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Using NET STOP and NET START commands to force IIS services to re-read the registry

Article ID: 236166 - View products that this article applies to.

This article was previously published under Q236166

We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 7.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2008. IIS 7.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx

(http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx)

For more information about IIS 7.0, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=1

(http://www.iis.net/default.aspx?tabid=1)

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SUMMARY

When you make changes to the registry that affect IIS and its dependent services, you must stop and restart those services in order to force them to re-read the registry.

As an alternative to stopping and starting those services using the Services applet in Control Panel, you can use the NET STOP and NET START commands.

MORE INFORMATION

Stopping IISADMIN and its dependent services

To stop all IIS-related services, type NET STOP IISADMIN /Y at a command prompt. This will stop the IIS Admin Service and all dependent services. Below is an example of the output you will see after issuing this command (the dependent services listed on your computer may vary):

The following services are dependent on the IIS Admin Service service.
Stopping the IIS Admin Service service will also stop these services.

   FTP Publishing Service
   Microsoft NNTP Service
   Microsoft SMTP Service
   World Wide Web Publishing Service

You will then see a message displayed as each service is successfully stopped.

Starting the IIS-related services

Use the NET START command to restart the IIS-related services you use. For example, to restart the World Wide Web service, type NET START W3SVC.

Determining service names

To determine the service names, start Registry Editor (type Regedit.exe or Regedt32.exe) and go to the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services

Under Services, the service name that works with the NET STOP and NET START commands is listed.

NOTE: For each service, there is also a DisplayName value, which is the name listed in the Services applet in Control Panel and in the messages displayed after the NET STOP and NET START commands are run. However, these Display Names cannot be used as a parameter with the NET STOP and NET START commands.

Common IIS-related services

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Service Name	Display Name
Iisadmin	IIS Admin Service
Msftpsvc	FTP Publishing Service
Nntpsvc	Microsoft NNTP Service
Smtpsvc	Microsoft SMTP Service
W3svc	World Wide Web Publishing Service