Service Startup

[Mike Parris]

Is there a trick to getting a Windows Service to start before a user has logged on to a machine?

Using VS.net 2003 on a Windows 2000 machine, I have built a Windows service using vb.net . I have set the startup type to automatic, and the service starts, but after a user has logged on. I was expecting it to start when the machine boots. Is there something else I need to do to get the service started before the login?

[Elp]

"Mike Parris" <Mike Pa****@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CC**********************************@microsof t.com...

Is there a trick to getting a Windows Service to start before a user has logged on to a machine?
Using VS.net 2003 on a Windows 2000 machine, I have built a Windows

service using vb.net . I have set the startup type to automatic, and the
service starts, but after a user has logged on. I was expecting it to start
when the machine boots. Is there something else I need to do to get the
service started before the login?

A Windows Service does start as soon as Windows has started. However, i
think that windows doesn't wait until all services are started before
displaying the login dialog box so what may happen is that you are logging
in while windows is still in the process of starting all its services. I
don't think that there is an easy way to prevent Windows from displaying the
login dialog box before your particular service has been started. The only
way i could think of would involve doing a custom GINA.

[Mike Parris]

"Mike Parris" wrote:

"Elp" wrote:

"Mike Parris" <Mike Pa****@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CC**********************************@microsof t.com...

Is there a trick to getting a Windows Service to start before a user has

logged on to a machine?

Using VS.net 2003 on a Windows 2000 machine, I have built a Windows

service using vb.net . I have set the startup type to automatic, and the
service starts, but after a user has logged on. I was expecting it to start
when the machine boots. Is there something else I need to do to get the
service started before the login?

A Windows Service does start as soon as Windows has started. However, i
think that windows doesn't wait until all services are started before
displaying the login dialog box so what may happen is that you are logging
in while windows is still in the process of starting all its services. I
don't think that there is an easy way to prevent Windows from displaying the
login dialog box before your particular service has been started. The only
way i could think of would involve doing a custom GINA.

No it's not that the password dialog appears before the service starts. I would be happy with that But however long you wait, the service does not start until a user has logged in.

Got it. Seems that if the service uses beep it does not start. Writing to a file occurres before a user has logged in.