How To Remove Services In Windows XP (remove service in mmc list)

Users can usually uninstall applications from their computers quite easily, however, for Windows services, of course you can disable a service, but the entry for it may still remain there.

In here we will see the steps for deleting a Windows service completely, rather than just disabling it.

Note: You should always delete services in safe mode, lest it causes you any problem, you may also want to create system restore points, just in case something goes wrong, check out a tool that will allow you to create system restore points with a single click.

Step 1: Open Service --> Start > Run and type in services.msc and hit the Enter key.

Step 2: In the Services applet, find the service that you want to delete permanently, right click it and click on the Properties from the menu.

Step 3: In the properties window, find the name of the service and copy it to your clipboard.
You may also want to stop the service, if it is running, this will kill all the running processes for it.

Step 4: Open command prompt, --> Start > Run and type in cmd the Enter key.
Once a command prompt has opened up, type the command sc delete service_name, replace service_name, with the name of the service you copied in step 3.

Once a service has been deleted you should see a message saying [SC] DeleteService SUCCESS, this should mean that the service has been deleted, to ensure that, just click on the refresh button in the services applet and confirm that the service has been deleted.

These are the only steps you require to delete services in Windows XP and Windows Vista, you do not require to install or download additional softwares to do it.

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How a Disk Boot Works

by Ron White

A personal computer can’t do anything useful unless it’s running an operating system—a basic type of software that acts as a supervisor for all the applications, games, or other programs you use. The operating system sets the rules for using memory, drives, and other parts of the computer.

But before a PC can run an operating sys tem, it needs some way to load the operating system from disk to random access memory (RAM). The way to do this is with the boot strap or simply to boot — a small amount of code that’s permanently a part of the PC.

The bootstrap is aptly named because it lets the PC do something entirely on its own, without any outside operating system. Of course, the boot operation doesn’t do much. In fact, it has only two functions: one is to run a POST, or power-on self-test described in the preceding chapter, and the other is to search drives for an operating system. When these functions are complete, the boot operation launches the process of reading the system files and copying them to random access memory.

Why do PCs use such a round - about arrangement? Why not simply make the opera ting system a part of the PC? A few low-end or specialized computers do this. Early computers used primarily for playing games, such as the Atari 400 and 800, and the more recent palm-sized PCs, have a permanent operating system. But in most cases, the operating system is loaded from harddisk for two reasons.

It is simpler to upgrade the operating system when loading from a disk. When a company such as Microsoft—which makes MS-DOS and Windows, the most commonly used PC operating systems—wants to add new features or fix serious bugs, it can simply issue a new set of disks. Sometimes all that’s necessary is a single file that patches a flaw in the operating system. It’s cheaper for Microsoft to distribute an operating system on disk than to design a microchip that contains the operating system. And it’s easier for computer users to install a new operating system from disk than it is to swap chips.

The other reason for loading an operating system from disk is that it gives users a choice of operating systems. Although most PCs based on microprocessors built by Intel use Windows or MS-DOS, there are alternative operating systems, such as Windows NT, OS/2, DRDOS, and UNIX. In some PC setups, you can even choose which of the operating systems to use each time you turn on your computer. We’ll use DOS/Windows here because it’s typical of all operating systems.

Disk Boot

1. After conducting a POST check of all the hardware components of a PC, the boot program contained on the computer’s ROM BIOS chips checks drive A to see if it contains a formatted floppy disk. If a disk is mounted in the drive, the program searches specific locations on the disk for the files that make up the first two parts of the operating system. You won’t ordinarily see these system files because each is marked with a special file attribute that ordinarily hides it from any file listing. For Windows systems, the files are named IO.SYS and MSDOS.SYS. If the floppy drive is empty, the boot program checks the hard drive C for the system files, and on some systems, as a last resort, checks the CD-ROM drive. If a boot disk does not contain the files, the boot program generates an error message.

2. After locating a disk with the system files, the boot program reads the data stored on the disk’s first sector and copies that data to specific locations in RAM. This information constitutes the boot record. The boot record is found in the same location on every formatted disk. The boot record is only about 512 bytes, just enough code to initiate the loading of the two hidden system files. After the BIOS boot program has loaded the boot record into memory at the hexadecimal address 7C00, the BIOS passes control to the boot record by branching to that address.

3. The boot record takes control of the PC and loads IO.SYS into RAM. The IO.SYS file contains extensions to the ROM BIOS and includes a routine called SYSINIT that manages the rest of the boot up. After loading IO.SYS, the boot record is no longer needed and is replaced in RAM by other code.

4. SYSINIT assumes control of the start-up process and loads MSDOS.SYS into RAM. The MSDOS.SYS file works with the BIOS to manage files, execute programs, and respond to signals from hardware.

5. SYSINIT searches the root dire c t o ry of the boot disk for a file named CONFIG.SYS. If CONFIG.SYS exists, SYSINIT tells MSDOS.SYS to execute the commands in the file. CONFIG.SYS is a file created by the user. Its commands tell the operating system how to handle certain operations, such as how many files may be opened at one time. CONFIG.SYS may also contain instructions to load device drivers.

Device drivers are files containing code that extends the capabilities of the BIOS to control memory or hardware devices. (In Windows, drivers are loaded through records in a file called the Registry.)

6. SYSINIT tells MSDOS.SYS to load the file COMMAND.COM. This operating system file consists of three parts. One is a further extension to the input/output functions. This part is loaded in memory with the BIOS and becomes a part of the operating system.

7. The second part of COMMAND.COM contains the internal DOS commands such as DIR, COPY, and TYPE. It is loaded at the high end of conventional RAM, where it can be overwritten by applications programs if they need the memory.

8. The third part of COMMAND.COM is used only once and then discarded. This part searches the root directory for a file named AUTOEXEC.BAT. This file is created by the computer’s user and contains a series of DOS batch file commands and/or the names of programs that the user wants to run each time the computer is turned on. The PC is now fully booted and ready to be used.

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How a Computer Wakes Up

by Ron White

WHEN you hit your PC’s On switch, nothing much seems to happen for several seconds.

Actually, your computer is going through a complex set of operations to make sure all its components are working properly and to warn you if something is a miss. This operation is the first step in an even more complicated process called the boot-up, or simply, the boot.

The term comes from the idea of lifting yourself up by your own bootstraps. In a PC, bootstrapping is necessary because the PC must have some way of bringing all its components to life long enough to load an operating system. The operating system then takes on more complicated tasks that the boot code alone can’t manage, such as making the PC’s hardware interact with software.

But before your PC can even attempt to load an operating system, it has to make sure that all the hardware components are running and that the CPU (central processing unit) and memory are functioning properly. This is the job of the power-on self-test, or POST.

The POST is the first task your PC performs when you turn it on, and it’s your first warning of trouble with any of the components. When the POST detects an error from the display, memory, keyboard, or other basic components, it produces an error warning in the form of a message on your display and—in case your display is part of the problem—in the form of a series of beeps.

Usually neither the beeps nor the on screen message is specific enough to tell you exactly what is wrong. All they’re intended to do is to point you in the general direction of the component that has a problem.

A single beep combined with a display of the normal DOS prompt means that all components have passed the POST. But any other combination of short beeps and long beeps usually means trouble. Even no beep at all indicates a problem.

If no error message appears or beeps occur, however, that doesn’t mean all the hardware components of your system are functioning as they should. The POST is capable of detecting only the most general types of errors. It can tell if a hard drive that’s supposed to be installed isn’t there, but it can’t tell if there is trouble with the drive’s formatting.

All in all, the POST does not appear to be extremely helpful. That’s because most PCs function so reliably that only occasionally something triggers a POST alarm. The POST’s benefits are subtle but fundamental. Without it, you could never be sure of the PC’s ability to carry out its tasks accurately and reliably.

How the Power-On Self-Test Works

1. When you turn on your PC, a process called the POST (power-on self-test) begins with an electrical signal following a permanently programmed path to the CPU, or microprocessor. There, the electrical signal clears leftover data from the chip’s internal memory registers.

The signal also resets a CPU register called the program counter to a specific number. In the case of ATs and later computers, the hexadecimal number is F000. The number in the program counter tells the CPU the address of the next instruction that needs processing.

In this case, the address is the beginning of a boot program stored permanently at the address F000 in a set of read-only memory (ROM) chips that contain the PC’s basic input/output system (BIOS).

2. The CPU uses the address to find and invoke the ROM BIOS boot program, which in turn invokes a series of system checks. The CPU first checks itself and the POST program by reading code loaded into various locations and checking it against identical records stored permanently in the BIOS chip set.

3. The CPU sends signals over the system bus—the circuits that connect all the components with each other—to make sure that they are all functioning.

4. The CPU also checks the system’s timer, or clock, which is responsible for pacing signals to make sure all the PC’s operations function in a synchronized, orderly fashion.

5. The POST tests the memory contained on the display adapter and the video signals that control the display. It then makes the adapter’s BIOS code a part of the system’s overall BIOS and memory configuration. It’s at this point that you’ll first see something appear on your PC’s monitor.

6. The POST runs a series of tests to ensure that the RAM chips are functioning properly. The tests write data to each chip, then read it and compare what they read with the data sent to the chips in the first place. On some PCs at this point, you’ll see on the monitor a running account of the amount of memory that’s been checked.

7. The CPU verifies that the keyboard is attached properly and determines whether any keys have been pressed.

8. The POST sends signals over specific paths on the bus to the floppy and hard disk drives and listens for a response to determine which drives are available.

9. The results of the POST tests are compared with data in a specific CMOS chip that is the official record of which components are installed. CMOS is a type of memory chip that retains its data when power is turned off, as long as it receives a trickle of electricity from a battery. Any changes to the basic system configuration must be recorded in the CMOS setup. If the tests detect new hardware, you’re given a chance to update the configuration on the setup screen.

10. Some systems’ components, such as a SCSI controller card, contain a BIOS which interprets commands from the processor to control that hardware. Those components’ BIOS codes are incorporated as part of the system’s own overall BIOS. Sometimes these BIOS codes are copied from the slow CMOS BIOS chip to the PC’s faster RAM. Newer PCs may also run a Plug and Play operation to distribute system resources among different components. (See Chapter 5.) The PC is now ready to take the next step in the boot process: loading an operating system from disk.

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