Log in

View Full Version : mCube's SafeMode and the Safe Mode of Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 users, attention!


Menneisyys
07-20-2005, 02:58 PM
Over at this thread (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=355852) (please read jngold_me's post at Jul 19, 2005 9:10 pm GMT), I have been pointed to the fact that the Safe Mode service of the newly-released Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 lets XCPUScalar run, even in safe mode.

This is why I started scrutinizing these two applications.

Unfortunately, mCube's SafeMode (http://www.monocube.com/forums/about50.html), as of version 1.02, isn’t better in this respect either - it, as with Spb Pocket Plus (SPP) 3.0, doesn't touch 3rd-party (non-Microsoft) services in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\init; only in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Services. (It doesn’t even list the services started in the former; only in the latter.)

This is why neither of the two programs are unable to inhibit XCPUScalar's being run as a service.

This is certainly a big problem with both applications - not only XCPUScalar registers itself in (and starts from) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\init but also tools like Mad Programmer's Force Hi-resolution tool V1.51 (http://www.firstloox.org//forums/showthread.php?t=3754) and several other tools. Should they crash – you aren’t able to boot (not even with mCube's SafeMode/SPP).

Of course, it’s understandable to a certain degree why the authors of these two programs (if they are aware of the fact that many 3rd party programs register themselves in here) have chosen not to touch this part of the registry. After all,
1, all system processes (shell32.exe etc) are loaded from here. Letting the user remove them from here would be deadly for the PDA. However, building a don’t display-list of the services listed below is about 30 seconds in any decent programming language.
2, there’re device-specific, additional services here too (for example, ShowBmp.exe, FPN.exe and hpshell.exe with iPAQ 2210’s; KeyLockRes.exe, FSC_PwdCheck.exe, FSC_PwdStart.exe, testreg.exe and Adjustmem.exe with PL720’s). These services implement functionalities not present in WM itself: for example, key locking (KeyLockRes.exe) (this will be part of WM5 though) or displaying a HP ad after booting in (ShowBmp.exe). They can all be disabled in most PDA’s, which even shortens the booting process.

The only services that must be run are as follows (in this order):

shell.exe
device.exe
gwes.exe
updatexip.exe
shell32.exe
services.exe
connmgr.exe
srvtrust.exe

I’ve tested this with two PPC’s (the iPAQ 2210 and the PL720). They work, connect etc. great after removing all the other services.

Bottom line: the lack of cleaning up HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\init is certainly an oversight in both SPP 3.0 and mCube's SafeMode, which can be very easily fixed – just (temporarily) remove the EXE’s run from here that are not in the above list. (There may be exceptions though, of which I’m not aware. There may be PDA’s that absolutely require other services to be started here too. I could only check this with two PDA’s.)

Please note that this is certainly not a big problem and will not cause you problems in 99% of time (because the vast majority of programs put themselves in \Windows\StartUp or, to a much lesser degree, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Services, which both apps handle well), just one that you should still be aware of if you can’t even boot into Safe Mode because of a misbehaving program that registered itself into HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\init.

Other links to read: you may also want to read my latest article on relocating 2 Mbytes from RAM occupied by Spb Pocket Plus 3.0 to the File Store at PPCT (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=355825) or FirstLoox (http://www.firstloox.org//forums/showthread.php?t=4348).

ipaq_wannabe
08-04-2005, 10:46 AM
Menneisyys,

just one question - do you know that filesys.exe does?

ive been looking all over, but cannot seem to find an answer...

thanks!!!

PS: is there a site out there detailing ALL, or most, of the system services, files, etc. related to WindowsMobile stuffs...