When Windows NT or Windows 2000 startup encounters a problem in a device driver load or service startup, the action taken by the operating system depends on the ErrorControl value for that service.

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\servicetoseterrormessaginglevel
Name: ErrorControl
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0 : Ignore - startup continues with no warning message
Value: 1 : Normal - startup continues after displaying a warning message This is the default setting for most services.
Value: 2 : Severe - NT switches to the LastKnownGood control set, and the startup process starts again. If the control set being used is already LastKnownGood, the error is ignored and processing continues.
Value: 3 : Critical - NT switches to the LastKnownGood control set, and the startup process starts again. If the control set being used is already LastKnownGood, the the startup process stops, and a failure error message is displayed. (Bug-check, BSOD).

The Ignore or Normal condition is probably what you should set if you are experimenting with SRVANY to get a program to startup and run as a service. Also see: registry construction steps .