Controlling a Service Using SC

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The Windows SDK contains a command-line utility, Sc.exe, that can be used to control a service. Its commands correspond to the functions provided by the SCM. The syntax is as follows.

Syntax

sc.exe [<servername>] [<command>] [<servicename>] [<option1>] [<option2>] ...

To see the available commands, type:

sc

To see the syntax for a specific command, include a command. Here's an example:

sc start

Parameters

Parameter Description
<servername> Specifies the name of the remote server on which the service is located. The name must use the Universal Naming Convention (UNC) format (for example, \myserver). To run SC.exe locally, don't use this parameter.
<command> One of the following commands:
continue
control
interrogate
pause
start
stop
<servicename> The name of the service, as specified when it was installed.
<option1> An optional parameter.
<option2> An optional parameter.