DeleteService

The DeleteService function marks the specified service for deletion from the service control manager database.

BOOL DeleteService(
  SC_HANDLE hService   // handle to service
);

Parameters

hService: Handle to the service. This handle is returned by the OpenService or CreateService function, and it must have DELETE access.

Return Values

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.

Errors

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.

Value	Meaning
ERROR_ACCESS_DENIED	The specified handle was not opened with DELETE access.
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.

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