The Core Technologies Blog

Professional Software for Windows Services / 24×7 Operation


Why does my Windows Service keep forgetting its password?

The mystery: “The service did not start due to a login failure” One of our customers reported a very strange problem last week. After about a day of running flawlessly, their windows service would suddenly fail to start after a … Continue reading

Posted in Windows Services | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Essential Tools for Windows Services: Task Manager

We all know to fire up the Windows Task Manager when we want to terminate a process, see how much memory is being used or find that rogue program hogging the CPU, but do you know that Task Manager also … Continue reading

Posted in Windows Services | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Top 10 differences between a Windows Service and a regular application

First, let’s start with some definitions… What is a regular application? A regular application is one that you start and run on your Windows desktop. You launch it from a desktop icon, by double-clicking an associated document, or by typing … Continue reading

Posted in Windows Services | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Investigate Crashes & Memory Leaks in your Windows Services with Microsoft’s Debug Diagnostic Tool

Crashes and memory leaks are particularly offensive when the occur in windows services – applications designed to run unattended, 24/7 in the background to perform important tasks. Our AlwaysUp and Service Protector utilities go a long way to diminishing the … Continue reading

Posted in Windows Services | Tagged , | Leave a comment

How to use the Event Viewer to troubleshoot problems with a Windows Service

A windows service, designed to run “headless” and unattended in the background, cannot easily employ conventional popup windows to report its activities as a user may not even be logged on. Instead, a service is encouraged to send important communication … Continue reading

Posted in Windows Services | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments