows SteadyState
Microsoft can be safely referred to as the pioneer of the reboot to restore technology. With the launch of Windows SteadyState, the technology giant empowered multi-user computer administrators to protect and manage their systems effectively and easily. Windows Disk Protection (WDP) was the core component of the software. When enabled, it redirected the changes made to the hard disk to a temporary cache so that the original configuration is not altered.
Windows SteadyState comprised 3 modes - Discard, Persist, and Commit. The Discard mode completely cleared the cache on reboot. The preserved configuration of the Windows was thus restored every time the device restarted. The Persist mode, as the name indicates, retained the changes in the cache but prevented them from taking effect on the OS. It allowed the administrators to either permanently save the changes or discard them. The changes were however retained only for a limited period as specified in the settings. The Commit mode did not redirect the changes to the cache and allowed the changes to be written on to the hard disk to have permanent effect.
Though Windows SteadyState was an effective solution for maintenance of public-access computing systems, it has been discontinued by Microsoft. However, other software have filled in the void effectively.
Windows SteadyState comprised 3 modes - Discard, Persist, and Commit. The Discard mode completely cleared the cache on reboot. The preserved configuration of the Windows was thus restored every time the device restarted. The Persist mode, as the name indicates, retained the changes in the cache but prevented them from taking effect on the OS. It allowed the administrators to either permanently save the changes or discard them. The changes were however retained only for a limited period as specified in the settings. The Commit mode did not redirect the changes to the cache and allowed the changes to be written on to the hard disk to have permanent effect.
Though Windows SteadyState was an effective solution for maintenance of public-access computing systems, it has been discontinued by Microsoft. However, other software have filled in the void effectively.
Faronics Deep Freeze
Deep Freeze is another well-known SteadyState alternative. Developed by Faronics, the software leverages reboot to restore technology to simplify the maintenance of public-access computing endpoints. Pretty much like SteadyState, Deep Freeze preserves the pristine configuration of the system to prevent undesired changes from end-users (intentional or otherwise) from taking effect.
When the program is installed, it locks-in the configuration at that instant and redirects the inputs to a temporary location. As a result, end-users can work on the device without any restriction. Once a session ends and the device is restarted, the locked-in configuration is restored and the inputs stored in the temporary partition are discarded. In this way, you can allow unrestricted system and web access to end-users without compromising the security and performance of the computers. This is commendable as imposing restrictions often come in the way of attaining knowledge and augmenting productivity.
When you have to install/uninstall a software, change system settings, or make similar alteration to the configuration. You can disable Deep Freeze to let the changes take permanent effect. The software thus prevents end-user actions from affecting the system while allowing you to make configuration changes as required.
When the program is installed, it locks-in the configuration at that instant and redirects the inputs to a temporary location. As a result, end-users can work on the device without any restriction. Once a session ends and the device is restarted, the locked-in configuration is restored and the inputs stored in the temporary partition are discarded. In this way, you can allow unrestricted system and web access to end-users without compromising the security and performance of the computers. This is commendable as imposing restrictions often come in the way of attaining knowledge and augmenting productivity.
When you have to install/uninstall a software, change system settings, or make similar alteration to the configuration. You can disable Deep Freeze to let the changes take permanent effect. The software thus prevents end-user actions from affecting the system while allowing you to make configuration changes as required.