On Windows Server 2003, we have an occasional condition where an application service fails to start immediately, and the service stays in the “Starting” state for 20 minutes, after which it times out and shuts down. If this happens on a reboot, then it is not possible to login to the server (even from the console) until the 20 minute timeout has elapsed. This service does not have any dependencies.
Is this normal behaviour, i.e. is it always the case that you cannot login until all automatic services have started or timed out?
Or is this likely to be a peculiarity of this particular application service?
Best Answer
What you're seeing is likely a peculiarity of your particular service. If the service only acts that way during boot it's going to be a little tough to troubleshoot, but you can use Process Monitor and its boot-time logging capabilities to figure out what's happening with the service.
Any chance you can share what the service is?
Edit:
My apologies for not following your question initially.
AFAIK, the behaviour you're seeing is normal for the Windows 2003 and earlier Serivce Control Manager. In Windows Vista and up, a "delayed auto-start" service type (SERVICE_CONFIG_DELAYED_AUTO_START_INFO) was added to allow services to start automatically, but delayed. I believe that the behaviour you are seeing is behind the rationale for the new feature in Windows Vista.