well, using the "registry", and ini file, or the "Start Parameters" is going to be an adventure for me as I have no idea how to go about using these to replicate what I was doing in a normal script.

I started off with all the config params (about 40 of them -- some more stable than the others -- that is, some with more predictable values, while others that might need to be changed relatively frequently by the users of the program).

Then I migrated the config params to a conf file that I read in with my own home grown method.

Then I converted to using Config::Simple that brings in the params in a nice hash.

Now, I am converting my script to an exe and that to a service. Afaiunderstand, everything in a service has to be hard- and long- coded because the service is running as a Local System account and needs to know exactly where to find what. That, and fact that I don't understand when exactly does the service read in the config params -- at the time that it is installed, or at the time that it is started -- creates problems.

I would like the administrator of the service to be able to stop the service, change a param or two in some place convenient such as an external conf file, and restart the service with the new values. What how?

Thanks to everyone.