Windows 2000 Quick Fixes

You changed the Administrator account and now a service fails to start

As a security measure, each service in Windows 2000 must log on with a valid account. Many services use a special System account built in to Windows 2000 for logon. In some cases, however, services (particularly those you install through an application) use a different account. Typically these applications prompt you to specify the service account when you install the application.

For example, assume you’re installing a backup application that provides email notification of job status, and you’d like to use the same account for running the service as you use to generate the messages. You might create an account called BackupApp, give it the necessary rights required by the application and then use that account as the service account.

Pros and cons of account logon options

The main problem with assigning an account other than the System account for a service is the password. If you use the Administrator password for the service, you have to change the service’s configuration every time you change the Administrator password. Since you hopefully change that often, you’d have to change the service configuration just as often. And perhaps that’s why you’re reading this section—you changed the Administrator password and suddenly one or more services are failing to start. The key is to choose an account whose password doesn’t change. In most cases the best option is to use the System account. If that isn’t feasible because ...