{"id":10227,"date":"2021-07-19T00:13:36","date_gmt":"2021-07-19T07:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=10227"},"modified":"2022-02-21T21:50:58","modified_gmt":"2022-02-22T05:50:58","slug":"delay-service-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/delay-service-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: How Do I Delay the Start of my Windows Service?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"How<\/div>\n
\n  Our build server has a ton of services installed and it takes a while for them to start whenever the machine boots. One of the services doesn’t connect to the database if it starts too soon. When that happens, I have to log in and start it manually. Is there a way to delay the service until the other services are up and running?<\/p>\n

— Christos D.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hi Christos.<\/p>\n

After some brainstorming, our team has come up with four potential solutions for you.<\/p>\n

Solution #1: Set your Service to “Automatic (Delayed Start)”<\/h2>\n

The simplest way to delay a service is to adjust when it starts at boot. Instead of starting as soon as possible, you can tell Windows to launch the service about 2 (or more) minutes after boot.<\/p>\n

To make that change:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Start the Services utility.<\/p>\n

    To do so, press the Windows + R<\/b> keys to open the Run<\/b> window, and then type services.msc<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Find your service in the list. Double-click its row to open the service’s properties.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  3. \n

    In the Startup type<\/b> field, select Automatic (Delayed Start)<\/b> from the list:<\/p>\n

  4. \n

    Click OK to save your change.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Need to wait for longer than 2 minutes?<\/h3>\n

    By default, all “delayed start” services are launched a couple of minutes after boot. Fortunately, that wait time is configurable<\/a> and you can set it to longer if you like, but that setting applies to all delayed start services<\/b>. There is simply no way to adjust the wait time of a single delayed start service.<\/p>\n

    Solution #2: Specify a Dependency between Services<\/h2>\n

    Another option for delaying the start of a service is to mark it as dependent on another service.<\/p>\n

    To explain, let’s take two services, Service1 and Service2. If Service1 must start before Service2, you would update Service2 to add Service1 as a dependent. You would say that Service2 depends on Service1.<\/p>\n

    I know that may be a bit confusing, so let’s look at a real-world example. <\/p>\n

    Microsoft’s “System Events Broker” depends on a couple of services: “Remote Procedure Call (RPC)” and “RPC Endpoint Mapper”. You can see the relationship in the service’s properties (in the Services<\/a> application):<\/p>\n

    \"System<\/a><\/div>\n

    Because of those dependencies, Windows will always start the two RPC services before launching the “System Events Broker” service.<\/p>\n

    So to delay the start of your important service, mark it as dependent on another, precursor service<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Note however, there are significant side effects of setting up a dependency relationship between two services.<\/p>\n

    For example, the screenshot above also shows that “Task Scheduler” depends on “System Events Broker”. As a result of that relationship, stopping “System Events Broker” will stop “Task Scheduler”<\/b>, as the Services application informs us here:<\/p>\n

    \"Stop<\/a><\/div>\n

    You see, the dependency relationship is about much more startup sequence. It implies that “System Events Broker” is critical for “Task Scheduler” to operate.<\/p>\n

    So if you mark your service as dependent on another service, stopping that other service might stop your own. Make sure you’re OK with that.<\/p>\n

    Solution #3: Launch your service from an “at startup” scheduled task<\/h2>\n

    Instead of having the Windows Services launch your service, you can shift that responsibility to the Windows Task Scheduler<\/a>. And in doing so, you can introduce a post-boot delay to start the service after your machine settles down.<\/p>\n

    Here’s how to create a scheduled task that starts your service a few minutes after boot:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      Launch the Task Scheduler.<\/p>\n

      To do so, press the Windows + R<\/b> keys to open the Run<\/b> window, and then type taskschd.msc<\/b>.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      On the right, click Create Basic Task<\/b> to launch the wizard:<\/p>\n

    3. \n

      Give your task a meaningful name. For example, we’re restarting the Print Spooler service 10 minutes after boot:<\/p>\n

    4. \n

      For the trigger, choose When the computer starts<\/b>:<\/p>\n

    5. \n

      For action, select Start a program<\/b>:<\/p>\n

    6. \n

      In the Program\/script<\/b> field, enter NET.EXE<\/b>.<\/p>\n

      And in the Add arguments<\/b> field, enter START<\/b> followed by the name of your service<\/a>:<\/p>\n

    7. \n

      On the summary screen, check the Open the Properties dialog…<\/b> box. We still need to make a few adjustments to the new scheduled task:<\/p>\n

    8. \n

      In the Properties window that comes up, affirm a couple of options:<\/p>\n

      Run whether user is logged on or not<\/b>. Otherwise, your service will only restart when you’re logged on.<\/p>\n

      Run with highest privileges<\/b>. Necessary because starting your service likely requires administrative rights.<\/p>\n

    9. \n

      Switch to the Triggers<\/b> tab and edit the At startup<\/b> trigger.<\/p>\n

      In the Edit Trigger<\/b> window, check the Delay task for<\/b> box and enter your delay in minutes. You may have to type the time as not all values appear in the dropdown:<\/p>\n

    10. \n

      Back on the Properties window, click OK<\/b> to close out of the task. You will probably have to enter your password:<\/p>\n

      \"Start<\/a><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      And now that you have a scheduled task to start the service when you want, you should prevent the service from trying to start automatically at boot. Open your service’s properties and change the Startup type<\/b> to Manual<\/b>:<\/p>\n

      \"Set<\/a><\/div>\n

      Finally, please reboot and make sure that your service starts in the expected time frame.<\/p>\n

      Solution #4 (for AlwaysUp services only): Pause before starting<\/h2>\n

      If your service was created by AlwaysUp, you are able to stall your application via a configuration setting.<\/p>\n

      To do so:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        Edit your application in AlwaysUp.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      2. \n

        Switch to the Startup<\/b> tab.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      3. \n

        In the Pause for<\/b> field, enter a suitable delay in seconds:<\/p>\n

      4. \n

        Check the But only after a reboot<\/b> box — to avoid the pause when you start the service\/application manually.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      5. \n

        Click OK<\/b> to save your settings.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        The next time your computer boots, Windows will start the AlwaysUp service. And, as you instructed, AlwaysUp will pause for a while before launching your application.<\/p>\n

        \nHopefully one of these methods will work in your situation!<\/p>\n