Service Controller Control from Command Prompt in Windows XP

"sc" is a command line program used for communicating with the NT Service Controller and services.

Some commands based on sc are:
sc /query - displays the list of services and information about their state and flags.
sc /queryex - displays the list of services and the extended information about their state and flags.
sc /start service_name same as net start service_name; starts a service.

Similar the /pause, /continue and /stop switches will pause, resume and stop a service.

sc /delete service_name deletes a service from registry
sc /create service_name creates a service into registry

To get extended help type sc at the command prompt...