Does Windows Vista prevent windows services from accessing the internet or USB hardware?

Question

I have created a Windows service that will run an exe file periodically to check for files on an FTP site, process any that are found, enter data into an SQL database and print a label to a local printer.

Currently we are running Windows XP Professional but if we moved to Vista (or Windows 7) would the increased security prevent my service from functioning? We do not have any Vista machines available so testing is a problem.

The service uses the Local System account and reads from the registry for the trigger period and exe to call. I understand the exe runs in the same level as the service so no user interaction is generated to the screen. We use a label printer connected to a USB port and I know this works on XP even before a user has logged in.

Answer 1

The short answer is probably 'no' (it does not), but I don't think that posting a question on SO will eliminate the need for testing your application (especially since the long answer is of course 'it depends' - on the security configuration and other software, hardware firewall, etc etc).

Answer 2

It looks like you can specify the privileges for a service to a greater extent under Vista so using the full access provided by the Local System account would not be necessary.

There is a documnet Services in Windows Vista from Microsoft that introduces the changes introduced under Vista.

On the positive side it looks like if you do not specify any reduced privileges then the default privileges of the account used (Local System in this case) would apply so pending an actual test there should not be a problem.

Answer 3

you might want to take a look at this thread:

What are the main differences between programming for Windows XP and for Vista?