GetCurrentDirectory does not really return the path of the executable file

Question

I am coding a program as service using c++, when I test it as a normal program, the function GetCurrentDirectory returns the correct path. But when I try to install my program as service, GetCurrentDirectory returns C:\\Windows\\System32 instead of the path of the executable.

How can I get the path of my executable file in a way that will work for a service?

Answer 1

Working directory for Windows services is always %WINDIR%\\System32 .

To get directory, where your executable resides, simply call GetModuleFileName with NULL for hModule argument, and manually strip executable name.

Answer 2

Because %WinDir%\\System32 is the default working directory for a 32/64 bit Windows service ( %WinDir%\\SysWOW64 for 32 bit services on 64 bit Windows).

You may set working directory of your service to something else, see also Windows Service: Can I configure the current working directory? or - better - do not rely in your code about working directory. Few options:

• Read it from registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\services\\<service name>\\ImagePath .
• Use WMI to enumerate services (if you really want to...)
• Use GetModuleFileName() . It's easy to use but be careful: it has some tricky behavior with WOW64, some virtualization environments and for svcshot hosted services (it's little bit old but you may want to read this article .)
• Use QueryServiceConfig() .

What I'd suggest:

• Save/load your data in a shared known folder, for example for Common Application Data: SHGetFolderPath(NULL, CSIDL_COMMON_APPDATA, NULL, 0, szPath) .