Manually stop and start the Symantec Endpoint Protection service

Products

• Endpoint Protection

Issue/Introduction

Manually stop and start the Symantec Endpoint Protection when those options are greyed out and not available on the local client through the Windows service manager.

Environment

Endpoint Protection - Windows client 14.x versions and higher.

Resolution

Note: The Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP) GUI interface should be closed before stopping the Symantec Endpoint Protection service.

 

Option using the Windows Run command

To stop the Symantec Endpoint Protection service manually from the Windows Run command, follow the steps below:

1. Click Start
2. Type in: Run
3. In the "Open" field type: smc -stop    

To start the Symantec Endpoint Protection service manually from the Windows Run command, follow the steps below:

1. Click Start
2. Type in: Run
3. In the "Open" field type: smc -start

 

Option using the Windows Command Prompt

To stop the Symantec Endpoint Protection service manually from the Windows Command Prompt, follow the steps below:

1. Click Start
2. Type: cmd
3. At the cmd prompt type: smc -stop 

     Note: Another option to type at the cmd prompt is: start smc -stop

To start the Symantec Endpoint Protection service manually from the Windows Command Prompt, follow the steps below:

1. Click Start
2. Type: cmd
3. At the cmd prompt type: smc -start

     Note: Another option to type at the cmd prompt is: start smc -start

Note: These commands can also be run from Powershell, if you path to the installation directory on the Symantec Endpoint Protection client.
          The default installation directory path where smc.exe is located: " C:\Program Files\Symantec\Symantec Endpoint Protection ".