What is interactive Windows service?

What is interactive Windows service?

Using an Interactive Service By default, services use a noninteractive window station and cannot interact with the user. However, an interactive service can display a user interface and receive user input.

What is the service responsible in Windows to installs an application on a machine?

After you create and build the application, you can install it by running the command-line utility InstallUtil.exe and passing the path to the service’s executable file. You can then use the Services Control Manager to start, stop, pause, resume, and configure your service.

Can Windows service interact with desktop?

There is a checkbox under the Log On tab in the properties window for a Windows service that is called “Allow service to interact with desktop.” If you’re trying to check that box programmatically, you need to specify the SERVICE_INTERACTIVE_PROCESS flag when you create your service using the CreateService API.

Can a Windows service start an application?

Windows Services cannot start additional applications because they are not running in the context of any particular user. Unlike regular Windows applications, services are now run in an isolated session and are prohibited from interacting with a user or the desktop.

How can a Windows service execute a GUI application?

Display a dialog box in the user’s session using the WTSSendMessage function. Create a separate hidden GUI application and use the CreateProcessAsUser function to run the application within the context of the interactive user.

How to interact with UI from Windows service?

Interaction with UI from windows service. Introduction. Windows service has no UI and it has never been easy to prompt users with some notifications from windows service. To interact with UI from windows service, we used to opt, allow service to interact with desktop and by launching another process from the windows service.

Can a service interact with a desktop application?

Typically, services are designed to run unattended without any UI with any need to interact with desktop or any GUI application. However, in some cases, it is desired to let the service show and communicate with graphical applications.

Is a service supposed to have a user interface?

A service also isn’t supposed to have a user interface. You could create another process that can be executed by the active user and communicates with the service and provides a GUI interface for the service.