This technique lets you debug your service as if it were a console app - just pass in -a on the command line. In your Main method: if (args.Length

This technique lets you debug your service as if it were a console app - just pass in -a on the command line. In your Main method: if (args.Length > 0 && args[0] == "-a") { // Running as an application MyService ms = new MyService(); ms.DoStart(); Console.WriteLine("Press Enter to Stop"); Console.ReadLine(); ms.DoStop(); } else { // Running as a service ServiceBase[] servicesToRun = { new MyService() }; ServiceBase.Run(servicesToRun); } And in the MyService class that derives from ServiceBase: protected override void OnStart(string[] args) { DoStart(); } protected override void OnStop() { DoStop(); } internal void DoStart() { // Start your service thread here } internal void DoStop() { // Tell your service thread to stop here }