Hi,I'm in the process of creating an alternative hardware profile for simming and gaming with as few services active as possible.This has been quite successful and the Services count is currently 15 and I've managed to preserve Printer, NOD32 and Broadband Internet functionality.During testing I loaded ASA Build 394 and I find that it keeps asking me to activate the product. This is initially unsuccessful and I'm then invited to enter my product license key which is accepted as being valid. However, shortly afterwards the cycle repeats itself. This continues and consequently ASA never manages to finish the initializing process. Running ASA under my normal hardware profile (44 Services starting automatically) is fine with no problems encountered.It would appear, therefore that I've managed to disable a service which is somehow preventing ASA from verifying my rightful ownership of the product. Can anyone suggest which service this might be as it would save me a great deal of time working through them all by a process of elimination.Thanks.Mike

Hi Mike,Not sure, but this link may help:http://www.ss64.com/nt/syntax-services.htmlThanks,

Hi Mike,Not sure, but this link may help:http://www.ss64.com/nt/syntax-services.htmlThanks,

Hi Jim,Thanks, yes I'm using this useful list already. So far no luck - I just wish the list provided a bit more info as I've found by a process of trial and error that many services depend on others being active as well. All very tedious. I'll keep at it. Meantime I'm seeing all my 'good' work being undone as the number of started services continues to grow again :( Never mind Vista, Windows XP Home can also be a real pain at times!Seems strange that something as simple as confirming a product installation is legit is apparently being blocked by the absence of one or more running services. Also access to ASA is still being denied even when my code is accepted and confirmed as valid!!? Just doesn't make any sense, at least not to me.Regards,Mike

UPDATE!I believe I've found the answer :)Despite what this link tells me:http://www.updatexp.com/dcom-windows-xp.htmlIt would appear that I do indeed need the DCOM Server Process Launcher to be running.Here's what I see in the Event Viewer with DCOM disabled:When the DCOM Server Process Launcher Service is enabled those entries in the Event Viewer disappear and the problems with ASA go away! This is repeatable.For the record, this is my current list of active Services in my 'Simming and Gaming' hardware profile:Now, I wonder what I can disable from this list..... sigh, it never stops! LOL!Regards,Mike[/b]