Scanning Services and Tasks

Service Credentials Manager allows you to scan computers across your network to discover Windows services and scheduled tasks. This guide covers the scanning process, options, and viewing the results.

Scan Options

Before starting a scan, you can configure various options to control what is discovered:

Item Types

• Include Windows Services - Discover Windows services on target computers
• Include Scheduled Tasks - Discover scheduled tasks on target computers

Connection Options

• Ping Test Computers First - Check computer availability with a ping test before attempting to connect (recommended for efficient scanning)

Filtering Options

• Exclude Disabled Services/Tasks - Skip services and tasks that are disabled
• Only Find Specific Account - Limit results to items running under a specific account
• Exclude Built-in System Accounts - Filter out services and tasks running under system accounts like LocalSystem, NetworkService, etc.

Starting a Scan

To scan for services and scheduled tasks:

1. Add computers to your list if you haven't already
2. Configure scan options as described above
3. Click "Start Scan" in the Service Discovery panel
4. The scan will begin and show progress for each computer

Scan Progress

During the scan, you'll see:

• An overall progress bar at the bottom of the window
• Status updates showing which computer is currently being scanned
• Status changes in the computer list as each computer completes

You can cancel an in-progress scan by clicking the "Cancel" button.

Understanding Scan Results

After the scan completes, the results are displayed in the services grid:

Service Grid Columns

• Select - Checkbox to select items for batch operations
• Computer - The computer where the service or task was found
• Type - Windows Service or Scheduled Task
• Name - The service or task name
• Running As - The account under which the service or task runs
• State - Current state (Running, Stopped, etc. for services)
• Status - Status of the last operation performed on the item

Service Types

The application distinguishes between:

• Windows Services - Standard Windows services managed by the Service Control Manager
• Scheduled Tasks - Windows Task Scheduler items, including both v1 (legacy) and v2 tasks

Sorting and Filtering Results

You can organize scan results by:

• Clicking any column header to sort by that column
• Using the filter options in column headers to filter results
• Using the "Select All" and "Deselect All" buttons to manage selections

Service Control

The application allows you to start and stop Windows services directly:

Starting Services

1. Select one or more Windows services in the grid
2. Click "Start Services" on the toolbar
3. Confirm the action when prompted
4. The operation progress will be displayed

Stopping Services

1. Select one or more Windows services in the grid
2. Click "Stop Services" on the toolbar
3. Confirm the action when prompted
4. The operation progress will be displayed

Service control operations require appropriate permissions on the target computers.

Viewing Task Details

For scheduled tasks, you can view detailed information:

1. Select a scheduled task in the grid
2. Right-click and select "View Task Details" or use the context menu option
3. A new tab will open showing detailed information about the task

Task details include:

• Principal information (account, logon type, run level)
• Status information (enabled, state, last/next run times)
• Settings configuration
• Triggers that activate the task
• Actions the task performs when triggered

Exporting Results

You can export scan results to several formats:

• Excel - Export to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
• PDF - Create a PDF report
• CSV - Export to a comma-separated values file
• HTML - Generate an HTML report

To export results:

1. Complete a scan to populate the service grid
2. Click the appropriate export button on the toolbar
3. Choose a location to save the export file
4. The application will generate the export and offer to open it

Best Practices

• Use the ping test option to avoid long timeouts on offline computers
• Filter for specific accounts when troubleshooting account-related issues
• Use the exclude disabled option to focus only on active services and tasks
• Export results regularly to document your service account usage
• Be cautious when starting or stopping services, especially on production systems

After scanning, you can proceed to Updating Credentials to modify service and task credentials across your network.