SC is a command line program used for communicating with services and the Service Control Manager.

Availability

SC is an external command that is available for the following Microsoft operating systems.

  • Availability

  • Sc syntax

  • sc examples

  • Windows Vista

  • Windows 7

  • Windows 8

  • Windows 10

  • Windows 11

Sc syntax

sc [command] [service name] …

The option has the form “\ServerName”

Commands

The following commands don’t require a service name:

Usage:

sc description [service name] [description]

sc

Query and queryex options

If the query command is followed by a service name, the status for that service is returned. Further options do not apply. If the query command is followed by nothing or one of the options listed below, the services are enumerated.

Sc examples

st start hope

If the “hope” service existed, this code would start it.

sc query

Enumerates the status for active services & drivers.

sc query eventlog

Displays the status for the eventlog service.