Error 5 : Access Denied when starting windows service

Question

I\'m getting this error when I try to start a windows service I\'ve created in C#:

My Code

Answer 1

As the error popup suggests this is related to permission. So run the service as "LocalSystem" account.

To do the same, Right Click on serviceProcessInstaller -> Properties -> Account and set it to "LocalSystem" instead of the default "User". Install the service and voila.

Answer 2

I had this issue on a service that I was deploying, and none of the other suggestions on this question worked. In my case, it was because my .config (xml) wasn't valid. I made a copy and paste error when copying from qualif to prod.

Answer 3

Computer -> Manage -> Service -> [your service] properties. Then the the tab with the account information. Play with those settings, like run the service with administrator account or so.

That did it for me.

EDIT: What also can be the problem is that, most services are run as LOCAL SERVICE or LOCAL SYSTEM accounts. Now when you run C:/my-admin-dir/service.exe with those accounts but they are not allowed to execute anything in that directory, you will get error 5. So locate the executable of the service, RMB the directory -> Properties -> Security and make sure that the account the service is run with, is in the list of users that are alloewd to have full control over the directory.

Answer 4

In my case I kept the project on desktop and to access the desktop we need to add permission to the folder so I simply moved my project folder to C:\ directory now its working like a charm.

Answer 5

check windows event log for detailed error message. I resolved the same after checking event log.

Answer 6

Have a look at Process Utilities > Process monitor from http://www.sysinternals.com.

This is tool that allows you monitor what a process does. If you monitor this service process, you should see an access denied somewhere, and on what resource the access denied is given.