Posted onOctober 23, 2022 (Revised January 7, 2023)
I’m using AlwaysUp to install Dropbox as a service. Is it possible to run more than one Dropbox instance simultaneously, each from a different user profile?
I realize in general this is a “Not A Good Thing to do”, but my desire is to mirror several users’ files to a central computer to simplify backup, so the Dropbox folders wouldn’t be shared or modified externally, just locally synced.
— Brian
Hi Brian. That’s a great question! Let’s roll up our sleeves and find out how Dropbox works with AlwaysUp.
AlwaysUp supports many instances of any program — including Dropbox
AlwaysUp doesn’t place any restrictions on the number of accounts/instances of an application you can run.
For example, you can install several copies of Notepad as a service with AlwaysUp and encounter zero problems when running. You’ll just have a lot of Notepad processes. 🙂
As a result, all problems you encounter come from the application you are running as a service — not from AlwaysUp.
So the question we really need to answer is: “Under what conditions can I use Dropbox with multiple accounts?”
We’ll perform a few tests to find out. But first, let’s review the concept of a “session”, which will be important as we investigate Dropbox.
A quick review of Sessions and Session 0
When you log into Windows, you are assigned a session. You can think of a session as the interactive desktop hosting all the applications you start and use.
In fact, a session is a foundational component of Windows. Here are a few key facts about sessions:
A session is a dynamic construct. Windows creates a new session when you log on; it destroys that session when you log off.
Each session is assigned a unique non-negative identifier (ID) and it’s common to identify a session by that number. For example, the session with ID 5 is called “Session 5”.
Every application running on your PC must reside in a session. And when a session closes (i.e. when you log off), Windows terminates all applications running in that session.
Session 0 (i.e. the session with ID 0) is the only session automatically created when the computer boots — before anyone logs on. As such, Session 0 is always available on your PC. However, because of security restrictions, you can no longer access Session 0.
Windows Services — and any applications that must run independently of a user — operate in Session 0.
AlwaysUp starts Dropbox in Session 0 when your computer boots
Sessions are important because each instance of Dropbox runs in a session.
Preparing to test Dropbox
For our tests, we worked with two users — Mike Jones and Hazel Smith. Each has their own Dropbox account online.
We created desktop accounts for Mike and Hazel on our Windows 11 PC and installed Dropbox version 157.4.4808 in each account. Afterwards, we logged in as each user and confirmed that the Dropbox desktop app was connected to their cloud account and synchronizing files as expected.
Finally, we installed Dropbox as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp to automatically sync Mike’s files even when he’s not logged on. In fact, here you can see Mike’s file synchronization running happily in Session 0:
With that foundation in place, we ran a few experiments to answer three basic questions.
Question #1: Can Mike also start Dropbox on his desktop?
As mentioned, Mike has Dropbox working well. He has also set up Dropbox to run as a Windows Service with AlwaysUp. As a result, file synchronization will start as soon as the PC boots — before Mike logs in.
In this scenario, Mike logged into his computer. Windows created Session 2 for him. Mike opened AlwaysUp and confirmed that Dropbox was already running (in Session 0).
Next, Mike double-clicked the Dropbox icon to launch the program on his desktop. But it didn’t work. Dropbox did not start and no tray icon appeared.
Instead, Dropbox seemed to acknowledge what Mike was trying to do by opening his Dropbox folder in File Explorer:
But no new copy of Dropbox started on Mike’s desktop.
Dropbox prevented Mike from starting a second copy in Session 2 because he already had a copy of the program running in Session 0.
Answer: No
Since Mike is already running Dropbox with AlwaysUp, he cannot start another copy on his desktop. Based on this experience, it seems that that Dropbox will only run a single copy of itself for any given user — across all sessions.
Question #2: Can Hazel run Dropbox on her desktop?
So Mike’s Dropbox running in Session 0 prevents him from starting a second copy. But will it also block Hazel?
To find out, Hazel logged in to the PC and double-clicked the Dropbox icon to launch the program on her desktop.
After a few seconds, the familiar tray icon () appeared. Hazel proceeded to copy files to and from her Dropbox folder and all were synchronized. Dropbox worked completely normally.
Indeed, here you can see the Dropbox.exe processes running in Session 0 (for Mike) and Session 3 (for Hazel):
Answer: Yes
Hazel can start Dropbox on her desktop, even though Mike’s copy is running in Session 0. Apparently running many copies of Dropbox is fine if they are for different users in different sessions.
Question #3: Can Hazel run her Dropbox in Session 0 with AlwaysUp too?
Recall that Mike’s Dropbox starts at boot with AlwaysUp. Will Hazel be able to start Dropbox in Session 0 too, to synchronize her files 24/7 like Mike?
To find out, we set up a second Dropbox entry in AlwaysUp. This time, we entered Hazel’s account on the Logon tab, to indicate that Dropbox should work on her behalf. You can see both Mike’s and Hazel’s entries here:
As pictured, Mike’s Dropbox was already running. We started Hazel’s entry and in a few seconds it transitioned to the “Running” state too:
To validate that both Dropbox instances are working properly for Mike and Hazel, we copied files to the local folders and up to the cloud. The files were quickly synchronized in all cases — for both accounts.
Answer: Yes
Both Mike and Hazel can run Dropbox in Session 0 with AlwaysUp.
As the results above show, there are situations when you can run several copies of Dropbox and times when you cannot. Hopefully there is enough flexibility for you to design a system that works for you and your company.
A word of caution
Please realize that the Dropbox team may change how its program works at any time. For example, while a couple of instances work in Session 0 today, we don’t recall that scenario working in earlier versions of the software.
Posted onOctober 14, 2022 (Revised November 7, 2022)
Service Protector 8.5 is now available for download. Here’s what we worked on in this new version:
Automatically restart your service when an important application isn’t running
Does your service depend on an important “helper” application? If so, Service Protector can periodically check if the helper application is running and restart your service if the application isn’t active.
For example, suppose you’re protecting a service that spins off a Java process to perform important image processing. You can now instruct Service Protector to restart your service if no java.exe process is running on your server. In that way, you’re protected if the supporting java process crashes or stops for any reason.
You can activate the new sanity check from the Monitor tab. Start by checking the Whenever it fails a periodic sanity check box:
Click the Set button to open the Add Sanity Check window. From there, select Check that an application is running from the list:
In the next screen, enter the name of the executable to watch for. The name must end in .exe.
For example, to watch for a Java process, enter “java.exe”:
If you don’t know the name of the application’s executable file, run the application and find its entry on the Task Manager’s Details tab. The name will appear in the first column.
After entering the executable name, continue on to the next pages to specify how often Service Protector should check for the application. When done, save your changes.
And that’s it! With the sanity check in place, you can rest assured that your helper application’s “untimely demise” will trigger Service Protector to recycle your service.
The “Check file updated” sanity check now supports date variables
We’ve made several improvements to the sanity check that restarts the service whenever an important file hasn’t been updated in a while. Most notably, date variables can be used in the name of the file to monitor.
This feature is beneficial when checking a log file that “rolls over” each day. Previous releases of Service Protector — which only supported a fixed file name — could not handle a dynamic name.
For example, let’s take the case where your service writes to a new log file each day. The file name contains the date, in the format “myserver-DD-MM-YYYY.log”.
To monitor that log file with the sanity check, you would specify the file name as myserver-$DAY2$-$MONTH2%-$YEAR4$.log:
And with that in place, when running your service on October 14 2022, Service Protector would check for a file named “myserver-14-10-2022.log”.
Service Protector is fully compatible with Windows 10 & 11 22H2
As usual, Microsoft continues to roll out twice-yearly updates to its Windows operating systems.
Windows 10 22H2 will be released to the public in a few days. However, as a member of the Windows Insider program, we’ve been playing with that new version since August.
Similarly, Windows 11 22H2 started rolling out to customers in September. And like Windows 10 22H2, we’ve been evaluating it for over a month now.
Our assessment? Service Protector continues to work flawlessly with both operating systems. In some sense, that is to be expected as Microsoft has left the Windows Services layer untouched.
Other fixes & improvements
Fixed a crash when testing a custom sanity check: Thanks to Jacques Dagousset for reporting the problem, which would occur in rare circumstances.
Reduced CPU load when scanning for crash dialogs: With recent changes, Service Protector is significantly more efficient when scanning for dialogs that indicate that your service has crashed.
Improved logging when running a sanity check: Extra messages provide insight when testing a sanity check (and when debugging subtle problems).
As usual, please review the release notes for the full list of features, fixes and improvements included in Service Protector version 8.5.
Upgrading to Service Protector 8.5
If you purchased Service Protector version 7 (after January 2021), you can upgrade to version 8.5 for free. Simply download and install over your existing installation to preserve your existing services and all settings. For instance, your registration code will continue to work.
If you bought Service Protector version 6 or earlier (before January 2021), you will need to upgrade to use version 8.5. Please buy upgrades here — at a 50% discount.
I’ve got a Windows Service that keeps starting by itself. Why is that happening? I’m pulling my hair out trying to figure out why…
— Colin P.
Hi Colin.
There may be several culprits here. Let’s go through a few.
1. Your service is required by another service
Does your Windows Service support any other services? Is another service “dependent” on yours?
If so, then starting that other service may start yours too.
This can be a bit confusing so let’s illustrate with an example.
Here we have a service called “Dropbox (managed by AlwaysUpService)” — created with our AlwaysUp product:
We made the Dropbox service dependent on the “Fax” service. Indeed, you can see the relationship on the Dependencies tab:
It’s important to note that the dependency stipulates the following situation:
The Fax service must be running before the Dropbox service can start
To test the implications of that relationship, we:
Stopped both the Dropbox and Fax services, and
Started the Dropbox service.
Afterwards, we saw that the Fax service was running:
Apparently when we started the Dropbox service, Windows realized that the Fax service was needed and quietly started Fax as well.
So that’s one way for a service to start inadvertently.
With that example in mind, please check if another service depends on your service. If so, Windows may be starting your service because of that dependency relationship.
2. Your service is “trigger started” by Windows
Legacy versions of Windows presented a couple of options for when a service was started:
Automatically — by Windows — when your computer booted;
Manually — by a person or application — when needed.
Windows Vista (2007) introduced a third option: Trigger start. Now, services can be started in response to key operating system events.
And the set of triggering events is varied. For example, a trigger start service can be launched whenever:
Someone plugs in a USB drive;
Your computer joins a domain;
A network port is opened;
A custom event (or system state change) occurs.
Trigger start services reveal themselves in the Startup type column of the Services application. As you can see in this screenshot, there are quite a few on our Server 2022 machine:
This article explains the difference between “Automatic (Trigger Start)” and “Manual (Trigger Start)”.
Is your service configured to trigger start? If so, it may be starting when its associated event fires.
You can use our free Service Trigger Editor utility to investigate the service and the events that trigger it. Removing the trigger may be an effective solution but please be sure to understand the consequences of doing so!
3. Someone is starting your service manually
I don’t know what your service does, but might someone else be starting it to get their work done? You want the service to be idle but perhaps a colleague needs it running!
Is someone else with access to your machine launching the service?
Best to check around and find out.
4. An application running on your PC is starting the service
Well, maybe not, but a program can certainly stop and start a Windows Service — just like a person can.
For example, an application that supports Bluetooth may fire up the Bluetooth Support Service if it’s not running. Indeed, the application likely calls the Windows API (the ControlService function) instead of using the NET or SC commands, but the effect will be the same.
So do you know of a program that needs your service to operate?
If so, you should consider uninstalling the application.
Our recommendation: Investigate with Windows Service Auditor
If you can’t figure out who (or what) is starting your Windows Service, it’s time to get your detective hat on.
Start with the Windows Event Viewer. Do you see the service starting and stopping? Can you tell who’s doing it? Pay attention to the times as they could shed light on the situation.
But if you’re still in the dark, we recommend bringing out the big gun: our free Windows Service Auditor.
Windows Service Auditor introduces extra logging, to shine a bright light on your Windows Service. For example, here it’s telling us that “Mike Jones” updated the “Windows Update” service today at 10:59 AM:
I’m hoping you can help me troubleshoot some issues we are experiencing with AlwaysUp. We are currently using version 12.9.0.46.
A user reported that something wasn’t working correctly with the application we’re running as a service. Upon investigating the issue, I noticed that AlwaysUp doesn’t appear to be writing any logs to the event viewer as stated on this page.
I thought I was maybe just missing any messages, so I stopped and restarted the service after about 1 minute. However, this also didn’t write anything to the Application Logs in Event Viewer.
Could you assist me in sorting out the reporting please?
— Lewis
Hi Lewis. Let’s dig into your situation.
Which account runs your application as a Windows Service?
Do you have a user specified on the Logon tab in AlwaysUp? That’s the account where your application will run.
For example, this screenshot shows OneDrive configured to run as a service in the “Mike Jones” account:
When we start OneDrive in AlwaysUp, the executable runs as “Mike Jones”:
And as Process Explorer shows, even AlwaysUpService.exe — the headless application that runs your application as a service in the background — operates as the same user:
Note that most Windows Services run in the LocalSystem account — a predefined local account used by the Service Control Manager. Indeed, AlwaysUp will run your application as LocalSystem unless you override it by providing an alternate account.
But running in a “regular” user account is often the best choice when installing an application as a service. That’s because most desktop applications are tied to the account where they were installed. Starting them in an account where they were not installed (and cannot find settings saved during installation and configuration) usually ends in failure.
That account must have permission to create event logs
As illustrated above, the service that AlwaysUp creates runs entirely in the context of the account specified on the Logon tab.
In your set up, the account doesn’t appear to have the necessary permissions to write to the event logs. That’s why you’re not seeing any records from AlwaysUp.
Test the account’s event log permissions with PowerShell
You can test this theory by running the following PowerShell command from the user’s account:
Write-EventLog -LogName Application -Source "APPNAME (managed by AlwaysUpService)" -EntryType Information -EventID 0 -Message "This event was created while testing with PowerShell. Please ignore."
Please replace APPNAME with the name of your application in AlwaysUp.
Essentially, the Write-EventLog command simulates how AlwaysUp works. If Write-EventLog fails, then AlwaysUp will fail too.
Here is the result of running the command from the “Mike Jones” account for our OneDrive service. Write-EventLog succeeded:
And a new event showed up in the Application log:
So everything looked good for Mike.
How to enable event logging from your AlwaysUp service
You can fix the permission problem in one of three ways:
Grant the user administrative rights. As an admin, they will definitely be able to write to the event logs. This may be your easiest way forward.
Leave the user as a non-admin but grant the account specific rights to the Application event log. Depending on where the issue is, you may have to update the registry and perform other administrative surgery. These links offer guidance:
Enter a different user with administrative rights on the AlwaysUp Logon tab. That account shouldn’t have any problems creating records in any event logs.
Start Services. Click the Start button, type services.msc in the search field and hit return.
From the Action menu, select Export List:
Choose the format (tab delimited text or CSV), enter a file name and click Save to create the file.
Your file will contain the following five columns of data, which you cannot customize:
Name (Note: This is the service’s display name, not its unique name used by Windows)
Description
Status
Startup Type
Log On As
If that’s all you need then you’re good to go!
2. Export to CSV or XML with PowerShell
Even though it’s easy to do, exporting with the Services application may not provide all the information you would like to capture. For example, the service name is not included and neither is the command line used to start the service.
If you’d like more columns, then PowerShell is another option.
For example, this command lists all the services on your machine:
Note that you can add or remove properties from the Select-Object section as you see fit. Feel free to include any property listed in the Win32_Service class documentation.
And once you’ve settled on a command that prints the necessary information, call the Export-CSV module at the end to send the results to a file.
For example, this command exports the list of services to “C:\output-file.csv”:
We created Windows Service Auditor to help protect against changes to your important Windows Services but it has the ability to export the list of services to an XML file as well.
After downloading and starting Windows Service Auditor, simply select Export (XML} from the All Services menu to create the XML file:
The XML will be very detailed, with all aspects of your Windows Services recorded. Here is an example:
Because its output is so detailed, Windows Service Auditor is your best option if your goal is to take a snapshot of your services and all their settings.
Hopefully one of these three methods works for you!
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I’m using AlwaysUp to install Dropbox as a service. Is it possible to run more than one Dropbox instance simultaneously, each from a different user profile?
