{"id":9371,"date":"2020-08-23T19:48:09","date_gmt":"2020-08-24T02:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=9371"},"modified":"2022-04-19T21:53:58","modified_gmt":"2022-04-20T04:53:58","slug":"sc-service-fails-to-start","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.coretechnologies.com\/blog\/windows-services\/sc-service-fails-to-start\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&A: I created a Windows Service with SC. Why won’t it Start?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Q&A:<\/div>\n
\n  I installed my program as a Windows Service using the SC command<\/a>. The result was “CreateService SUCCESS”, and my service is listed with all the others so I know it worked.<\/p>\n

But whenever I try to start the service, the NET command fails with “The service is not responding to the control function”. What does that mean? Why can’t I start the service?<\/p>\n

— Marc B.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Hi Marc.<\/p>\n

You are running into a common problem with the SC utility. While SC will happily install any script, batch file or executable as a service, the service it creates may not be usable!<\/b><\/p>\n

Let’s dig into the details.<\/p>\n

SC is not picky; it will install anything<\/i> as a service<\/h2>\n

As you have discovered, the “SC CREATE” command will create a new Windows Service. The command line must look like this:<\/p>\n

SC CREATE <SERVICE-NAME> binpath= "<FULL-PATH-TO-PROGRAM>"<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

(Yes — the space after “binpath=” is required!)<\/p>\n

Apparently all you need to specify is a friendly name and the full path to your program for SC to work it’s magic. Simple, right?<\/p>\n

For example, to install the Windows Notepad application as a service called “NotepadService”, run this command from an administrative command prompt<\/a>:<\/p>\n

SC CREATE NotepadService binpath= "C:\\Windows\\Notepad.exe"<\/b><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

SC will confirm success:<\/p>\n

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

And the new service will be listed in the Services application<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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

But there are limits to what SC will do. Even as it dutifully performs the basic operations — creating the necessary entries in the Windows Registry — SC will not validate the path\/program in any way. This means that:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \nSC will succeed even if the program does not exist<\/b>. You can give it a bogus path and see:<\/p>\n
  2. \nSC will succeed even if the program cannot run<\/b>. For example, here we have installed a ridiculous service where the path is an MP3 music file:<\/p>\n
    \"SC<\/a><\/div>\n

    Indeed, as an MP3 is not a valid application, it is no surprise that attempting to start the service results in failure:<\/p>\n

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

    So, as we have shown, SC is firmly focused on basic installation — not operation. The fact that a service was created with SC does not mean that the service can ever start or run.<\/p>\n

    Only a “true” Windows Service Application can be started as a service<\/h2>\n

    Even though SC will install any program as a service, the reality is that only specially constructed executables can actually operate as a service. We call those Service Applications<\/b>.<\/p>\n

    Service applications implement the Windows Services API<\/a> — a set of operations used to control and monitor services. Windows uses the API to interact with Service Applications.<\/p>\n

    The API is quite extensive. With it, Windows can command any Service Application to:<\/p>\n