[python-win32] Service does not start at windows boot but at user's login

[stephane.poirot]

Good morning,

I'm currently building an application which involves two different 
processes : one is a service and the other one is a simple client.
My client starts at user's login and the service should start at windows 
boot. I say 'should' because it seems that the service
actually starts at user's login too : I put logs in the event log and I 
noticed that the service starts almost 7 to 10 seconds after
the client, which is not what is expected. Service's properties are : 
run automatically on System account, no dependencies.
The code of my service is based on the one found in the book : Oreilly, 
Python Programming on Win32, at chapter 18.6 :
Sample Service Written in Python.


Furthermore, my two processes communicate through a named pipe, and the 
problem aforementioned involves that the communication
is not possible : indeed, the service, who should start before the 
client, creates the pipe and waits for a client connection. Client has just
to open  the pipe to connect. But obviously if the client starts before 
the service, an error occurs because no pipe is created so far.

I did a lot of searches to solve this problem, but haven't found any 
issue yet.
I first thought that  the problem came from pythonservice.exe, which 
hosts my service : it may take longer time
to load than common other windows services. That's why I converted my 
service into a .exe thanks to py2exe. Then the path in service's
properties has changed to this executable. But the problem remains : 
service still starts after client.
However, the problem only occurs at first user's login after machine's 
boot : if he disconnects and somebody connects after, without reboot, 
the service is
still running, which is normal.

That's why I would ask if anyone  has an idea for solving this problem.
Thank you in advance for your answers.

Stéphane POIROT