Error "The Specified Service Is Disabled" When You Start WWW Service (280519)

We strongly recommend that all users upgrade to Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) version 6.0 running on Microsoft Windows Server 2003. IIS 6.0 significantly increases Web infrastructure security. For more information about IIS security-related topics, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/prodtech/IIS.mspx

SYMPTOMS

When you try to start the World Wide Web (WWW) Publishing Service, you may receive the following error message:

Could not start the World Wide Web Publishing Service service on \\WEBSERVERNAME.

Error 1058. The specified service is disabled and cannot be started.

As a result, the WWW Service fails to start. There are no corresponding event viewer errors for this error.

This problem also occurs with File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Network News Transfer Protocol (NNTP), or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) services.

CAUSE

The WWW, FTP, NNTP, or SMTP service has been disabled and cannot be started until the service is reset to Automatic, Manual, or Enabled. When you install a third-party application that conflicts with one of these services, the third-party application's installer disables the service.

RESOLUTION

In Microsoft Windows NT and Internet Information Server (IIS), a service can be disabled either in the Startup settings (which is most common) or the Hardware Profile settings.

NOTE: If one of these settings is changed, the other setting also changes to correspond with the first. Therefore, if the Startup setting is changed to Disabled, the Hardware Profile setting also reflects this change.

Startup Settings

To correct this problem in the Startup settings, follow these steps:

In Control Panel, double-click Services.
Click to highlight the service that is failing, and then click Startup.
In the Startup type drop-down list, click Automatic or Manual.
Close the Startup screen, and click to start the service.

Hardware Profile Settings

This setting is designed to assist those computers that have multiple configurations. Third-party applications often disable the service in this area to ensure that these services do not disrupt their product. To check and correct problems in Hardware Profile, follow these steps:

In Control Panel, double-click Services.
Click to highlight the service that is failing, and then click Hardware Profiles.
Verify that the setting for the original configuration is enabled. If not, double-click to change the setting.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about other causes of error 1058, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

181835 Unable to Start the Server Service

182989 XCON: Attempt to Start MTA Fails with Error 1058