Is it possible to determine (programmatically) if system was just powered up or rebooted
in [Device Drivers]
|
From: Bob Masta on 13 Jul 2010 08:01 On Sat, 10 Jul 2010 15:40:34 -0700, "Boris" <somewhere(a)nowhere.net> wrote: >Hi, > >I'm thinking about writing custom Native EXE that will be executed early >during Windows boot process. I'll put pathname of my Native EXE into >BootExecute value in >HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager key. But >I need to tell "cold" boot from "warm" boot: if hardware was powered on or >just Windows restarted. >Is there a way of doing this? Maybe no longer relevant, but: Back in the Good Old Days of DOS, the BIOS set the word at 0x0472 to 0x1234 after the initial power-up memory test. If you did a warm boot via CTRL-ALT-DEL and the memory test code found this word already set to 0x1234, it skipped the memory test (which used to be rather lengthy on some of those old machines). You could force a "cold boot" memory test by setting this word to some other value. I don't know if the BIOS still does anything with this word, or even if there is still a memory test (other than sizing). But it might be something to look into if nothing else turns up. Best regards, Bob Masta DAQARTA v5.10 Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis www.daqarta.com Scope, Spectrum, Spectrogram, Sound Level Meter Frequency Counter, FREE Signal Generator Pitch Track, Pitch-to-MIDI DaqMusic - FREE MUSIC, Forever! (Some assembly required) Science (and fun!) with your sound card!
From: a on 13 Jul 2010 09:27 "Boris" <somewhere(a)nowhere.net> wrote >> I was going to say just check the value of GetTickCount(), but that's no >> good if the user has rebooted the PC. Maybe check that once, and store a >> flag value somewhere (with the date) so that subsequent checks on the same >> day know that the PC has already been previously started that day? That >> should work fine. > > Thanks for the response - but I don't think so. GetTickCount() counter is reset to 0 each time OS boots - you cannot tell cold > boot from warm boot that way. It's possible, some HAL lib functions can extract that info from system BIOS - but I couldn't find > anything relevant. Upon thinking about it more, I was close in my tip above anyway. All you need to do is: when Windows boots, check if a file called "<date>" exists in your app's folder. If not, then the app assumes it's the first boot of the day and creates the file, so any subsequents reboots on the same day can be identified. And if the file "<date>" does NOT exist when your app starts at bootup, then your app knows it IS the first boot of the day, and creates the file to mark the boot as "known". Your app then deletes any "<date>" files from the past, to keep the PC clean. This will work fine.
From: Maxim S. Shatskih on 13 Jul 2010 13:21
> or even if there is still a memory test (other than sizing). Yes, memory tests are still here. -- Maxim S. Shatskih Windows DDK MVP maxim(a)storagecraft.com http://www.storagecraft.com |