Now double click on 'AppDirectory' and give it the location of the directory where your application can be found. Using the above example, the value here would be 'c:\paintme\'

Now close REGEDIT and open the services.msc Window.

Double click on your service. Note that the 'path to executable' value is listed as c:\toolkit\SRVANY.EXE. This is because the SRVANY file is acting as a carrier for the executable file of the program you chose. Now go to the 'log on' tab.

If the application your service is going to run needs to appear on the desktop to work (for example a paint program, as used in the example above, would need to appear on the desktop in order for you to use it), then you will need to check the 'allow service to interact with the desktop' button. Go back to the 'general' tab and click 'start.' Your service should start and your chosen application will open, either on the desktop or behind the scenes. Now you can experiment with creating services with a variety of different programs.

We hope you've enjoyed this guide to the Windows XP services. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to use PCSTATS reader feedback page. Stay tuned for more great guides in the near future.

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