What Is a Windows Service?

Windows Services are software applications that run in the background on a computer and typically don’t have a user interface. They can be created by developers as Microsoft Visual Studio projects, allowing them to create long-running functionality that can continue even after the computer is rebooted or the user has logged off. Windows Services are similar to UNIX daemons and allow for an extremely wide range of functions, including network connections, speaker sound, file backup, and more.

When a user opens the Services control panel, they will see a list of all of the running services on the machine. Each service will include a name, description, status (running, stopped or paused) and other information about it. Double clicking on a particular service will show more detailed information and will provide the ability to manually start, stop, pause or resume the service. The properties of each service can be modified to specify the startup type, decide how it should be notified of commands or event changes, decide what account it should run under when in operation, define recovery options, and more.

Many of the Windows Services will have a default starting type of “Automatic.” This means that the service will be started as soon as possible when the system boots. This is a good default setting for many services, however, depending on what the service is intended to do, it might be more appropriate for the service to be started only when certain conditions are met. For example, if the program works with USB drives, it may be best to set its startup type as “Trigger Start.” This way the service will only begin to run when a USB drive is plugged in and not every time the system starts up.

There are also other settings for each service that can be changed through the properties window, such as the log on as option that allows the administrator to choose between the local system account, a local user account, or a domain account to be used when operating the service. The Dependencies option allows the administrator to define if the service needs other services to function correctly.

Another great feature of Windows Services is that they can be controlled remotely. This is especially important when the services are being managed from a server environment. Using remote tools like Daemon Master, administrators can manage the entire group of services on a Windows Machine from a central location and have more flexibility and control over each one. This can be useful for companies that roll out software updates to their desktops on an annual basis, instead of deploying them instantly through the Early Availability channel. This can save significant amounts of time and effort by reducing the need to constantly reboot each workstation to install new software updates. This can also help companies to avoid the costs associated with purchasing and licensing new software.

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