How do I figure out the display name of a Windows service from its "short" name?
Try, on the command line:
sc query
and look through that. You could >redirect to a file, as so:
sc query > output.txt
and use a text editor to search through it (And seeing as this creates a comprehensive list of processes, you could keep it around)
Bonus point: If you have a version of grep installed, either from cygwin, or unxutils, or wherever, try:
sc query | grep -i -A 1 "short name"
trying this with uxsms, the DWM service, I get
SERVICE_NAME: UxSms
DISPLAY_NAME: Desktop Window Manager Session Manager
To create a nice listing, you could use
sc query | grep -A 1 "SERVICE_NAME" > Services.txt
A simpler and direct way from the command line is:
sc GetDisplayName SERVICE_NAME
Example
The short name for the service behind Windows Update is wuauserv. Thus, the display name can be found as:
sc GetDisplayName wuauserv
Window XP
On Windows XP this results in (output in one line):
[SC] GetServiceDisplayName SUCCESS Name = Automatic Updates
Window 7
On Windows 7 this results in (output in two lines):
[SC] GetServiceDisplayName SUCCESS
Name = Windows Update
Note that the Services console name of the service in this case is different for Windows XP and Window 7 ("Automatic Updates" vs. "Windows Update").
The Event Viewer typically uses the service name as opposed to the display name. PowerShell makes it easy to see both for each service (or a single service you specify) side by side:
PS C:\> get-service | format-table servicename,displayname -autosize ServiceName DisplayName ----------- ----------- Alerter Alerter ALG Application Layer Gateway Service AppMgmt Application Management aspnet_state ASP.NET State Service AudioSrv Windows Audio BITS Background Intelligent Transfer Service Browser Computer Browser CiSvc Indexing Service ClipSrv ClipBook clr_optimization_v2.0.50727_32 .NET Runtime Optimization Service v2.0.50727_X86 COMSysApp COM+ System Application CryptSvc Cryptographic Services DcomLaunch DCOM Server Process Launcher Dhcp DHCP Client dmadmin Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service dmserver Logical Disk Manager Dnscache DNS Client DynDNS Updater DynDNS Updater ERSvc Error Reporting Service Eventlog Event Log EventSystem COM+ Event System FastUserSwitchingCompatibility Fast User Switching Compatibility FontCache3.0.0.0 Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0 helpsvc Help and Support HidServ Human Interface Device Access hpdj hpdj hpdj3500 hpdj3500 HTTPFilter HTTP SSL idsvc Windows CardSpace ImapiService IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service lanmanserver Server lanmanworkstation Workstation LmHosts TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper MDM Machine Debug Manager Messenger Messenger mnmsrvc NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing MSDTC Distributed Transaction Coordinator MSIServer Windows Installer NetDDE Network DDE NetDDEdsdm Network DDE DSDM Netlogon Net Logon Netman Network Connections NetTcpPortSharing Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service Nla Network Location Awareness (NLA) nlsvc NetLimiter NtLmSsp NT LM Security Support Provider NtmsSvc Removable Storage ose Office Source Engine PlugPlay Plug and Play PolicyAgent IPSEC Services ProtectedStorage Protected Storage RasAuto Remote Access Auto Connection Manager RasMan Remote Access Connection Manager RDSessMgr Remote Desktop Help Session Manager RemoteAccess Routing and Remote Access RemoteRegistry Remote Registry rpcapd Remote Packet Capture Protocol v.0 (experimental) RpcLocator Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator RpcSs Remote Procedure Call (RPC) RSVP QoS RSVP SamSs Security Accounts Manager SCardSvr Smart Card Schedule Task Scheduler seclogon Secondary Logon SENS System Event Notification SharedAccess Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) ShellHWDetection Shell Hardware Detection Spooler Print Spooler srservice System Restore Service SSDPSRV SSDP Discovery Service stisvc Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) SwPrv MS Software Shadow Copy Provider SysmonLog Performance Logs and Alerts TapiSrv Telephony TermService Terminal Services Themes Themes TlntSvr Telnet TrkWks Distributed Link Tracking Client upnphost Universal Plug and Play Device Host UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply VSS Volume Shadow Copy W32Time Windows Time WebClient WebClient winmgmt Windows Management Instrumentation WmdmPmSN Portable Media Serial Number Service Wmi Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions WmiApSrv WMI Performance Adapter wscsvc Security Center wuauserv Automatic Updates WZCSVC Wireless Zero Configuration xmlprov Network Provisioning Service
If you want a single service:
PS C:\> Get-Service wmi Status Name DisplayName ------ ---- ----------- Stopped Wmi Windows Management Instrumentation