Friday, January 18, 2008

Running MagicJack as a service

Frank Zappa for put this procedure together. Thanks Frank!!!!

Now magicjack runs as a service, is completely invisible, starts up automatically on boot, and I don't need fast-user switching enabled, thus it takes up no memory caused by virtual desktop programs or autosizer, and has 0 focus problems.

Here is my current step by step to get this setup ->

1. Download rktools.exe

2. Extract it.

3. Create a user account named "magicjack", temporarily assign admin privilege. Also create a password for this account.

4. Login as “magicjack”, and install the magicjack under this profile.

5. Install the magicjack as a service, using the tutorial

After you create the service, if you export the registry value from regedt32.exe, it should look similar to this ->

Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\magicJack]
"Type"=dword:00000010
"Start"=dword:00000002
"ErrorControl"=dword:00000001
"ImagePath"=hex(2):63,00,3a,00,5c,00,50,00,72,00,6f,00,67,00,72,00,61,00,6d,00,\
20,00,46,00,69,00,6c,00,65,00,73,00,5c,00,57,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,6f,00,77,\
00,73,00,20,00,52,00,65,00,73,00,6f,00,75,00,72,00,63,00,65,00,20,00,4b,00,\
69,00,74,00,73,00,5c,00,54,00,6f,00,6f,00,6c,00,73,00,5c,00,73,00,72,00,76,\
00,61,00,6e,00,79,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,00,00,00
"DisplayName"="magicJack"
"ObjectName"=".\\magicjack"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\magicJack\Enum]
"Count"=dword:00000001
"NextInstance"=dword:00000001
"0"="Root\\LEGACY_LINE1\\0000"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\magicJack\Parameters]
"Application"="c:\\Documents and Settings\\magicjack\\Application
Data\\mjusbsp\\magicjackloader.exe"



Note: the ImagePath string value is really something like "c:\Program Files\Windows Resource Kits\Tools\srvany.exe"

6. Delete the two cdloader entries for MagicJack in the registry. Using regedt32.exe, logging in from both of your user accounts, delete this entry from ->

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

7. Change the magicjack user account to be a user account instead of an admin account.

8. Enjoy!

Notes: Now, when I did this the magicjack service still wouldn't start, so I went to Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services->MagicJack and tried to start the service from there, but I got this error ->

"Could not start the service on Local Computer. Error 1069: The service
did not start due to a logon failure"

So, I went to the log on tab (still in the magic jack service tab) and put in the password, and everything works beautifully!

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Frank Zappa

86 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Frank, that worked like a champ!!!

Anonymous said...

Really good info! Just what i was thinking of doing an it installed just like you described. GOOD JOB Frank!

Anonymous said...

I got it setup as a service. . .but for some reason it still only runs when I login?? Any clue?

Anonymous said...

Great tip you pointed me in the right direction for that I am greatful.. but if you want to skip the steps.. and make it real easy follow this, go to "downloads.zdnet.com" download a freeware called "SERVICE SHELL" so you can create the service path Then find your "mjusbsp"folder, load that path with the browse button till you find magicjack.exe create the sevice path, save, restart JOB DONE.

Anonymous said...

Hey, very nice. How would you reverse this Service Shell option? Does anyone have better solution for better MJ audio quality?

jk said...

Can I Use Majick jack as Soft Phone with out connecting USB ?

Anonymous said...

Hi,
I'm wondering if you might know of a solution for this problem:

When I work in my graphics program Corel PaintshopPro X1 - when I hit 'File' (as if wanted to go file, save) MJ pops up and freezes my program then over rides it! It's like MJ over rides my preferences with it's autorun... if I click on preferences, the same thing happens.

Do you think making it a 'service' might fix this?

Thanks so much for any solutions. MJ tech support was helpful, but after hours they weren't able to over ride the auto start thing/solve this issue. Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Blue.

Anonymous said...

to clarify, should we we be pointing to magicjack or magicjackloader when using service shell?

loader works, but still pops up. magicjack.exe doesnt work

comment gravity well said...

that is severely tedious. FireDaemon to the rescue

Unknown said...

Once you have it setup as a service, is there a way to switch to headset/telephone mode?

Unknown said...

Can you install this as the Administrator or do you have to create a seperate account? I'm running this on Server 2k3 and would prefer not to use yet another user. And I don't want to keep the admin account locked all the time so that I can't use RDP to get into the system. Any ideas as to the best configuration for this?

Anonymous said...

First, TANKS A MILLION for this.

Second, Stephen,
Under 2003 you can leave the console locked and still log in as that user under terminal services as long as you do not use the console switch on your remote desktop client. Also this can be setup on any services account or as a new account with services ability, just specify the service account username and password in the logon tab.

Anonymous said...

Just ran through this on SBS 2008 and it works great, should also be fine on Vista and Server 2008 X64. Thanks for the great info and walkthrough!

Anonymous said...

...also, because I installed this on a server and may need to login as different users at times, I renamed autorun.inf so I don't have to worry about it running when I log in as a different user.

Anonymous said...

It does not work on Vista (as per Microsoft). Any suggestions for Vista users? Thanks..

Rick said...

Hi
I just did what Frank mentioned and it working just fine, however if i log in with the MagicJack. The MagicJack screen loads and it all looks good, but when i log off of the MagicJack account, the MagicJack stops working even though it is a service. Any ideas on how to have it continue to run when I log the MagicJack user off. I do like checking out the calls to see who called when I was not home. Call log and saving to contacts.

Anonymous said...

FOR VISTA OS!

You must go to magicjack.com and click on the client area and down load the vista upgrade during set up. It will work like a charm!

I just purchased mine today through Best Buy. Works fin on Vista Home Premium after down loading the upgrade.

Joey said...

I am running vista when I installed the service but it won’t start. I get the error "Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.”

Anonymous said...

Hey, Frank... I've seen your name around for MANY good years now... I'd like a script to make the 'Running MagicJack as a Service' conversion safely without me having to play around in the registry. AND an UNDO if it doesn't work... can you set up an install script for that?

Rick said...

Rick again here.
I have the MagicJack running as a service under the account name of Magicjack as a user (not admin priv). It is working. Running in windows 2003 server. One issue I find is that if I log in the user Magicjack, I cannot run the soft phone to see the main screen. I get an error stating Access denied or application already in use. Is their way to resolve this issue and still have it run as a service?
Thanks

Anonymous said...

I am running 2003 Server when I installed the service but it won’t start. I get the error "Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.”

I am getting the above error, any ideas? I check the processes and they are running in the background but the service does not say "started"

Rick said...

Hey Rich, did you place a password and user account to run the service. Click on properties, logon and click This Account. put in account name and password.
Also. if you are running it as a service, you are really running srvany.exe and the srvany if running the Magicjack.exe or the launcher file

Rich said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rich said...

OK Rick thanks for your help, I went back and looked at the document and reread it (was interupted first time) and I created the Service and manually added the key for the application and it works GREAT! Thanks

Anonymous said...

Great info. Followed the instructions and it worked the first time.

Jack Chrysler said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Works fine on server 2003 with TS installed.
Is there a way to get the softphone to run on the desktop and interact with the service?
I attend a lot of conference phone bridges and they demand a passkey to be entered. For some reason using the phone buttons doesn't work for entry and you have to use the softphone buttons to enter the key.

Thanks Peter

DoC said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DoC said...

Just create a Scheduled Task.

Set the following:

- Starts at System Startup
- Point it to the MagicJackLoader.exe for the executable file
- Type in the Admin Password twice
- Click Save

Now reboot and It should automatically start up. Been working for the last week fine so far.

Anonymous said...

but When you restart the PC (Vista) the Magic Jack starts automatically.
Is there a way to avoid the pop ups?

Anonymous said...

I found interesting here very informative. Thanks for the tips! I can call up my friend in Canada this time. While I'm surfing for the net for Magic Jack I just found in a social network that the free trial is fake. You can found on that link.

Rick said...

Hi
The guy that stated the 30 trial is a fake on the site http://magic-jack.pissedconsumer.com is a total moron. He complains that they charged him and his account was overdrawn. Think of this, he ordered two MJ's so that would be $60.00 they would take and hold for the 30 days before keeping it. They did the right thing. The guys a idiot.

okor98 said...

I've used both the registry edit method and the scheduled task method, which both work for OUTGOING calls great. But incoming calls are not working without having a user logged in, it says I'm not available. This is on Vista x64 sp1. Ideas? Has someone got this to work and be able to call in??

Anonymous said...

I think that the people running a magicjack on a server of any knid have absolutely no business in front of a computer. Ever heard of something called security?

Rick said...

Think security, you know nothing about sip or its inbound/outbound operation to/from a router. If you think you can hack your way into the same port as the magicjack is using to send/receive a call then you are better then Bill Gates. It’s not possible, remember this is a UDP connection and you being the know it all cannot create a transport session to it. If you think you can then have at it. I will give you my static internet ip address just so you can try it.

Anonymous said...

Anyone running magicjack on Windows Server 2003? It's working fine for me but with a small issue. I am not getting the caller id on the phone. When I use magicjack on vista, caller id works just fine. I am using a powered USB and tried few callerid hacks available on the net. Nothing makes caller id working on Windows 2003

Rick said...

I run Windows 2003 Server and I get caller Id with no (NO) special hack or configuration or anything to all 5 phones. You just make sure your telephone connected to the MJ system is caller ID compatible.

Unknown said...

Maybe its just because I'm running Windows 7, but the toolkit doesn't appear to be compatible here.

I do have Firedaemon, but guess I don't have the requisite two brain cells to rub together because I haven't got MajicJack to run as a service in it.

Rick said...

Hey Dan, windows 7 is not released to the public and the magicjack people would not have a beta version of it to make the MJ work with it. try setting up the magicjack.ece file to run in xp mode compatibility. I do not have windows 7 so I cannot tell you how to make it work. Try running it as a task.

Chris said...

I decided to work on my own Windows service that will launch magic jack for me and monitor it to make sure the process is still running... maybe restart it every few days just in case. So far, it seems to work pretty well.

Anonymous said...

WOW THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!! WORKED PERFECTLY!

note:

if it does not start working unplug and plugin the magic jack in ur usb and restart the service

Anonymous said...

Thank you!

I've been waiting a long time for this :)

Anonymous said...

Can I backfeed all of the phone lines in my house and run them through the MJ? When we tried this we got beeps and poor sound quality.

Rick said...

I have all the phones in my house hooked up to the MJ through one line, I hard wired all the phones to one jack and then ran one line from that jack to the MJ running on my windows 2003 server. it works perfect. I would recommend you go to this site for sound quality settings http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/MagicJack/Support_Resources or check the MJ web site. I have no issues unless the MJ server or my web server is very busy.

Sherri said...

Thanks to whomever gave the instructions to uninstall magic jack. The Version 3 worked for me. I had also downloaded the magic hide program to keep the phone from popping up and it worked perfectly as well. I just can't find those threads now to give my thanks there.

Now I'm ready to try to install Jack again as a service (along with the hide). Do I need to go into safe mode into the System Administrator to create the User Magic Jack or just log into my personal User Name to create the new user? We have four users on our Windows XP main screen (me plus kids) and sometimes it seems like it is four separate computers so I originally installed Jack on all four separate users. What a mess! None of it worked right no matter who was logged in. I guess Jack will be an extra kid on the screen and stay logged in all the time. Is that correct?

Rick said...

Hi Sherri.
Yes the computer has to stay on for phone access. If you have MJ installed on one system as a service then others can log in with their account and the MJ will continue to operate. Make sure you set the service with the magicjack user account and password. Do not load the MJ into each users account on the system, just do it for the MJ account. If you. I run Srvany.exe and it runs the magic jack loader as a service so I never see an MJ screen. I can log into the computer with any account and the MJ will continue to run.
Now, it the computer is busy a lot, it will cause choppy voice because of computer being so busy.
I have the MJ on my web/email server and it works perfect with all 6 phone hard wired to the MJ. Have fun.

Anonymous said...

I know there is no such feature yet but I thought I throw the question anyway :-)

Is there a way to completely disable the 911 functionality and change or remove the address that was previuosly entered/used to register?

Thanks

Anonymous said...

Why would you wish to removbe the address and if you are the registered owner of it. You could remove your address from the 911 area and just put a false address in for your home address. This can be done on the MagicJack web site. Once you log in to it.

Anonymous said...

I am actually gonna give this one as a give and I do not want my address on it before I send it...

Regading 911, I just want to avoid anyone accidentally dialing 911 from this phone..and then they respond to my registered address...I guess I can do a false address so no response will happen...there is a cell phone that can be used for 911 purposes...Thanks for th eresponse :-)

Rick said...

Once you use the MJ and Register it. You cannot unregister it. I bought one from radio shack that a customer returned and told them he had no computer to use it on. Go figure that lie. It was registered to him and you cannot change it. Therefor if you want to give one away as a gift. Buy one and don't use it. Just wrap it up and give it to them.
forgoet about giving it away and the 911 will stay with that MJ device. Address can be changed online for it.

Unknown said...

Hi All,

I am using vista home premium, how do I install the service? what is the exe file? on the mj or on the harddrive?

Anonymous said...

I would suggest you read thru the posts. The answer you seek is their.

Anonymous said...

It says 411 calls are free, is it true?

apostle415 said...

i don't believe it

No. 13613 said...

I screwed it up the first time through. Just FYI to remove the service you type "instsrv.exe magicjack remove" and then you can start over.

This tutorial is simple enough it was the one on MS support I couldn't follow. ;)

King Brace Blane said...

There is a much easier way to run magicJack without making it a service. There are both pros and cons to running as a service.

I simply created the user account called 'iPhone'. Then I moved my installed files from my account to the iPhone account. Optionally you could take the time to download the files again but since they are there I just moved mine. Once magicJack was running in the iPhone account I did Start-Logoff-Switch User and opened my account.

Now I am not bugged by the GUI because another user is running the program. If the PC reboots I have to login as iPhone then switch users to my account. Otherwise the magicJack won't be running.

Rick said...

Just as you said (If the PC reboots I have to login as iPhone then switch users to my account. Otherwise the magicJack won't be running.) it will not run if PC reboots, hmmm, Run as a service takes less time to setup with no file movement and no popup gui and if the PC reboots it will continue to run. YOu way, it will not and that is teh whole Idea behind running as a service or Scheduled Job.

HNN said...

I have a small company and would like to use Magicjack as one of the phone for my secretary. (1)I was planning to install Magicjack on the server (2003 R2) so that she can use Outlook (2007)feature to call dierctly from the Outlook Contacts. How can I install the magicjack on server? My secretary will be logging in to server to use outlook via Remote Desktop Connection from her desktop with Windows XP Professional (2) Will Magicjack be visible by other users on server? Other users logs into the same server via Remote Destop Connection.
(3)Another question is to use Magic Jack for outgoing fax. Can I connect the fax machine with the magicjack. Please help for configuration.

Anonymous said...

Any idea how to run this in Win 7? Thanks

Unknown said...

would this work on win7? i tried installing the service and got the following error: " The executable must be on a fixed disk (e.g., not a net drive)". I treif coping all the mj files to a local folder but that didnt help either.

Any idea?

Rick said...

(((Beiser has left a new comment)
would this work on win7? i tried installing the service and got the following error: " The executable must be on a fixed disk (e.g., not a net drive)". I treif coping all the mj files to a local folder but that didn’t help either. Any idea? ))

If you want to run it as a service, you have to set up a user account with admin rights. Plug in the mj while logged in with the user you created. You would also need srvany.exe. Read thru the comments to learn it. Or just set magicjack as a schedule job. While you are in the new user account and MJ is running. You will find that the MJ installed its self in that users documents and setting folder under that user’s name. Set up the scheduled task to use the magicjack.exe from that folder. Use the username and password you set up already. In the task window choose schedule and pick at system startup, then in settings, unclick all the boxes so it does not turn off. Go back to the task window and click Enable this task and do not pick only run if logged in. Now log off and reboot and log in with your normal character. Both scheduled task and running as a service work. I run it for my whole house on server 2003, ran it on vista, xp, and will on win7 after i get it. Been working perfect for 10 months now.

Anonymous said...

I verified that it DOES work in Windows 7. Follow the instructions here and note the new folder names i.e.: C:\Users\magicjack\AppData\...etc...

Anonymous said...

So instead of being under documents and setting , win7 convert this to be C:\Users\magicjack\AppData\... this does not seem right for MS to change the documents and setting or is the MJ creating this new location?

Anonymous said...

If you are still having problems after following the original post, here are some extra tips that might help.

If magicJack console start automatically on login, make sure you remove it from the system startup. Don't kill the magicJack app manually, it will stop the phone from working. If you are unsure about searching through the registry, run "msconfig" from the "start"-> "run" menu. Click on the startup tab and uncheck "cdloader2".

Anonymous said...

Bill ask,

I have been using the MJ for almost two years now, can I run the service without uninstalling the MJ first???

Anonymous said...

Check out www.evanvaughan.com/magicjack.aspx

This tool will automatically run MagicJack as a service. Works very well and has the ability to revert back to the normal setup.

Anonymous said...

this was great for windows 7, the CS could not help me. but this is the poop!!

Anonymous said...

this was great for windows 7, the CS could not help me. but this is the poop!! if ou have trouble with windows seven not working! use this



www.evanvaughan.com/magicjack.aspx

Rock H. said...

The evanvaughn link above works great. Loss of the softphone is better than running two user accounts for me.

Anonymous said...

Love the evan vaughan program but having difficulty on multi-user. Should each user have to log off before switching users? Evan's program works fine as long as you stay on the user where his program was originally run.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, I was going to check out the Evan Vaughan program, but after hearing it does not work well with multi-user i guess i will stick with running it as a service so i can continue with multi-user setup on my win2003 server. Thanks for the heads up on the issue.

Unknown said...

You don't have to create a new user account.. just create a batch file and run it as an administrator.

Unknown said...

JUST PLUG IT IN LET IT DO IT ALONE IT SHOULD WORK GOOD NP PROB DONE IT 6 TIMES NOW

Anonymous said...

skype webcam hack 2.0.3 http://magicjackhacks.blogspot.com/
SWEET!!

Anonymous said...

Frank Zappa your a tool, Your a tool in here and a tool on the LPC. That's why you got fedded.

P.S. Creepin-Death Owns you mwhahaha!

**** said...

download this Free tool that automatically makes Magicjack run as a windows service with 1 click

http://www.evanvaughan.com/magicjack.aspx

it worked great for me.

ABHI said...

please tell me how to get call logs from past ? please do the needful
ABHI
abhithakar@aol.com

Michael said...

I couldn't get it running on Windows 7 with the tutorial, but the free app linked above worked like a charm. Definitely the way to go.

http://www.evanvaughan.com/magicjack.aspx

Thanks for the tip!

Anonymous said...

This is a far easier way of doing it. found this link yesterday and no setup or registry entries to do and worked perfectly.
http://www.evanvaughan.com/magicjack.aspx

Anonymous said...

ok good everythig what i seen. but i have this liltle inconvinence i cant get my password because i made a mistake and add a letter to my email and now the password is going somewhere els, i need help thank you for ur time

Anonymous said...

There is absolutely no directions anywhere, to do this on XP. WASTE OF TIME!!!!!

Anonymous said...

look here at the very first comment, this is for windows XP, Server and more unless of course you just need someone to hold your hand thru the process.
http://magicjackhacks.blogspot.com/2008/01/running-magicjack-as-service.html

Anonymous said...

look here at the very first comment, this is for windows XP, Server and more unless of course you just need someone to hold your hand thru the process.
http://magicjackhacks.blogspot.com/2008/01/running-magicjack-as-service.html

Unknown said...

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Murray said...

Works great from my vantage point.