{"id":11365,"date":"2022-09-26T05:49:20","date_gmt":"2022-09-26T12:49:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=11365"},"modified":"2022-09-26T05:49:20","modified_gmt":"2022-09-26T12:49:20","slug":"why-windows-service-starts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/why-windows-service-starts\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: Why did my Windows Service Start Unexpectedly?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Why<\/div>\n
\n  I’ve got a Windows Service that keeps starting by itself. Why is that happening? I’m pulling my hair out trying to figure out why…<\/p>\n

— Colin P.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hi Colin.<\/p>\n

There may be several culprits here. Let’s go through a few.<\/p>\n

1. Your service is required by another service<\/h2>\n

Does your Windows Service support any other services? Is another service “dependent” on yours?<\/p>\n

If so, then starting that other service may start yours too.<\/p>\n

This can be a bit confusing so let’s illustrate with an example. <\/p>\n

Here we have a service called “Dropbox (managed by AlwaysUpService)” — created with our AlwaysUp<\/a> product:<\/p>\n

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

We made the Dropbox service dependent on the “Fax” service. Indeed, you can see the relationship on the Dependencies<\/b> tab:<\/p>\n

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

It’s important to note that the dependency stipulates the following situation:<\/p>\n

The Fax service must be running before the Dropbox service can start<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To test the implications of that relationship, we:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n

    Stopped both the Dropbox and Fax services, and<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  2. \n

    Started the Dropbox service.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Afterwards, we saw that the Fax service was running:<\/p>\n

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

    Apparently when we started the Dropbox service, Windows realized that the Fax service was needed and quietly started Fax as well.<\/p>\n

    So that’s one way for a service to start inadvertently.<\/p>\n

    With that example in mind, please check if another service depends on your service<\/b>. If so, Windows may be starting your service because of that dependency relationship.<\/p>\n

    2. Your service is “trigger started” by Windows<\/h2>\n

    Legacy versions of Windows presented a couple of options for when a service was started:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \n

      Automatically — by Windows — when your computer booted;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    2. \n

      Manually — by a person or application — when needed.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Windows Vista (2007) introduced a third option: Trigger start<\/a>. Now, services can be started in response to key operating system events<\/b>.<\/p>\n

      And the set of triggering events is varied. For example, a trigger start service can be launched whenever:<\/p>\n