windows-services

---
name: windows-services
description: "Windows services: list, start, stop, restart, configure (PowerShell)"
category: windows
version: 1.0.0
platform: windows
tags: services, windows, powershell, daemon, startup, get-service, set-service
license: Apache-2.0
---

# Windows Services

Manage Windows background services — list, start, stop, restart, and change startup type — using PowerShell's built-in service cmdlets.

## When to Use

- User wants to list running or stopped Windows services
- User asks to start, stop, or restart a specific service
- User wants to change a service's startup type (automatic, manual, disabled)
- User needs to find which service owns a process or port
- User wants to check if a service is healthy or crashing

## How to Use

### List all running services
```powershell
Get-Service | Where-Object Status -eq 'Running' |
  Select-Object Name, DisplayName, Status |
  Sort-Object DisplayName
```

### Find a specific service
```powershell
Get-Service -Name "*sql*" | Select-Object Name, DisplayName, Status, StartType
```

### Start, stop, or restart a service
```powershell
Start-Service   -Name "wuauserv"         # Windows Update — start
Stop-Service    -Name "wuauserv" -Force  # Windows Update — stop
Restart-Service -Name "Spooler"          # Print Spooler  — restart
```

### Check service startup type
```powershell
Get-Service -Name "wuauserv" | Select-Object Name, StartType, Status
```

### Change startup type (Manual / Disabled / Automatic)
```powershell
Set-Service -Name "wuauserv" -StartupType Manual     # won't start automatically
Set-Service -Name "DiagTrack" -StartupType Disabled  # blocked from starting
Set-Service -Name "Spooler"   -StartupType Automatic # restores auto-start
```

### List services that failed to start
```powershell
Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.StartType -eq 'Automatic' -and $_.Status -ne 'Running' } |
  Select-Object Name, DisplayName, Status
```

### Find service by process ID
```powershell
$pid = 1234
Get-WmiObject Win32_Service | Where-Object ProcessId -eq $pid |
  Select-Object Name, DisplayName, State, ProcessId
```

### View service dependencies
```powershell
(Get-Service -Name "LanmanServer").DependentServices
(Get-Service -Name "LanmanServer").ServicesDependedOn
```

## Examples

**"Is Windows Update service running?"**
→ `Get-Service -Name "wuauserv" | Select-Object Name, Status, StartType`

**"Stop and disable the Print Spooler service"**
→ `Stop-Service -Name "Spooler" -Force; Set-Service -Name "Spooler" -StartupType Disabled`

**"Which automatic services are currently stopped?"**
→ `Get-Service | Where-Object { $_.StartType -eq 'Automatic' -and $_.Status -ne 'Running' }`

## Cautions

- Stopping critical services (LanmanServer, DHCP, DNS) can disrupt network connectivity
- Starting/stopping services may require an elevated session depending on the service security descriptor
- `Set-Service -StartupType Disabled` prevents the service from starting even manually until re-enabled
- Use `Get-Service | Where-Object Status -eq 'Running' | Measure-Object` to get a quick service health count