I have deployed my windows service (using independently installer class and SC.EXE), but I get an error when I try to start it:
---------------------------
Services
---------------------------
Could not start the MyName service on Local Computer.
Error 1053: The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion.
What is the timeout? It felt like around 3 secs. What do I need to do if my service takes longer?
The normal way of creating a service is to have the startup code create a new thread, and run your service in that thread.
The service startup should be nearly instantaneous - nothing more than spawning a new thread with your "real" work in it.
If you're taking more than three seconds, that's a sign that you're doing the real work in your main thread, and not creating a separate one for your service.
In your service class, use ServiceBase.RequestAdditionalTime() in your OnStart/OnStop method:
// request an additional 4 seconds to complete the operation
RequestAdditionalTime(4000);
In regards to the specific question, the exact timeout varies, but is less than 30 seconds. You can control the default startup timeout for a service via a registry key, you can see how to do this here.
However, I will agree with many others that I would look at two possible options.