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How to DEFINITELY Delete a Rogue Windows Service

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11 Jul 2011CPOL 16.6K   4   1
42!
So there I was, writing code for a new article, which involves an optional Windows service component, and I was trying to make the service self-installable without having to use installutil.exe. Well I got to the point were I was tready to try it, and there was a problem installing it. No worries, I thought. I'll just uninstall it, try to find the problem, and then try installing it again. Imagine my reaction when the log revealed that there was a problem uninstalling as well (which I was trying to do via the same binary).

I tried for an hour to get the damn thing uninstalled, but it wouldn't budge. I was starting to have visions of having to reinstall Windows to get rid of it.

Google to the rescue! I found that typing the following at the command prompt actually removed the service:

sc delete service_name

Hitch-hikers Guide to the Galaxy was right. Don't Panic (and thanks for the fish).

License

This article, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)


Written By
Software Developer (Senior) Paddedwall Software
United States United States
I've been paid as a programmer since 1982 with experience in Pascal, and C++ (both self-taught), and began writing Windows programs in 1991 using Visual C++ and MFC. In the 2nd half of 2007, I started writing C# Windows Forms and ASP.Net applications, and have since done WPF, Silverlight, WCF, web services, and Windows services.

My weakest point is that my moments of clarity are too brief to hold a meaningful conversation that requires more than 30 seconds to complete. Thankfully, grunts of agreement are all that is required to conduct most discussions without committing to any particular belief system.

Comments and Discussions

 
GeneralI have had to use this before, as the installer had been del... Pin
Reiss12-Jul-11 4:54
professionalReiss12-Jul-11 4:54 

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