The Service Controller (sc) command in CMD is used to communicate with the Service Control Manager and services on a local or remote machine. It allows you to manage services by starting, stopping, querying, or configuring their properties.

Basic Commands for Managing Services

Querying a Service

To get the status of a service, use the following command:

sc qc "ServiceName"

• qc: Queries the configuration of the specified service.

Example

sc qc "wuauserv"

This command queries the configuration of the Windows Update service.

Starting a Service

To start a service that is not currently running:

sc start "ServiceName"

Example

sc start "wuauserv"

This starts the Windows Update service.

Stopping a Service

To stop a running service:

sc stop "ServiceName"

Example

sc stop "wuauserv"

This stops the Windows Update service.

Pausing and Resuming a Service

To pause a service that supports pausing:

sc pause "ServiceName"

To resume a paused service:

sc continue "ServiceName"

Example

sc pause "wuauserv"
sc continue "wuauserv"

This pauses and then resumes the Windows Update service.

Creating a Service

You can create a new service by using the sc create command:

sc create "ServiceName" binPath= "path_to_executable"

• binPath: The path to the executable for the service.

Example

sc create "MyService" binPath= "C:\path\to\service.exe"

This creates a new service named MyService using the specified executable.

Deleting a Service

To delete an existing service:

sc delete "ServiceName"

Example

sc delete "MyService"

This deletes the MyService service.

Configuring a Service

You can configure the startup type of a service (e.g., manual, automatic, disabled) using the sc config command:

sc config "ServiceName" start= type

• start=: The desired startup type (e.g., auto, demand, disabled).

Example

sc config "wuauserv" start= auto

This sets the Windows Update service to start automatically.

Common Service States

State	Description
running	The service is currently running.
stopped	The service is not running.
paused	The service is temporarily paused.

Key Commands Comparison

Command	Description	Example
sc start	Starts a service	sc start "wuauserv"
sc stop	Stops a running service	sc stop "wuauserv"
sc pause	Pauses a service	sc pause "wuauserv"
sc continue	Resumes a paused service	sc continue "wuauserv"
sc create	Creates a new service	sc create "MyService" binPath= "C:\path\to\service.exe"
sc delete	Deletes a service	sc delete "MyService"
sc config	Configures service properties	sc config "wuauserv" start= auto