A Windows service is a program that runs in the background.
Startup Type
The startup type of a service determines how the service will start.
- Automatic: The service starts immediately on boot.
- Automatic (Delayed Start): The service waits a short amount of time after boot before starting (mostly a legacy option to help the desktop load faster).
- Manual: The service will only start when specifically asked.
- Disabled: The service is disabled and won’t run.
Service Status
The service status represents the state of the service process.
- Running: The service is running.
- Stopped: The service is not running.
- StartPending: The service has been asked to start and is executing its startup procedure.
- StopPending: The service has been asked to stop and is executing its shutdown procedure.
Log On As
The “Log on as” property is the account the service is set to run as. If this is set to a high-privileged account or service account, the service is potentially usable for host privilege escalation if misconfigurations are present.
Dependents & Dependencies
The service may need other services (dependencies) to function properly. Likewise, there are other services (dependents) that needs this service in order to function.