TCP/Com can be installed to run as a service under most Windows environments. This allows TCP/Com to load and activate itself automatically when Windows first boots up – before any users log onto the system. Users can log on and off the system and TCP/Com will remain running in the background the entire time.
Configure TCP/Com
Run TCP/Com, configure it to work the way that you want, and then activate all connections.
Before TCP/Com is installed as a service, we need to exit the program to save the settings. When TCP/Com exits, all of the settings and “Active” states are stored in a file called “Default.T2C” located in the same directory as TCPCom.exe. This is the file that is used by the TCP/Com service. To quit TCP/Com properly, select File > Exit from the menu. Alternatively, if you wish TCP/Com to minimize when the service starts, first minimize TCP/Com and then right click the icon that appears in the system tray and select “Exit TCP-Com” from this menu. This stores the minimized state in the default.t2c file.
Install the Service
To install the service, you need to run TCP/Com with a special -I or -IH switch on the command line. To do this, you would select “Run…” from the Windows Start menu and then enter the complete file path to TCPCom.exe in quotes, followed by either -I or -IH. If you specify -I then TCP/Com will be installed as a service and it will allow the user that is currently logged onto the system to interact with it. If you specify the -IH command line switch, then TCP/Com will be hidden from any user that is logged on. For example, the following command should install TCP/Com as a hidden service:
"C:Program FilesTCPComTCPCom.Exe" -IH
(Note the quote marks around the file path but not around the command line switch.)
To install TCP/Com as a service so that the user can interact with it, you would use the following command line:
"C:Program FilesTCPComTCPCom.Exe" -I
Restart Windows. When Windows restarts, TCP/Com should load as a service and automatically configure itself exactly the same way that it was configured the last time that you ran it.
To uninstall TCP/Com and stop it loading as a Windows service, you would use a special “-U” command line switch as in the following command:
"C:Program FilesTCPComTCPCom.Exe" -U
Notes: If you will be installing TCP/Com to run as a Windows Service, do not select the option “Load TCP/Com with Windows at startup” in the TCP/Com “Options” window.
Special Notes for Windows 7 and later
To set TCP/Com to always run as an Admin, navigate to the TCP/Com installation directory. Right click on TCPCom.exe and click Properties. Click on the compatibility tab and select “Run this program as an administrator” and click the “Apply” button. Next, click on the button labeled “Change settings for all users” and, in the window that appears, check the checkbox that reads the “Run this program as an administrator” again and click the “Apply” button. Click the OK button to return the main TCPCom.exe Properties window. Click the OK button in the TCPCom.exe Properties window to close the window. Install TCPCom as a service. If it is already installed as a service, restart the service. If you already set up WinWedge as a service, stop it first.
An alternative to installing TCP/Com as a service in Windows 7 or 8 might be to use the Windows Task Scheduler.