The Core Technologies Blog

Professional Software for Windows Services / 24×7 Operation

Windows Services: No Significant Changes in Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012

Posted on October 20, 2012

Despite a gap of three years since the last major OS releases, Microsoft has not introduced any meaningful changes in the Windows Services API for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. Indeed, only the most technical folks will care about these tepid adjustments:

Applications can query a service to learn why it was started
The new QueryServiceDynamicInformation function was created to support this feature.
Services can sign up to be notified when a user has initiated a reboot
The new SERVICE_CONTROL_USERMODEREBOOT flag was added to the HandlerEx callback function and the SERVICE_STATUS structure.
More trigger-start data types
The obscure trigger-start functionality, where services can be started or stopped when certain events occur, now supports a few more data types. These show up in the SERVICE_TRIGGER_SPECIFIC_DATA_ITEM structure but are mysteriously described as TBD so we can’t be sure how Microsoft intends them to be used. Fortunately our free utility for editing service triggers continues to work well with Windows 8 and Server 2012…

Windows Service Patterns

Essential Windows Services: Windows Time / W32Time

Q&A: How Do I Restore Access Rights to My Windows Service?

Posted in Windows Services | Tagged trigger-start-services, win-api, windows-8, windows-server-2012, windows-services | Leave a comment

AlwaysUp works with Windows 8 & Windows Server 2012

Posted on September 18, 2012

We are pleased to report that AlwaysUp is working very well with both Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012!

Here is a screenshot of AlwaysUp running Notepad as a service on Windows 8:

The only problem we encountered was with switching to session 0. Microsoft’s Interactive Services Detection service (UI0Detect) failed to start because interactive services were disabled. To re-enable interactive services, go to registry key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows

and change the value of

NoInteractiveServices

from 1 to 0:

Running Multiple Windows Services? AlwaysUp 11 is Here to Help!

Getting ready for Windows 10

AlwaysUp 16 Handles Common Application Failures — So You Don't Have To

Posted in AlwaysUp | Tagged alwaysup, interactive-services, ui0detect, windows-8, windows-server-2012 | Leave a comment

AlwaysUp Version 8.0 Released

Posted on August 4, 2012

AlwaysUp version 8.0, released on August 4th, introduced several enhancements based on feedback from our many clients, including:

Easier management of many applications: You can now select multiple applications and start, stop or change them all at once.
Easily see service activity: The new Activity Panel will quickly show you what has been happening with your service. No need to open launch a report to see those details. Hit the F2 key to show the new window.
Support for Launchers: AlwaysUp will now handle applications (and batch files) that kick off another executable and quickly exit. Previously these would fail to run after 5 attempts.
Start/restart all: Bring all your services into the current session with a couple of clicks.
Windows 8 & Windows Server 2012: Microsoft’s newest operating systems are fully supported.

Click here for more details and screenshots.