Windows SteadyState has been discontinued – no more downloads after December 31, 2010
December 29, 2010 44
Email article | Print article 
Windows SteadyState, a once promising tool, has been discontinued by Microsoft. Why? I am not particularly sure why; it was (is) a useful program that had (has) excellent Windows integration, something missing in other tools like Returnil, Wondershare Time Freeze, AyRecovery, etc. Maybe it was the economy. It must be noted, though, that the discontinuation of SteadyState is hardly a surprise, seeing as it was last updated in 2008 and does not support Windows 7. (If Microsoft doesn’t want to support it and update it, it would be interesting if they threw it out to the open source community to see if someone brings SteadyState up to speed.)
SteadyState will be available for download until until December 31, 2010 and support will be provided until June 30, 2011:
Windows SteadyState will continue to be available for download through December 31, 2010. Support for Windows SteadyState will continue to be available through the Microsoft Knowledge Base portal through June 30, 2011.
This announcement does not affect your right to continue to use Windows SteadyState.
If you think you will find use for SteadyState in the future, be sure to grab it now and keep it safe because after Friday it will no longer be available (not from official sources, anyway). You should keep in mind, though, a security program that hasn’t been updated in over two years is not one you should depend too heavily on (or depend on at all, for that matter); it is bound to have vulnerabilities exploited by scumware and the lack of support means the vulnerabilities won’t be patched.
The following is a brief list of features of SteadyState features (as per Microsoft):
- Windows Disk Protection – Help protect the Windows partition, which contains the Windows operating system and other programs, from being modified without administrator approval.Windows SteadyState allows you to set Windows Disk Protection to remove all changes upon restart, to remove changes at a certain date and time, or to not remove changes at all. If you choose to use Windows Disk Protection to remove changes, any changes made by shared users when they are logged on to the computer are removed when the computer is restarted
- User Restrictions and Settings – The user restrictions and settings can help to enhance and simplify the user experience. Restrict user access to programs, settings, Start menu items, and options in Windows. You can also lock shared user accounts to prevent changes from being retained from one session to the next.
- User Account Manager – Create and delete user accounts. You can use Windows SteadyState to create user accounts on alternative drives that will retain user data and settings even when Windows Disk Protection is turned on. You can also import and export user settings from one computer to another—saving valuable time and resources.
- Computer Restrictions – Control security settings, privacy settings, and more, such as preventing users from creating and storing folders in drive C and from opening Microsoft Office documents from Internet Explorer®.
- Schedule Software Updates – Update your shared computer with the latest software and security updates when it is convenient for you and your shared users.
You can grab SteadyState from the following links:
Version: 2.5
Supported OS: Windows XP/Vista
Download size: 6.4 MB
[via TechSupportAlert]
@Samuel: Oh you mean lol-light? =P
@Ashraf: Actually I mean Moonlight!
@Samuel: Hehe, I would say I am glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor but then I realized Moonlight is real. :-P (http://www.mono-project.com/Moonlight for anyone wondering what we are discussing.)
So do you follow Microsoft-related OO projects a lot, such as Mono and Moonlight?
@Ashraf: LOL.
I won’t say I follow it, more like I keep my ears open for it, after all Mono allows me to stay in .NET and still be cross platform. MonoTouch is the most interesting to me. It allows me to use .NET to program for the iOS platform! Unfortunately you still need a Mac to use it so it’s a no go for me for now.
Hi Ash, Hi Everybody
I might be toootally daft & blind, but really »» How do u dwld this thing»???!!
Been clicking away w no results!
I even opened NoScript completely … Is it possible only w IE?
The possibility of hosting it somewhere seems more interesting by the minute :)
By the way Rob, brilliant idea you got there – I’ll add another $500. to your pledge !!
Lets make our Ash Rich-Rich-Rich !! Yeahhhh
Peace
@Samuel: Mono sounds very interesting. Programming in it is similar to programming in .NET? I don’t see why anyone would want to use normal .NET, then, because Mono gives your cross-platform functionality whereas regular .NET does not.
@Tortuga: Did you perform the genuine advantage check? I will host the mirror after the download is closed by Microsoft.
Hi again :)
Duh!!! I did see that button, BUT did not understand !!!
English is only my third language, so more often than not, the brain goes on a different direction …
Was looking for a direct dwld, not a convoluted way to have it. Geee!
I dont like all that sniffing MS wants to do on our rigs. Not that we have anything to hide, but really, enough already. Just upgraded to XP SP3 (yes, finally!), so had to have the validation prior to.
Anyway, think I’ll prefer to wait for yours.
Just send a shout when/where/how when you are ready – maybe some smoke signals? :*)
ArkArkArk
Have a great day
Ciao
@Ashraf: Mono is the .NET VM (called the CLR actually) for Linux….so it’s not a different programing language. There are some differences, most often them being a bit behind the Windows CLR. And unless you’re in Sliverlight/Moonlight, you can’t run on Macs.
Is there anything else that does the same as SteadyState or even deepfreeze for free?
@Tortuga: I will make a post when the mirror is up.
@Samuel: Ah, cool. Thanks or the info.
@Daniel Fenn: Returnil System Safe Free (or Pro — currently a 1 year license is being given away see http://dottech.org/freebies/20399) provides the same virtual system protection as SteadyState and DeepFreeze.
@Ashraf:
I have seen that before but I’m wondering if there are any other options to me. I’m planning a project that was going to be based on SteadyState but considering that it won’t be supported, I would look at other freewhere or opensource software.
I’m trying to stick to free stuff since the business in question is a charity and therefore does not have much to spend
Thanks Ash :*)
Knew I could count on you!!!
Ciao
Would this be just good for Windows XP?
Just downloaded and installed ‘SteadyState’ without any problems. Guess they have decided to just leave it available. (4th Jan 2011)
@Ashraf: @Fred Smith:
Heh, I just tried a few minutes ago (Jan 6 2010) and was able to download the installer…
(YAY FOR PEOPLE NOT DOING THEIR JOB!!!!!)
It should be noted that you must be running a genuine copy of Microsoft Windows to download this software from Microsoft…
@Ashraf:
I just installed and learned something – just after install it connects to Microsoft to tell them it installed successfully. The program says it will keep trying to connect if the first connection fails.
(I wonder if this could be “worked around” if a “curious” user “mistakenly” went to a certain “task manager”, opened a certain “processes” tab, found a certain installer “accidentally”, and “mistakenly” hit the “end task” button and the “enter” key very quickly… – just a thought ;) )
@Soulflare3: In Microsoft’s defense they are sort of busy with CES right now…
@Samuel: Not that I’m complaining about the download not being taken down but oh come on that isn’t a defense. All their thousands of employees are not there. I bet the people in charge of taking down SteadyState are not even at CES.
@Ashraf: OK, it is true that not all their employees are there (was talking with one today about that actually). And I do agree that’s a bad defense…how about server propagation?