Is WMI dependent on windows explorer running?   

I would like to know whether WMI depends on explorer.exe running in any way. 
I would like to run WMI on a system where explorer.exe is specifically 
excluded from running. Is this going to prevent running WMI? I looked at the 
dependencies for the WMI service in the control panel services applet, and 
the only dependent service that is listed is RPC. Does this mean that WMI 
will run even if explorer.exe is not running?

TIA

date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 13:23:02 -0800   author:   wiyosaya

Re: Is WMI dependent on windows explorer running?   

> I would like to know whether WMI depends on explorer.exe running in any
way.
> I would like to run WMI on a system where explorer.exe is specifically
> excluded from running. Is this going to prevent running WMI? I looked at
the
> dependencies for the WMI service in the control panel services applet, and
> the only dependent service that is listed is RPC.

 I've also found that DCOM Process Launcher is required.
That doesn't make sense, but seems to be true in my
experience when I access WMI via vbscript.

  I don't know about Explorer.exe. You'd just have to test it.

date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 19:29:33 -0500   author:   mayayana

Re: Is WMI dependent on windows explorer running?   

"mayayana" wrote:

> 
> > I would like to know whether WMI depends on explorer.exe running in any
> way.
> > I would like to run WMI on a system where explorer.exe is specifically
> > excluded from running. Is this going to prevent running WMI? I looked at
> the
> > dependencies for the WMI service in the control panel services applet, and
> > the only dependent service that is listed is RPC.
> 
>  I've also found that DCOM Process Launcher is required.
> That doesn't make sense, but seems to be true in my
> experience when I access WMI via vbscript.
> 
>   I don't know about Explorer.exe. You'd just have to test it.
> 
> 
> 
About five years ago, I used WMI to collect the event logs from PCs in a 
domain.  The interface was COM/DCOM based, so it does not surprise me that 
WMI depends on the DCOM Process Launcher.

Best Regards,
Matthew

date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 06:02:02 -0800   author:   wiyosaya

Re: Is WMI dependent on windows explorer running?   

> About five years ago, I used WMI to collect the event logs from PCs in a
> domain.  The interface was COM/DCOM based, so it does not surprise me that
> WMI depends on the DCOM Process Launcher.
>

  Yes, it has a COM object model for late-bound script
access, which is what I was using, but that's not the
same as DCOM. I'm on a stand-alone machine where DCOM
is irrelevant. On Win98 I remove rpcss.exe altogether and
it affects nothing. On XP I disable DCOM, yet some
functionality seems to require the process launcher service
if it only *could* work through DCOM. I find that quite odd.
Last week I ran into the same problem with IE, where a
locally-running IE instance, on a stand-alone machine with
no networking capability, failed to open new windows unless
the process launcher service was running. The error was
"RPC service in unavailable"!

   None of that makes any sense on the face of it. (For that
matter, having DCOM installed by default doesn't make any
sense.) So I've become very curious about how these things
are wired underneath.

date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:49:31 -0500   author:   mayayana

Re: Is WMI dependent on windows explorer running?   

Hi,

You can definitely run scripts against remote machines that are not even 
logged in, and Explorer.exe is not running on those machines. You should 
also be able to do this on a local machine (e.g. on a schedule).

It probably still requires DCOM to check security, but you can untick 
the box in DCOMCNFG to prevent access from a remote machine.

mayayana wrote:
>> About five years ago, I used WMI to collect the event logs from PCs in a
>> domain.  The interface was COM/DCOM based, so it does not surprise me that
>> WMI depends on the DCOM Process Launcher.
>>
> 
>   Yes, it has a COM object model for late-bound script
> access, which is what I was using, but that's not the
> same as DCOM. I'm on a stand-alone machine where DCOM
> is irrelevant. On Win98 I remove rpcss.exe altogether and
> it affects nothing. On XP I disable DCOM, yet some
> functionality seems to require the process launcher service
> if it only *could* work through DCOM. I find that quite odd.
> Last week I ran into the same problem with IE, where a
> locally-running IE instance, on a stand-alone machine with
> no networking capability, failed to open new windows unless
> the process launcher service was running. The error was
> "RPC service in unavailable"!
> 
>    None of that makes any sense on the face of it. (For that
> matter, having DCOM installed by default doesn't make any
> sense.) So I've become very curious about how these things
> are wired underneath.
> 
> 


-- 
Gerry Hickman (London UK)

date: Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:28:31 +0000   author:   Gerry Hickman am