Find which process stopped or started Windows Services
Windows Service Auditor is a free, portable application that allows you to perform detailed auditing. It can also probe the Windows Event Logs to give better insight. Windows do offer some tools, but they don’t help a general consumer. Tools such as Event Viewer and AuditPol provides a detailed view, but they are not helpful. You need to be an expert to understand and debug those issues.
Features of Windows Service Auditor
Works with domain computers, local and global audit policiesTrack which program stopped or deleted Windows ServiceWhen was the service started and at what time did the service startAny startup error for the services
How to use Windows Service Auditor
Since this is a monitoring service, it cannot do everything on its own. You will have to choose which service should be tracked. Along with it, you can stop, start services if needed. Here is how to use setup auditing of the service.
1] Initial Setup
It’s a portable application, so make sure to download and keep it at a place from where it doesn’t get deleted. Also, make sure to set it to launch as the computer starts, so the auditing doesn’t miss tracking. Launch the application, and you will get to see two parts—List of Windows Services, and Event logs. The later reveals any event log connected to the selected service.
2] Enable Advanced Security Auditing
Windows don’t keep track of some of the advanced features as the default settings. You will need to enable advanced security auditing to capture the details. The good thing is that using Windows Service Auditor; you can enable it right away. Click on the Application menu and then select “Enable Local Audit Policy .” This option is automatically enabled by default, but if you wish to disable it, this is the menu you need to access. Enabling this, Windows will now monitor auditing based on the following
Other Object AccessHandle ManipulationSecurity System Extension
3] Monitor a Service
The last step is to select a service, and then click on the “Eye” icon on the top menu to start monitoring it. Once enabled, notice an “Eye” icon next to the service which is being monitored. Select it, and you will have details in the Events section. It will include all the changes made by a program or a user along with a timestamp. There is no way to enable it for multiple services, and it will not work for all services, but only those that are not under system control. The audit policy in place, Windows will capture detailed audit events whenever anyone tries to start, stop, or update your service. You can also enable auditing for any service using the menu option available under services.
How Windows Service Auditor works on Domain Computers
While you can enable it on any computer which is part of the domain, there is one drawback. Any changes made by Windows Service Auditor will be overwritten the next time the server refreshes the policy. You will have to manually update the Global Audit Policy again to enable advanced auditing. Microsoft has detailed documentation on how you can update the global Audit Policy. Just like Local Policy editing, you will need to configure the system to audit events in the Other Object Access, Handle Manipulation, and Security System Extension. It is available under Security Settings. Download it from the official page. I hope the post was easy to follow, and you were able to enable Advanced Security Auditing for Windows Services on Windows 10.
