Fujikura (United States)

The Depths of Windows I/O (Part 1) — Every Read and Write Becomes an IRP: The Big Picture of the I/O System (archived 2026-08-30)

Part 1 of a series that explains the Windows I/O system from the ground up. We map out the Object Manager namespace, the three kinds of objects (driver, device, file), the lifecycle of an IRP, and what really happens behind CloseHandle, all with diagrams. Archived version of http...

Can You Use a Subsidy to Outsource System Development? — A Map of the Programmes by Purpose, and the Pitfalls to Know Before You Place an Order (FY2026 Edition) (archived 2026-08-30)

Can you use a subsidy to outsource system development? This article explains why "bespoke development on the IT Introduction Subsidy" does not work, maps out the programmes by purpose — including the Monozukuri (Manufacturing) Subsidy — and covers pitfalls such as the ban on plac...

AppLocker, App Control for Business (WDAC), and Business App Distribution — Before "Application Control" Blocks You (archived 2026-08-30)

Explains the differences between AppLocker, App Control for Business (formerly WDAC), and Smart App Control, and sets out what developers and distributors can do so that in-house business apps are not blocked by application control in customer environments. Also covers how to rea...

Code Design for Business Systems — Deciding Product and Customer Codes, and Check Digits (archived 2026-08-30)

A practical guide to deciding the code scheme for a business system, including product and customer codes. Covers a decision table for meaningful codes versus meaningless serial numbers, check digit formulas such as JAN and Luhn with C# implementations, avoiding Excel's dropped l...

Power Automate Licensing — How Far Microsoft 365 Gets You for Free, and When You Need Premium (archived 2026-08-30)

Within Microsoft 365 you can build and run cloud flows on standard connectors at no extra cost, but premium connectors such as HTTP, SQL Server, and Dataverse, along with RPA and AI Builder, require a paid license. This article covers how to choose between Premium and Process, an...

Practical Multithreading Best Practices: C++ Edition — Eliminating Accidents by Structure with RAII and jthread (archived 2026-08-30)

In C++, multithreading is a world where a data race is undefined behaviour. This article works through the std::thread destructor trap, designing stop mechanisms with jthread and stop_token, deadlock avoidance with scoped_lock, the correct role of atomic, and how to choose betwee...

How to Run a Subsidised System Development Project — Working Backwards From the Grant Decision, and the Practicalities of Writing the Business Plan (archived 2026-08-30)

A system development project funded by a subsidy runs differently from an ordinary one. This article covers, in practical terms, how to schedule backwards from the date of the grant decision, the difference between selection and the grant decision, cash-flow planning for payment...

Windows Update Management After WSUS Deprecation — How to Choose Between WUfB, Autopatch, and Intune (archived 2026-08-30)

Microsoft announced the deprecation of WSUS in September 2024. It is not stopping immediately, but new feature development has ended. This article lays out four options — continuing WSUS, Windows Update for Business, Autopatch, and Intune — in a decision table that accounts for l...

Windows Shutdown as Seen from Your App — Surviving Exit Notifications, Restarts, and Power Loss Correctly (archived 2026-08-30)

A Windows Update overnight restart corrupted measurement data — that kind of accident can be prevented by design. This article covers, from primary sources, how to receive exit notifications such as WM_QUERYENDSESSION and PRESHUTDOWN, how to finish cleanup in a few seconds, and h...

How Windows App Compatibility Works — Keeping Old Apps Alive with Compatibility Mode, Shims, and Compatibility Administrator (archived 2026-08-30)

Why checking Compatibility mode can make an old app start working. This article explains the underlying shims (API hooks), what the representative shims do, how to roll them out with Compatibility Administrator and sdbinst, where they stop working, and how to decide between life-...

Can the Labour-Saving Investment Subsidy Pay for Moving FAX Orders to the Web? — How to Think About Order-System Investment Under the General Type (archived 2026-08-30)

Moving FAX order intake to the web with automated import can be a candidate for the SME Labour-Saving Investment Subsidy (General type). This article covers the difference between the Catalog Order type and the General type, why an order-processing system counts as a labour-savin...

Practical Multithreading Best Practices: Java Edition — Conventions for the Virtual Thread Era (archived 2026-08-30)

In Java, the established practice for multithreading is never to create threads directly but to build on ExecutorService and virtual threads. This article sets out the practical principles: choosing between synchronized and ReentrantLock, cooperative stopping via interruption, at...

Decoding Windows Error Codes — The Three-Layer Structure of Win32 Errors, HRESULT, and NTSTATUS (archived 2026-08-30)

When 0x80004005 appears, decompose it before you search. This article covers the three-layer structure of Win32 errors, HRESULT, and NTSTATUS, the most important pattern that 0x8007xxxx is a wrapped Win32 error, and how to look codes up with err.exe and PowerShell. Archived versi...

Registered Information Security Specialist Exam, Spring 2024 (Reiwa 6) PM Q1 Commentary — JWT alg=none, API Authorization, and Interim WAF Mitigation (archived 2026-08-30)

Using the Registered Information Security Specialist Examination's Spring 2024 (Reiwa 6) PM Q1 as a case study, this article explains JWT's alg=none, API authorization, Mass Assignment, brute-forcing a four-digit authentication code, and interim mitigation with a WAF. Archived ve...

What Does Windows' "Memory Usage" Actually Mean? — Correctly Reading Working Set, Private Bytes, Commit, and the Page File (archived 2026-08-30)

Task Manager's Memory, Working Set, Private Bytes, and Commit are not the same figure. This article explains the relationship between Windows virtual and physical memory, the role of the page file, and which metrics to watch when investigating memory pressure or leaks. Archived v...

ORCA (Nichi-Rece) Is Not an Electronic Medical Record System — Medical Billing Systems and Healthcare IT Architecture from an Engineer's Perspective (archived 2026-08-30)

ORCA (Nichi-Rece) is not an electronic medical record system — it is a medical billing system. From an engineer's perspective, this article covers the system architecture of a medical institution, receipt (medical fee claim) work, what is inside the roughly 4.06 million lines of...

The Depths of Windows Memory (Part 1) — The Moment a Virtual Address Becomes Physical RAM: A Page Fault from Start to Finish (archived 2026-08-30)

This article connects VirtualAlloc, VADs, page tables, the TLB, demand-zero faults, and hard faults to explain the moment a virtual address is assigned physical RAM. Archived version of https://comcomponent.com/en/blog/windows-memory-internals-page-fault/, as published on 2026-08...

Locking Down Business Terminals with Kiosk Mode — Choosing Between Assigned Access and Shell Launcher, and Designing for Operation (archived 2026-08-30)

How to build a Windows terminal dedicated to a single application, such as a reception kiosk or a device operator panel. Covers the differences between Assigned Access, Shell Launcher and multi-app kiosk, the edition requirements, configuration examples in PowerShell and XML, and...

Windows Shell Integration Today — Context Menus, File Associations, and What Changed in Windows 11 (archived 2026-08-30)

Why a Windows 11 context menu hides items behind "Show more options", explained from the extension → ProgID → verb association basics through classic shell-extension caveats to the new IExplorerCommand and MSIX/sparse-package path. Archived version of https://comcomponent.com/en/...

The Windows Firewall and Business Applications — Register Inbound Rules From the Installer (archived 2026-08-30)

"It works on the dev machine but the client can't connect" almost always traces back to the Windows Firewall. This article covers the default-block-inbound behaviour and profiles, why you cannot leave production to the security warning dialog, and how to register inbound rules fr...