DeleteService function (winsvc.h)

Article
10/13/2021

Marks the specified service for deletion from the service control manager database.

Syntax

BOOL DeleteService(
  [in] SC_HANDLE hService
);

Parameters

[in] hService

A handle to the service. This handle is returned by the OpenService or CreateService function, and it must have the DELETE access right. For more information, see Service Security and Access Rights.

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

The following error codes may be set by the service control manager. Others may be set by the registry functions that are called by the service control manager.

Return code	Description
ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED	The handle does not have the DELETE access right.
ERROR_INVALID_HANDLE	The specified handle is invalid.
ERROR_SERVICE_MARKED_FOR_DELETE	The specified service has already been marked for deletion.

Remarks

The DeleteService function marks a service for deletion from the service control manager database. The database entry is not removed until all open handles to the service have been closed by calls to the CloseServiceHandle function, and the service is not running. A running service is stopped by a call to the ControlService function with the SERVICE_CONTROL_STOP control code. If the service cannot be stopped, the database entry is removed when the system is restarted.

The service control manager deletes the service by deleting the service key and its subkeys from the registry.

Examples

For an example, see Deleting a Service.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows XP [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows Server 2003 [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	winsvc.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Advapi32.lib
DLL	Advapi32.dll