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url: >-
  /flow/guide/getting-started/installing-flow/manual-installation/services-control-panel.md
---

# Services Control Panel

The Services Control Panel is a windows management console. It allows a user to manage Windows NT services that are installed on the computer. This is used to manage FlowService and FlowMonitorService.

The Services Control Panel can be used to enable/disable services, start/stop services, and change configuration properties such as the log on user, and changing error handling and recovery.

:::: details Opening the Services Control Panel
::: tip
Shortcut: select `Start > Run` to open the command prompt and enter `Services.msc`. Click `OK`
:::

1. Select `Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services` (these steps may differ depending on the operating system and its configuration)

   ![](/flow/images/servicescontrolpanel.jpg)
   ::::

::: details Starting / Stopping Services

1. Open the Services Control Panel
2. Right click the service you wish to start/stop and select the `start` or `stop` menu item
3. When started a service will show `Started` in the status column. When stopped a service will show nothing in the status column
   :::

::: details Enabling / Disabling Services

1. Open the Services Control Panel

2. Double click the service you wish to enable/disable. Select the appropriate startup type from the `Startup type` drop-down box

   ::: details What do the Startup Types mean?
   **Automatic** means the service will start when the computer starts. You can also manually start/stop the service but it will start again next time the computer restarts.\
   **Manual** means the service will only start if manually activated. This is good for a development computer.\
   **Disabled** means the service will not start. An error will occur if you attempt to manually start a disabled service. This is good to ensure the service will never run
   :::

   ![](/flow/images/enableservice.jpg)
   :::

::: details Changing the log on user

1. Open the Services Control Panel

2. Double click the service you wish to change the log on user. Select the `Log On` tab. Select either `Local System Account` (default) or `This account` and enter the user details

   ::: details What would you want to change the log on user?
   The default Local System Account is unable to access network resources, therefore if FlowService is processing actions that are configured to access network folders or printers you need to change to a user that has permission to those network resources.
   :::

   ![](/flow/images/logonuserservice.jpg)

3. You may see a message indicating the user you entered has been given privileges to log on as a service. This only occurs if it is the first time this user has been set as the log on user for a service.
   :::

::: details Changing error handling and recovery

1. Open the Services Control Panel

2. Double click the service you wish to change the recovery settings for. Select the `Recovery` tab. Modify the `First Failure`, `Second Failure`, `Subsequent Failures` properties to `Restart the Service`. Click `OK`

   ::: details Why do you want to restart the service?
   There are many reasons beyond control as to why a service may fail. Flow is capable of starting up where it left off therefore these settings will ensure the service restarts in event of failure for uninterrupted processing
   :::

   ![](/flow/images/recoveryservice.jpg)
   :::