How to create a file extension association with the program in Windows

Assume that you have a program named "table-explorer.exe".
And you want to open all ".csv" and ".sas7bdat" files using  this program by default in Windows.

First you need to create a file extension association with the program via these commands:

reg add HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\.csv /d "table-explorer" /f
reg add HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\.sas7bdat /d "table-explorer" /f


And then register the application:

reg add HKCU\SOFTWARE\Classes\table-explorer\shell\open\command /d "\"C:\Path\to\table-explorer.exe\"" /f

HowTo batch remove temporaty files from directory and subdirectories

Just create .bat file with this content:

@set path=
@for /R %%i in (*.tmp *.bak) do @del %%i


and update (*.tmp *.bak) section with your set of files or masks.

Windows XP hibernate mode problem

Do you have a problem with Hibernate mode in Windows XP?
And you can't turn on Hibernate mode from Power Options Panel, it says: "The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process".
I found one crasy method how to resolve this problem on my computer (AMD64/1G RAM/MB Asus M2NE/Video Asus N7600/IDE HDD).

• Delete file: WINDOWS\system32\drivers\atapi.sys (it will be restored by Windows).


• Manualy enable hibernate mode (now it isn't throw error message).


• Switch computer to Hibernate mode.

Is it helpful?

Windows Service Simple Sample

Some years ago I was C/C++ developer and I wrote several windows services.
I know that writing of service programs is quite difficult for beginners.

In this post I'm publishing simple working example.
This service only beeps with one second's interval after starts.

service.c

#include <windows.h>

HANDLE  hServerStopEvent = NULL;
VOID ServiceBody();
VOID WINAPI ServiceMain(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv);
VOID WINAPI ServiceControlHandler(DWORD dwCtrlCode);
BOOL ReportStatusToSCMgr(DWORD dwCurrentState, DWORD dwWin32ExitCode, DWORD dwWaitHint);


SERVICE_STATUS          ssStatus;
SERVICE_STATUS_HANDLE   sshStatusHandle;

void _cdecl main(int argc, char **argv)
{
    SERVICE_TABLE_ENTRY dispatchTable[] = 
        {{"", (LPSERVICE_MAIN_FUNCTION)ServiceMain }, { NULL, NULL }};
    StartServiceCtrlDispatcher(dispatchTable);
}

void WINAPI ServiceMain(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
{
    sshStatusHandle = RegisterServiceCtrlHandler( "", ServiceControlHandler);

    if (!sshStatusHandle)
        goto cleanup;

    ssStatus.dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS;
    ssStatus.dwServiceSpecificExitCode = 0;

    if (!ReportStatusToSCMgr(SERVICE_START_PENDING, NO_ERROR, 3000))
        goto cleanup;

    ServiceBody();

cleanup:
    if (sshStatusHandle)
        (VOID)ReportStatusToSCMgr(SERVICE_STOPPED, NO_ERROR, 0);
    return;
}

VOID WINAPI ServiceControlHandler(DWORD dwCtrlCode)
{
    if(dwCtrlCode==SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP)
    {
        ReportStatusToSCMgr(SERVICE_STOP_PENDING, NO_ERROR, 0);
        if ( hServerStopEvent )
            SetEvent(hServerStopEvent);
    }
    ReportStatusToSCMgr(ssStatus.dwCurrentState, NO_ERROR, 0);
}

BOOL ReportStatusToSCMgr(DWORD dwCurrentState, DWORD dwWin32ExitCode, DWORD dwWaitHint)
{
    if (dwCurrentState == SERVICE_START_PENDING)
        ssStatus.dwControlsAccepted = 0;
    else
        ssStatus.dwControlsAccepted = SERVICE_ACCEPT_STOP;

    ssStatus.dwCurrentState = dwCurrentState;
    ssStatus.dwWin32ExitCode = dwWin32ExitCode;
    ssStatus.dwWaitHint = dwWaitHint;

    if ( ( dwCurrentState == SERVICE_RUNNING ) 
        || ( dwCurrentState == SERVICE_STOPPED ) )
        ssStatus.dwCheckPoint = 0;
    else
        ssStatus.dwCheckPoint++;

    return SetServiceStatus( sshStatusHandle, &ssStatus);
}


//This sample only beeps.
VOID ServiceBody ()
{   
    hServerStopEvent = CreateEvent(NULL, TRUE, FALSE, NULL);
    if (!hServerStopEvent)
        goto cleanup;

    if (!ReportStatusToSCMgr(SERVICE_RUNNING, NO_ERROR, 0))
        goto cleanup;

    do 
    {
        MessageBeep(-1);
    } while (WaitForSingleObject(hServerStopEvent, 1000 )== WAIT_TIMEOUT);

cleanup:
    if (hServerStopEvent)
        CloseHandle(hServerStopEvent);
}

Script for compiling with Visual C++ 6.0:

make_vc6.bat
@call "D:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC98\Bin\vcvars32.bat"
@cl /nologo service.c user32.lib advapi32.lib
@del service.obj

If you use Visual C++ Express, you need additional Platform SDK from Microsoft.

Install (register) service via command:

service_create.bat
sc create "XQX Service" binPath= %CD%\service.exe

Start service via command:

service_start.bat
net start "XQX Service"

Stop service via command:

service_stop.bat
net stop "XQX Service"

Uninstall (remove) service via command:

service_delete.bat
sc delete "XQX Service"

HowTo remove service in Windows

Sometimes it is necessary to remove service from the Service List in the Windows Managment Console.
In the past I used program, which I compiled from the MSDN's sources (MSDN Library - October 2001: Samples\VC98\sdk\winbase\winnt\service).

But I found another way: Windows XP contains special program SC.exe, which can communicates with the Service Controller and installed services (start, stop, remove, create, query, etc.).
After that I use this command in my shell scripts.

E.g.: for removal of MySQL service, execute command:
sc delete MySQL
(! You may restore MySQL service via command mysqld-nt.exe --install)

But if you want to do this from your C++ program, you may use sample's sources from MSDN.

Part of these is listed below:

service.c
...
void CmdRemoveService()
{
    SC_HANDLE   schService;
    SC_HANDLE   schSCManager;

    schSCManager = OpenSCManager(
                        NULL,                   // machine (NULL == local)
                        NULL,                   // database (NULL == default)
                        SC_MANAGER_ALL_ACCESS   // access required
                        );
    if ( schSCManager )
    {
        schService = OpenService(schSCManager, TEXT(SZSERVICENAME), SERVICE_ALL_ACCESS);

        if (schService)
        {
            // try to stop the service
            if ( ControlService( schService, SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP, &ssStatus ) )
            {
                _tprintf(TEXT("Stopping %s."), TEXT(SZSERVICEDISPLAYNAME));
                Sleep( 1000 );

                while( QueryServiceStatus( schService, &ssStatus ) )
                {
                    if ( ssStatus.dwCurrentState == SERVICE_STOP_PENDING )
                    {
                        _tprintf(TEXT("."));
                        Sleep( 1000 );
                    }
                    else
                        break;
                }

                if ( ssStatus.dwCurrentState == SERVICE_STOPPED )
                    _tprintf(TEXT("\n%s stopped.\n"), TEXT(SZSERVICEDISPLAYNAME) );
                else
                    _tprintf(TEXT("\n%s failed to stop.\n"), TEXT(SZSERVICEDISPLAYNAME) );

            }

            // now remove the service
            if( DeleteService(schService) )
                _tprintf(TEXT("%s removed.\n"), TEXT(SZSERVICEDISPLAYNAME) );
            else
                _tprintf(TEXT("DeleteService failed - %s\n"), GetLastErrorText(szErr,256));


            CloseServiceHandle(schService);
        }
        else
            _tprintf(TEXT("OpenService failed - %s\n"), GetLastErrorText(szErr,256));

        CloseServiceHandle(schSCManager);
    }
    else
        _tprintf(TEXT("OpenSCManager failed - %s\n"), GetLastErrorText(szErr,256));
}
...