Recently my company installed an application on all of our clients as a security measure. A few months later we discovered that this newly implemented software was causing a lot of issues with our client's.

Management made a quick decision to disable this service on all machines PRONTO!

sc.exe to the rescue!! SC.EXE is a command that is built into Windows XP, and 2003. This utility allows you to modify all aspects of the services on your machine, or other machines within your domain.

The command syntax is as follows:

sc <server> [command] [service name] <option1> <option2>... 

<server> if ommited, the local machine is assumed. Otherwise use the unc name of the client (e.g. \\WKS-1)

To disable a service on WKS-1, you would type the following from your (or any other) workstation:

sc \\WKS-1  config <service name> start= disabled

make sure there is a space between "=" and "disabled"

to re-enable the service, simply re-type the above command, but replace "disabled" with "auto" 

Using the FOR statement, you can use SC.EXE to disable, enable, stop, or start a service domain-wide. 

Most of you know that in Windows XP, you can run an application with elevated privileges by right-clinking on the executable, and choosing 'Run As'

What you may not know, is there is a lot more you can do with runas.

Is it common practice for you to log your user's off before adding a local printer, or uninstalling an application through Add/Remove programs? There is an easier way!

Simply go to the processes tab of your Task Manager, and end task on Explorer.exe.

Once Explorer.exe closes, you will notice that your taskbar and all desktop icons have disappeared.

Next, click on your applications tab, and click on New Task, in the dialog box, type:

runas /user: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it explorer.exe 

After installing the printer,uninstalling the application, or whatever it was that you needed to do, you can simply repeat the above steps to restore the system to the current user's credentials by ending the process for explorer.exe, clicking on the Applications Tab, choosing  New Task and typing Explorer.exe

What if your logged into an end-user's machine in an AD domain, and you need access to AD Users & Computers? No need to remote into your domain controller! Simply drop to a command prompt, and type:

runas / This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it "mms %windir%\system32\dsa.msc" 

Last but not least...

How to drop to a command promt with elevated privileges:

 runas /user:username@domain cmd