Frequently asked questions

Swayline is an integrated solutions provider focused on operating system licensing and Windows image customization. We build hardened, license-clean custom Windows images for industrial, medical, retail, kiosk and business-fleet devices: power-loss handling, write filter, one-key recovery, security hardening and 20+ years of Windows engineering experience. All work is done within Microsoft’s documented configuration and deployment tooling (DISM, Windows Image Manager, group policy and similar admin surfaces).

At Swayline, power-loss protection (PLP) is a pure software solution built on the Windows operating system - it does not require a power-loss-protected SSD or special hardware. The goal is simple: the OS starts normally every time, even after an unclean shutdown. In our testing, the system survived 30,000 sudden power-loss cycles without crashing. Note that data integrity depends on whether the data was fully committed to the disk before the power loss; PLP protects the operating system and boot state, while application data must be written to disk by the application itself.

UWF is Microsoft’s disk write filter for Windows. When enabled, all writes to the protected volume are redirected to an overlay and discarded on reboot, so the device always boots to a known-good state. Specific folders and partitions can be whitelisted to allow persistent writes.

HORM is a Windows Embedded / IoT standard feature. A pre-hibernated memory image is restored on each cold boot, compressing a 30-60 second traditional boot to under 5 seconds. Combined with UWF, HORM gives near-instant startup while keeping the OS sealed against writes.

Yes. We can either keep the Windows Update component but disable it permanently, or remove the component entirely. Either way, the device will not download or install a forced update in the field. This is one of the most common reasons fleets fail in production.

Yes. For every customization project, you ship your device to Swayline. We perform the customization, debugging and testing directly on your target hardware - drivers, BIOS, firmware and application compatibility are all validated on the actual machine. After you confirm the customized system runs correctly on your device, we ship it back to you. Standard projects take 3-4 weeks; rush projects can be completed in 2 weeks.

A standard customization project takes 3 to 4 weeks from sample receipt to signed-off golden image. The first 5-7 days are spent on hardware audit and image design, the next 7-10 days on build and driver integration, then 5-7 days on hardware-matrix testing and Nessus scanning, and the final 3-5 days on documentation and delivery. Rush projects can be completed in 2 weeks.

Yes. We provide legitimate Microsoft IoT licensing for Windows 10/11 IoT Enterprise LTSC and can supply genuine Microsoft COA (Certificate of Authenticity) labels for your devices. We do not bundle pirated or grey-market builds - every Swayline image is license-clean by design.

Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC, Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC, Windows 10 / 11 Pro, Windows 10 / 11 Enterprise, Windows 7 (Professional / Embedded Standard), Windows XP (Professional / Embedded / Embedded CE) on x86 / x64 industrial hardware. We will recommend the right edition for your use case during scoping. If your project calls for Linux, we can deliver a Linux image alongside the Windows one.

Industrial PC and factory automation, medical and healthcare devices, retail and POS, kiosk and digital signage, business and fleet computing, gaming machines, and OEM/ODM partnerships. We are intentionally device-focused.

Ctrl+F factory reset restores a device in 3-5 minutes from a hidden Linux recovery partition on the same drive. End users or support staff can recover a bricked device without IT involvement.

The process monitoring feature watches the runtime status of your business application - most industrial devices run a single business program in the foreground. If the application is closed unexpectedly, the device manufacturer can choose what happens: 1) the system automatically relaunches the business program, 2) the device restarts, or 3) the device shuts down.

Email john@swayline.hk with your target hardware, Windows edition and deployment size. Engineering replies within 3 business days.