Since Windows 95/98 provides only a rudimentary implementation of services, a utility is provided to act as an interface to the message server. It supports commands similar to Windows NT's Service Control Manager. Under normal conditions it is unnecessary; the message server will run in the background without intervention. The server control utility is mainly provided to give a way to stop the message server on 9x platforms.
The menu layout for the message server control utility is as follows:
Start - Run the message server.
Stop - Terminate the message server.
Pause - Suspend new data processing by the message server.
Continue - Resume new data processing by the message server.
Auto start - Configure the message server to start at each boot. If this item is not checked, the message server must be started manually.
Help - Display this screen.
Exit - Quit the message server control utility.
The current status of the message server is displayed in the message server control utility's window. This status is periodically updated by querying the message server. This could impact performance so it is best to run the utility only when necessary.
On Windows NT, this utility is installed to provide certain message server configuration features. When a configuration is uploaded instructing the message server to restart itself or the machine, the control utility is started to enact the change.
On Windows 95/98, a reboot (but not a restart) will be implemented through this utility.