One challenge that IT always faces is ensuring the robust operation of shared computers (Infokiosks, internet cafe, training labs, etc.).
Incorrect or malicious manipulations, deletion of files without approval, installation of unnecessary programs, changes in system settings, etc. are common.
Creating a user profile with limited capabilities, combined with security policies that will limit access to Control Panel items and editing important components of the operating system, is partly a solution, which does not apply in cases where the user must have rights program installer / full access to local disk to create /delete files κλπ, όπως για παράδειγμα σ ένα εργαστήριο πληροφορικής.
UWF is a feature found in the Enterprise versions of Windows and provides the solution to all of the above.
Activating it ensures the system resets after each reboot, undoing any change made by the user, whichever group he belongs to (administrators, power users, etc.).
Applies only to the local drive (HDD / SSD / M2 etc) of the system in which the operating system is installed.
Unlike third-party software such as the well-known Deep Freeze, as a component of the operating system does not present incompatibilities.
It also does not concern the System Restore function, which performs undo changes by software or drivers and not the total system restore.
Installation:
All steps are done as Local Administrator
1 Way:
Control Panel Control Programs and Features / Enable or Disable Windows Features (Windows Features / Turn Windows Features On or off).
From the list, select Device Lockdown Un Unified Write Filter.
Shows us a progress bar and when done: Close.
2 Way:
Open a CMD window with administrator privileges (press Windows start, type CMD and holding down Shift + Ctrl click on it or select Run with administrator privileges from the left of the menu)
We give the order:
DISM.exe / Online / enable-Feature / FeatureName: client-UnifiedWriteFilter / all
Activation:
Open the cmd command window and give the command:
uwfmgr filter enable
We restart the computer.
With enter and restart the virtual is deleted μνήμη (virtual memory) , απενεργοποιείται η επαναφορά συστήματος (restore system), το Superfetch, η υπηρεσία ευρετηρίου (File indexing), fast boot, υπηρεσία ανασυγκρότησης (defragmentation) και στις ρυθμίσεις BCD η πολιτική bootstatuspolicy μπαίνει σε λειτουργία Ignoreallfailures. Ουσιαστικά οποιαδήποτε υπηρεσία κάνει χρήση του δίσκου απενεργοποιείται (προσωρινά)
As long as (as usual) the OS is on apartment C, we give the command from cmd:
uwfmgr.exe volume protect C:
and returns a message that it will be activated after rebooting the system.
To confirm that we have activated the filter and to get information about it, type
uwfmgr.exe get-config
in addition to whether it was activated, we see in our system if there are exceptions, ie directories that will not be protected.
An example of activating it with the information we get:
Exceptions:
We can define some folders in which we do not want to undo the changes.
Microsoft does not recommend excluding anything under the directory (folder) Windows and EFI, Boot, Paging Files and of course it does not make sense to exclude the volume (Volume) in which we applied protection from the beginning.
The command to do this is:
uwfmgr.exe file add-exclusion path
uwfmgr.exe file add-exclusion path
Examples:
Disable UWF:
We order:
uwfmgr filter disable
After the reboot we check if it was successfully deactivated with the command
uwfmgr.exe get-config
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Υπάρχει η περίπτωση παρ΄όλη την απενεργοποίηση, να μας εμφανιστεί error στην προσθαφαίρεση κάποιου προγράμματος.
Then we follow the route:
Control Panel Control Programs and Features / Enable or Disable Windows Features (Windows Features / Turn Windows Features On or off)
and uninstall the feature by restarting.
