Previously (Troubleshooting Performance Issues with Automatic Updates / How to Isolate A Shared Service Hosted by SVCHOST.EXE) I had detailed some steps that one could follow to isolate a shared service hosted by SVCHOST.EXE, in the context of the Windows Update Automatic Updates service. There are a couple of other ways to isolate a shared service, with different implications.

The intention / desire of a service to be “shared” or not is typically indicated when the service is created - the fifth parameter to CreateService is dwServiceType, which for our interests can be, among other things, SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS (0×10) or SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS (0×20). Once a service has been created, the dwServiceType setting can be changed by calling ChangeServiceConfig with the appropriate parameters.

Windows XP and Server 2003 ship with a utility program called “SC.exe”. (I seem to recall using SC.EXE on NT 4.0, after it was included in some resource kit, but I could be mistaken. The DLL Help Database listing for SC.EXE puts the earliest version as having shipped with Visual Studio .NET 2002.) SC presumably stands for “Service Controller”. At any rate, one can use SC to change the configuration of a service, including the “service type” - “shared” or “own”. So, using wuauserv - the Windows Update Automatic Updates service - as a guinea pig, one could execute from a CMD prompt:

sc config wuauserv type= own

to cause the service to run in its own process. (The service will need to be restarted for this to happen.) To change it back to a shared service, use the following command:

sc config wuauserv type= share

Note that in both commands, the space after the ‘=’ character is critical. For this change (back to “shared”) to take effect, the system will likely need to be rebooted as the “original” SVCHOST group that this service was a part of is already running. This is also the case when un-doing the configuration to make the service run in its own SVCHOST group.

The SC commands above are actually just manipulating the registry - you could make the change directly to achieve the same outcome. The setting in question (again, using wuauserv as a guinea pig) is located at [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv] - the “Type” REG_DWORD value. The type corresponds to the aforementioned dwServiceType, which can be (for our purposes here) SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS (0×10) or SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS (0×20). To isolate the service, set type to 0×10, and to undo the change, set type back to 0×20 (keeping in mind the restart considerations previously mentioned).

Another thing to keep in mind is the consideration that perhaps a service is not meant to be isolated; those concerns are discussed a wee bit more here.

One subtle difference in techniques is that if you isolate a service into its own SVCHOST group, the command line for the svchost.exe process changes to reflect the group name you speficied when setting up the configuration. However, if you use the SC.EXE / “Type” registry value change technique, the command line for the svchost.exe process remains the same - in the case of wuauserv, the “netsvcs” group is still specified on the command line even though the SVCHOST instance will only be hosting one service.

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Recently both Samsung and Chimei gained Windows Vista Premium certification on their 20 and 22″ lcd’s. As I’m still waiting on my 22″ Samsung 225BW lcd’s to arrive I thought I would find out what exactly that meant. If anything. What does certification mean for an lcd? It is not like it will not display Windows Vista. This begs the question…

What is Windows Vista Premium Certification?

Pat Azzarello, an employee of Microsoft writes…

The Premimum logo requirements are available to computer makers to help them get quality components to deliver on their systems. The Logo program is a guideline, and it doesn’t mean that other components won’t work on Vista, or that other components are not high quality. It will (in the very least) help you identify components that have been tested and work at a certain level

Basically this means for OEM manufacturers and partners to market their products with Windows Vista support, they need to gain Microsoft’s certification to do so. When it comes to marketing, the ‘Windows Vista ready’ logo is a strong force. I would argue this is something more important for manufacturers and marketing techniques than anything else. Depending on the type of user, it may not make muc of an impact. Though you do have to realise the connection between the two.

Slightly more tech savy people aren’t really going to care too much about this Windows Vista certfication in most cases. They will already know (or can easily find out) if a particular piece of hardware is properly supported under Windows Vista. The average consumer however doesn’t know better and will be looking for this seal of approval before making a purchase.

Why would you Want Vista Certification

To system builders and OEM manufactuers it means selling systems with Windows Vista branding power and the added benefit of being able to submit their drivers to Microsoft, making them available for download via the Windows Update service. To end users, this is a nice convenience.

It’s a good thing system builders have to earn Windows Vista certification (through the user of higher end products). It raises the demand for higher level components, bringing more expensive components into mainstream market that are in high demand.

For further information on Windows Vista’s OEM hardware requirements