How to Manage Windows Services: Start, Stop, Disable and Troubleshoot

Windows runs dozens of background services. Knowing how to manage them helps fix errors, improve performance, and secure your system.

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Open Services Manager

Win + R → services.msc

Or search: Services in Start menu

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Start, Stop and Restart Services

Via GUI: Right-click a service → Start / Stop / Restart

PowerShell:

# Start a service
Start-Service -Name "wuauserv"    # Windows Update
Start-Service -Name "Spooler"     # Print Spooler

# Stop a service
Stop-Service -Name "wuauserv" -Force

# Restart
Restart-Service -Name "wuauserv" -Force

# Check status
Get-Service -Name "wuauserv" | Select-Object Name, Status, StartType

SC command (CMD):

sc start wuauserv
sc stop wuauserv
sc query wuauserv

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Change Service Startup Type

# Automatic — starts with Windows
Set-Service -Name "wuauserv" -StartupType Automatic

# Manual — starts only when needed
Set-Service -Name "Fax" -StartupType Manual

# Disabled — never starts
Set-Service -Name "RemoteRegistry" -StartupType Disabled

# Automatic (Delayed Start) — starts after other services
Set-Service -Name "wuauserv" -StartupType AutomaticDelayedStart

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View All Services with Status

# All services sorted by status
Get-Service | Sort-Object Status -Descending |
  Format-Table Name, DisplayName, Status, StartType

# Only running services
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Running"} |
  Select-Object Name, DisplayName

# Only stopped services that should be running
Get-Service | Where-Object {$_.Status -eq "Stopped" -and $_.StartType -eq "Automatic"} |
  Select-Object Name, DisplayName

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Services Safe to Disable on Home PC

$toDisable = @(
  "Fax",              # Fax service
  "RemoteRegistry",   # Remote Registry (security risk)
  "XblGameSave",      # Xbox Game Save
  "XblAuthManager",   # Xbox Live Auth
  "XboxNetApiSvc",    # Xbox Network
  "lfsvc",            # Geolocation
  "MapsBroker",       # Downloaded Maps Manager
  "WbioSrvc"          # Windows Biometric (if not using fingerprint)
)

foreach ($svc in $toDisable) {
  Stop-Service $svc -Force -EA 0
  Set-Service $svc -StartupType Disabled -EA 0
  Write-Host "Disabled: $svc"
}

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Find Which Process Is Running a Service

# Get PID of a service
$svc = Get-WmiObject Win32_Service -Filter "Name='wuauserv'"
$pid = $svc.ProcessId
Get-Process -Id $pid | Select-Object Name, Id, CPU, WorkingSet

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Fix "Service Failed to Start" Errors

# Check Event Log for service errors
Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='System'; Level=2,1} -MaxEvents 20 |
  Where-Object {$_.Message -like "*service*"} |
  Select-Object TimeCreated, Message | Format-List

# Check service dependencies
(Get-Service -Name "wuauserv").DependentServices
(Get-Service -Name "wuauserv").ServicesDependedOn

Common fixes:

• sfc /scannow — repairs corrupted service files
• DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth — fixes Windows image
• Delete service registry key (advanced) — recreates corrupted service entry

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Create a Custom Service

# Register a script as a Windows service using NSSM (Non-Sucking Service Manager)
winget install NSSM.NSSM

# Then: nssm install "MyService" "C:\path\to\program.exe"
# Or use SC for simple executables:
sc create "MyMonitor" binPath= "C:\Scripts\monitor.exe" start= auto
sc description "MyMonitor" "Custom monitoring service"
sc start "MyMonitor"

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Summary

services.msc for GUI management. Get-Service and Set-Service for PowerShell. Start-Service, Stop-Service, Restart-Service for control. Safe to disable on home PCs: Fax, RemoteRegistry, Xbox services. Check Event Log for service errors. Use sfc /scannow to fix corrupted services.