Tool to make MagicJack run as a Windows Service
Moderators: Bill Smith, Pilot
.NET on a Thin Client
I've utilized mono to run .NET programs on a TC. You can install it on your TC with the write filter enabled (the install will not be permanent on the TC but it doesn't matter). Pick an install path to a USB drive on your TC or network drive, so mono will be there long after you've restarted your TC. To execute a .NET program, open a dos box and run a bat file that pre-appends the mono path to you path. Then run the .NET app with mono program.exe.
R/mw
Anoying PC ringing
First of all, this little application works like a charm! Thanks so much for your efforts. One question though; is there any way to totally disable the PC from ringing when running mj as a service? It's very distracting when using the PC the magic connected to and I would love to totally disable it all together.
MJ as a service
Worked great for me!
Thin Client - Did not work with Mono
I tried to run 1.8 with mono instead of .NET because I can't install .NET. It ran without any errors at 100% CPU utilization for a long time - I guess it was busy. How long does it take to execute on a normal system? I got impatient and killed it.
It's possible that a TC registry is a little different and MSC could not find what it was looking for.
As a check I ran mj as a service with a manual setup. In the process I came up with a script that works on my TC. Registry changes can be unforgiving. FYI Z: is a ram disk and all this was transient, just a test to figure out if it would work.
1. Set up the service (default registry settings):
Z:\reskit\Instsrv.exe MagicJack Z:\reskit\Srvany.exe
2. Mod the registry:
REG ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MagicJack\Parameters /v Application /d "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\mjusbsp\magicJackLoader.exe"
REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run /v cdloader
Go to the just created mj service to set up the password and start.
One could make this permanent by disabling the write filter, saving the reskit folder on c:, make the mods, then enable the write filter.
Evan's MSC is an amazing piece of code. To install and uninstall a service with all the variables that are out there - wow!
It's possible that a TC registry is a little different and MSC could not find what it was looking for.
As a check I ran mj as a service with a manual setup. In the process I came up with a script that works on my TC. Registry changes can be unforgiving. FYI Z: is a ram disk and all this was transient, just a test to figure out if it would work.
1. Set up the service (default registry settings):
Z:\reskit\Instsrv.exe MagicJack Z:\reskit\Srvany.exe
2. Mod the registry:
REG ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MagicJack\Parameters /v Application /d "C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\mjusbsp\magicJackLoader.exe"
REG DELETE HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run /v cdloader
Go to the just created mj service to set up the password and start.
One could make this permanent by disabling the write filter, saving the reskit folder on c:, make the mods, then enable the write filter.
Evan's MSC is an amazing piece of code. To install and uninstall a service with all the variables that are out there - wow!
R/mw
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BlitterEnd
- MagicJack Newbie
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:20 pm
I have been using MSC18 on my XP-SP3 computer with MJ version 2.0.607.3 for a while and it seems to work pretty good but I have developed/noticed 3 problems.
1) The computer rings when the telephone rings even though I have selected telephone in the MJ interface prior to running MSC18.
2) There is a loud screeching sound coming from my telephone earpiece for a second or two when I answer an incoming call. I don't think that the caller hears it because no one has said anything as of yet.
3) I can not adjust the computer volume below 20% or above 70% when running MSC18. When I remove the service I can adjust the volume 0-100%. Just to note that I do not have an added sound card and I am using the on-board sound Realtek AC'97 Audio.
I created my own script to stop MJ, move the MJ files, delete the added shortcuts to the desktop and start/programs menu, change the location in the registry for MJ, create the service and run the service. I also created a script that undoes everything that the first script did. The scripts have to be run as an Administrator
I am pretty sure that MSC18 had nothing to do with the first and second problems and do not know if a fresh install would have fixed the third. To get the Web Dial Pad I stopped the MagicJack service using windows Service then check the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" on the Log On tab, then restarted the service. (I believe that you can do the same thing using MSC18.) and both problems 1 and 2 go away. Reverse this and they come back.
MSC18 is certainly more elegant and does a better job of error checking than my scripts do but I should not have to run the scripts very often. In fact the only advantage my script does is change the location of MJ in the registry and gets rid of problem number 3.
How I did this was pretty simple. Under and Administrator account I removed the service using MSC18, stopped MJ, unplugged MJ, uninstalled MJ using Set Program Access And Defaults. Then I went through the registry and C drive and deleted all the MJ keys and files. Next I ran an old freeware program called InstallRite which prior to a new instillation takes a snapshot of the registry and selected drives then waits for the install to finish and takes another snapshot of the registry and selected drives. I then simply went through the output and found where I needed to change locations. I really wanted to use SC.exe to create, start and stop the service but for the life of me I could not get the service to start, it kept timing out. Creating and deleting the service was not a problem. So I had to use the old instsrv.exe srvany.exe combination to get it to work. It is a shame because SC is already included in XP (from SP2 on I believe) and I wouldn't have needed to find the other files then copy them somewhere to use them.
From all my tinkering I gather that as for version 2.0.607.3 of MJ, magicJackLoader.exe starts the hated splash screen and does the initial check to see if there is a new version where magicJack.exe starts the actual program and loads the Web Dial Pad. Run as a service without the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" option just runs the program and not the Web Dial Pad (interface).
Now for my questions. Does anyone know why the volume range is limited when running MSC18? Has anyone else ever experienced this? Can anyone tell me or point me in the direction to find out why SC won't work to start the service.
--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Update =-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Well I was already to post the above and I started thinking what if a fresh install of MJ and deleting the files created by MSC18 solved the problems? Sure enough it did... for now. I am now thinking that what happened was that after using MSC18 for a while I must have stopped the service and MJ upgraded. Starting MSC18 again after that may have caused a problem because it did not copy the new files to C:\mjusbsp or something like this. I am pretty sure that as long as you are running MSC18 you do not get the upgrades but when you switch back from service to MJ normal upgrades happen automatically. Switching back to service (MSC18) seems to cause problems.
After a fresh install and then running MSC18 the computer rings have disappeared, and I can adjust the computer volume 0-100%, The screeching on the other had seems to have to do with how fast I pick up the telephone and if all the phones connected have rung. If I pick it up before all phones have rung at least once I get the screech. This has got to have something to do with MJ and the fact that it is designed for one phone but I have it hooked up to 5 phones.
I still would like to get an answer as to why SC did not start my service even though the answer would be a moot point now. That's my rambling for now time to donate to Evan.
1) The computer rings when the telephone rings even though I have selected telephone in the MJ interface prior to running MSC18.
2) There is a loud screeching sound coming from my telephone earpiece for a second or two when I answer an incoming call. I don't think that the caller hears it because no one has said anything as of yet.
3) I can not adjust the computer volume below 20% or above 70% when running MSC18. When I remove the service I can adjust the volume 0-100%. Just to note that I do not have an added sound card and I am using the on-board sound Realtek AC'97 Audio.
I created my own script to stop MJ, move the MJ files, delete the added shortcuts to the desktop and start/programs menu, change the location in the registry for MJ, create the service and run the service. I also created a script that undoes everything that the first script did. The scripts have to be run as an Administrator
I am pretty sure that MSC18 had nothing to do with the first and second problems and do not know if a fresh install would have fixed the third. To get the Web Dial Pad I stopped the MagicJack service using windows Service then check the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" on the Log On tab, then restarted the service. (I believe that you can do the same thing using MSC18.) and both problems 1 and 2 go away. Reverse this and they come back.
MSC18 is certainly more elegant and does a better job of error checking than my scripts do but I should not have to run the scripts very often. In fact the only advantage my script does is change the location of MJ in the registry and gets rid of problem number 3.
How I did this was pretty simple. Under and Administrator account I removed the service using MSC18, stopped MJ, unplugged MJ, uninstalled MJ using Set Program Access And Defaults. Then I went through the registry and C drive and deleted all the MJ keys and files. Next I ran an old freeware program called InstallRite which prior to a new instillation takes a snapshot of the registry and selected drives then waits for the install to finish and takes another snapshot of the registry and selected drives. I then simply went through the output and found where I needed to change locations. I really wanted to use SC.exe to create, start and stop the service but for the life of me I could not get the service to start, it kept timing out. Creating and deleting the service was not a problem. So I had to use the old instsrv.exe srvany.exe combination to get it to work. It is a shame because SC is already included in XP (from SP2 on I believe) and I wouldn't have needed to find the other files then copy them somewhere to use them.
From all my tinkering I gather that as for version 2.0.607.3 of MJ, magicJackLoader.exe starts the hated splash screen and does the initial check to see if there is a new version where magicJack.exe starts the actual program and loads the Web Dial Pad. Run as a service without the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" option just runs the program and not the Web Dial Pad (interface).
Now for my questions. Does anyone know why the volume range is limited when running MSC18? Has anyone else ever experienced this? Can anyone tell me or point me in the direction to find out why SC won't work to start the service.
--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Update =-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Well I was already to post the above and I started thinking what if a fresh install of MJ and deleting the files created by MSC18 solved the problems? Sure enough it did... for now. I am now thinking that what happened was that after using MSC18 for a while I must have stopped the service and MJ upgraded. Starting MSC18 again after that may have caused a problem because it did not copy the new files to C:\mjusbsp or something like this. I am pretty sure that as long as you are running MSC18 you do not get the upgrades but when you switch back from service to MJ normal upgrades happen automatically. Switching back to service (MSC18) seems to cause problems.
After a fresh install and then running MSC18 the computer rings have disappeared, and I can adjust the computer volume 0-100%, The screeching on the other had seems to have to do with how fast I pick up the telephone and if all the phones connected have rung. If I pick it up before all phones have rung at least once I get the screech. This has got to have something to do with MJ and the fact that it is designed for one phone but I have it hooked up to 5 phones.
I still would like to get an answer as to why SC did not start my service even though the answer would be a moot point now. That's my rambling for now time to donate to Evan.
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BlitterEnd
- MagicJack Newbie
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:20 pm
Maybe.etvaugha wrote:No.babaganoosh wrote:is there a way to see the log of calls without reversing all of this? is there a text file? web page?
If you run Service from windows (Control Panel\Administrative Tools Service or %SystemRoot%\system32\services.msc /s in the run box) you can stop the service (the phone shuts off while you do this). To get the Web Dial Pad stop the service and check the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" on the Log On tab and click apply then start the service.Evan add this to the next build for all others start a dos prompt and type:
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MagicJack" /v "Description" /t REG_SZ /d "Starts MagicJack as a service and prevents interface from appearing. To get the Web Dial Pad stop the service and check the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" on the Log On tab and click apply then start the service." /f
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AbsolutePhoenix
- MagicJack Newbie
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Sun Mar 11, 2012 6:08 pm
I should also point out, and I'm not sure whether MSC is causing this or not, but my phone has stopped IDing calls coming in and without the web dial pad, I don't know who's calling. The part that I'm not sure of, though is that even if I go to my account page on MagicJack's site, the log is not updated. It stops about 2 days after I installed MSC. I wonder why my caller ID worked for a while, then stopped, though.BlitterEnd wrote:Maybe.etvaugha wrote:No.babaganoosh wrote:is there a way to see the log of calls without reversing all of this? is there a text file? web page?
Evan add this to the next build for all others start a dos prompt and type:
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MagicJack" /v "Description" /t REG_SZ /d "Starts MagicJack as a service and prevents interface from appearing. To get the Web Dial Pad stop the service and check the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" on the Log On tab and click apply then start the service." /f
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BlitterEnd
- MagicJack Newbie
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:20 pm
My guess is that MJ did an update and that update changed something that is no longer taken care of by MSC.AbsolutePhoenix wrote:I should also point out, and I'm not sure whether MSC is causing this or not, but my phone has stopped IDing calls coming in and without the web dial pad, I don't know who's calling. The part that I'm not sure of, though is that even if I go to my account page on MagicJack's site, the log is not updated. It stops about 2 days after I installed MSC. I wonder why my caller ID worked for a while, then stopped, though.BlitterEnd wrote:Maybe.etvaugha wrote: No.
Evan add this to the next build for all others start a dos prompt and type:
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MagicJack" /v "Description" /t REG_SZ /d "Starts MagicJack as a service and prevents interface from appearing. To get the Web Dial Pad stop the service and check the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" on the Log On tab and click apply then start the service." /f
Sorry everyone, I haven't checked this thread in quite awhile. My setup seems to be working well and I "updated" about a month ago....updates are not downloaded when running as a service; the only way to update is to uninstall and reinstall the service.
Bitterend, you seem to be nearly as knowledgeable as I am at this point
. Is there anything I need to update in the build?
Bitterend, you seem to be nearly as knowledgeable as I am at this point
. Is there anything I need to update in the build?-
BlitterEnd
- MagicJack Newbie
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Mar 22, 2012 10:20 pm
Well thanks for the compliment although I am not sure it is even close to true. The only possible thing that I can think of is what I mentioned in a previous post add a description in to the service, maybe put your web site in the description. Since the advent of MJ Plus and the companies effort to push it I am not sure that a new build would be necessary.etvaugha wrote:Sorry everyone, I haven't checked this thread in quite awhile. My setup seems to be working well and I "updated" about a month ago....updates are not downloaded when running as a service; the only way to update is to uninstall and reinstall the service.
Bitterend, you seem to be nearly as knowledgeable as I am at this point
I do have a question for you, when you stop the service and subsequently re-start the service does it recopy all the files to the new MJ folder that the service creates? And why does it not copy all the files in the first place? If you are going to make a new build you might change the registry for the location of the installed files. See below:
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\talk4free\magicJack Outlook AddIn\Softphone\891987C5-009C-4D1A-A5D3-3BCBCBBB286F" /v AppPath /t REG_SZ /d "C:\mjusbsp\magicJack.exe" /f
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\magicJack" /v UninstallString /t REG_SZ /d ""C:\mjusbsp\magicJackLoader.exe" /uninstall" /f
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\magicJack" /v DisplayIcon /t REG_SZ /d "C:\mjusbsp\magicJackLoader.exe" /f
reg add "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\magicJack" /v InstallLocation /t REG_SZ /d "C:\mjusbsp" /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile\AuthorizedApplications\List" /v "C:\mjusbsp\magicJack.exe" /t REG_SZ /d "C:\mjusbsp\magicJack.exe:*:Enabled:magicJack" /f
reg delete "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SharedAccess\Parameters\FirewallPolicy\StandardProfile\AuthorizedApplications\List" /v "C:\Documents and Settings\Big Boss\Application Data\mjusbsp\magicJack.exe" /f
reg add "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1708537768-796845957-839522115-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\magicJack" /v UninstallString /t REG_SZ /d ""C:\mjusbsp\magicJackLoader.exe" /uninstall" /f
reg add "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1708537768-796845957-839522115-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\magicJack" /v DisplayIcon /t REG_SZ /d "C:\mjusbsp\magicJackLoader.exe" /f
reg add "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1708537768-796845957-839522115-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\magicJack" /v InstallLocation /t REG_SZ /d "C:\mjusbsp" /f
reg delete "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1708537768-796845957-839522115-1003\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v cdloader /f
reg delete "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run" /v "cdloader" /f
reg add "HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-1708537768-796845957-839522115-1003\Software\talk4free\magicJack Outlook AddIn\Softphone\891987C5-009C-4D1A-A5D3-3BCBCBBB286F" /v AppPath /t REG_SZ /d "C:\mjusbsp\magicJackLoader.exe" /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MagicJack\Parameters" /v "Application" /t REG_SZ /d "C:\mjusbsp\magicJack.exe" /f
reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MagicJack" /v "Description" /t REG_SZ /d "Starts MagicJack as a service and prevents interface from appearing. To get the Web Dial Pad stop the service and check the "Allow service to interact with the desktop" on the Log On tab and click apply then start the service." /f
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Hajeil Souank
- MagicJack Newbie
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Tue Jul 17, 2012 5:54 am
MagicJack Service Creator 1.8 Not Working
Hello, Evan. I just wanted to thank you for a great piece of software that has really helped me out over the past year. Unfortunately it seems that as of recently around 7/16/12 your service creator no longer works. I'm not sure if this is due to a Windows 7 update, a MagicJack update or a combination of both. But whenever I use the service creator all I get is silence on my phone now.
At first the problem was that I had a dial tone and then dead air after dialing. I then figured that MagicJak needed to be updated. So I used the service creator to return MagicJack to its default install. It then tried to update and began giving me a false warning "Warning: You must plug MagicJack into USB." After hours wasted with customer service that didn't help me at all I ended up fixing it myself. Currently I have had to uninstall MagicJack and all related USB ports, reinstall MagicJack and the USB ports, let it upgrade, and then use the dedicated profile workaround to avoid having the UI pop up on me. If I try to make it a Windows service using your program all I get is dead air now. Hopefully there is a fix to this or an explanation for the problem on its way soon.
I just thought I would let yo know of my issue in case others are having it and the information may be helpful for a future release or solution. Thanks again for your time and hard work.
At first the problem was that I had a dial tone and then dead air after dialing. I then figured that MagicJak needed to be updated. So I used the service creator to return MagicJack to its default install. It then tried to update and began giving me a false warning "Warning: You must plug MagicJack into USB." After hours wasted with customer service that didn't help me at all I ended up fixing it myself. Currently I have had to uninstall MagicJack and all related USB ports, reinstall MagicJack and the USB ports, let it upgrade, and then use the dedicated profile workaround to avoid having the UI pop up on me. If I try to make it a Windows service using your program all I get is dead air now. Hopefully there is a fix to this or an explanation for the problem on its way soon.
I just thought I would let yo know of my issue in case others are having it and the information may be helpful for a future release or solution. Thanks again for your time and hard work.
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jimmarahrens
- MagicJack Newbie
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:14 am
his service creator is still working fine for me in xp. I do, however, have one small problem. After using this program the annoying "Start Navigation Click" noise has returned and I cannot get rid of it. Despite turning off all the sounds in XP this horribly annoying sound persists every minute when the magicjack is changing ads (in the background?).
Can somebody please tell me how to rid myself of this God forsaken "click" sound once and for all???
EDIT Nevermind, I just deleted all the sounds from my computer and I'm golden. Thanks!
Can somebody please tell me how to rid myself of this God forsaken "click" sound once and for all???
EDIT Nevermind, I just deleted all the sounds from my computer and I'm golden. Thanks!
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didaboston
- magicJack Apprentice
- Posts: 18
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2009 10:47 pm
You are the man, thanks buddy.etvaugha wrote:Version 1.9 released.
Changelog:
- Embedded resource files (wrk001.rsc and wrk002.rsc) in executable to streamline app. The EXE now has no dependencies and can run from within a zip file
- QA testing to ensure compatability with lastest MJ software update
Enjoy!
I am running Windows XP with .NET Framework 4.0etvaugha wrote:Version 1.9 released.
Changelog:
- Embedded resource files (wrk001.rsc and wrk002.rsc) in executable to streamline app. The EXE now has no dependencies and can run from within a zip file
- QA testing to ensure compatability with lastest MJ software update
Enjoy!
I see the following error:
I am running v4.0.30319 of the .NET framework: C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319Title in popup bar: MSC19.exe - .NET Framework Initialization Error
Popup Message - Unable to find a version of the runtime to run this application.
The README.txt states I need at least v3.5 of the .NET framework or higher.
What am I missing?
Thanks,
Sean
Looks like they updated the MJ Software again! MSC19.exe is no longer working for me.
I had it working just fine with my old original Silver MagicJack, but I had to program a new Black MagicJack Plus for my mother on my PC.
Well, the silver one was unloaded as a service and then unplugged followed by the black one being plugged in. It did a software update, installed and allowed me to register and completely set it up. I then unplugged the black unit and plugged back in my silver unit. Well the silver unit then processed an update and loaded up the MJ Desktop Pad normally. I then tried to load up MSC19.exe as administrator and it started posting errors. I had to unload the service and reset the silver unit by unplugging it and plugging it back in. The MJ Pad loaded up and it worked fine after it YET AGAIN ran another update.
Not sure if anyone else is bumping into this or not. Figured it was worth a post.
Tom
I had it working just fine with my old original Silver MagicJack, but I had to program a new Black MagicJack Plus for my mother on my PC.
Well, the silver one was unloaded as a service and then unplugged followed by the black one being plugged in. It did a software update, installed and allowed me to register and completely set it up. I then unplugged the black unit and plugged back in my silver unit. Well the silver unit then processed an update and loaded up the MJ Desktop Pad normally. I then tried to load up MSC19.exe as administrator and it started posting errors. I had to unload the service and reset the silver unit by unplugging it and plugging it back in. The MJ Pad loaded up and it worked fine after it YET AGAIN ran another update.
Not sure if anyone else is bumping into this or not. Figured it was worth a post.
Tom
New version (2.3) released.
Changelog:
- Fixed issue with service removal where app would fail halfway through removal process leaving service registered
- Added update notifications. Users will receive notification upon app start if a newer version is available
- MJ software version is now displayed in the software status pane
- Styling improvements
- Testing: verified working with 2.0.607.3
Source code has been uploaded to Github. It is identical to the source for the binary on my site, but is a "vanilla" community version, meaning the donate button, references to me, and update checker are removed. Feel free to check it out and improve it!
https://github.com/throop02/MagicJackSvcCreator
Changelog:
- Fixed issue with service removal where app would fail halfway through removal process leaving service registered
- Added update notifications. Users will receive notification upon app start if a newer version is available
- MJ software version is now displayed in the software status pane
- Styling improvements
- Testing: verified working with 2.0.607.3
Source code has been uploaded to Github. It is identical to the source for the binary on my site, but is a "vanilla" community version, meaning the donate button, references to me, and update checker are removed. Feel free to check it out and improve it!
https://github.com/throop02/MagicJackSvcCreator