Windows SteadyState

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Windows "Steady State" was a free English language security tool from Microsoft , which was formerly known as the "Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit". Microsoft has not offered the program since December 31, 2010, but some providers still offer the program for download. Support ended on July 1, 2011.

Steady State was intended for use on computers with the Windows XP operating system that are located in public places and accessible to many people, e.g. B. in libraries or internet cafes. In the current version 2.5 it was possible to use steady state under Windows Vista .

However, the program could also be used for private purposes, so that e.g. For example, it was possible to prevent other users from changing certain settings or deleting files from the hard drive by locking the corresponding profile. The user in question could then apparently make changes to his account normally, but these were deleted when he logged out.

It was also possible to prevent unknown software from running or to deny access to certain programs. Any changes made during a session, i.e. H. if z. B. tried a program or accidentally downloaded an important file, e.g. If, for example, a photo was deleted, this could be undone with the "Protect the Hard Disk" option in the main Steady State dialog. This also applied in the event that a computer virus was accidentally installed. This was possible because the program was able to save the system partition in a cache file (Cache.wdp) that was at least 2 GB to a maximum of 40 GB.

If not only the XP system itself, but also other files and applications were to be protected, these had to be located on the system partition (usually drive C :). When working on the computer, Steady State wrote all changes and data in the cache file created with the help of a virtualization driver. As soon as the computer was restarted, these files were deleted and with them all changes to the system.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chip.de Windows Steady State Download
  2. ↑ Microsoft Knowledge Base . Setting of steady state