Not all services (such as the Workstation service) can be stopped directly, although you can query them. If the user has a lot of active connections, you cannot force the service to shut down remotely, although you can pause or query it. Other services have other services that are dependent on them; trying to shut down such services will fail unless the dependent services are shut down first.
For example, the ClipBook Server requires the Network DDE Service; so you cannot shut down Network DDE without first shutting down ClipBook Server. This is true even with net stop.
Therefore, you must be familiar with the services you are shutting down.
If you try to stop an unstoppable service, netsvc simply reports that the service is running. For example:
netsvc /stop \\computer TargetServiceReply:
Service is runningThis indicates that the service rejected the request to stop. It is impossible for netsvc to know why the service refuses to be stopped, since the reason varies from service to service.
Likewise, some services cannot be paused or continued, because pause or continue logic is not included in the service program. If you try to pause a nonpausable service, netsvc reports that the "Service is running" immediately afterwards.