Cannot start service

Question

I have 2 other services running on a server and they start and stop without a problem, however one of them will not start. I can't see any difference in their implementation or config files. I'm receiving the following messages when attempting to start the service after installing it with InstallUtil:

The service is not responding to the control function

more help is available by typing NET HELPMSG 2186

NET HELPMSG 2186:

Explanation: The service cannot run your command at this time

Thanks very much in advance!

Answer 1

On Start event can you put

try
{
//...
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
EventLog.WriteEntry(ex.Message + ex.StackTrace);
}

and watch whats happening?

or

attach (Tools > Attach To Process) your process to Visual Studio for DEBUG. You can see whats happening with debug, but EventLog works good aswell.

Answer 2

This is most likely due to service installed, then uninstalled and now you are trying to install again. Reboot the machine and try again.

UPDATE

According to the event log error, you are trying to run the service as the current logged in user (I guess you are connected using remote desktop). This is not the correct approach, you need to run the service as the LocalSystem. In the project properties window, change the identity of the service.

UPDATE 2

In the design view of the service/component class, click on serviceProcessInstaller1 (or similar) and then in tmhe properties you see a drop down: Account with 4 entries: User/LocalNetwork/LocalService/LocalSystem. Make it LocalSystem