Administering Windows services across multiple machines is a routine task for sysadmins and DevOps engineers. The manual process of launching services.msc and then navigating through Action → Connect to another computer becomes tedious when performed dozens of times daily.

The most efficient method uses Microsoft Management Console (MMC) with pre-loaded snap-ins:

mmc.exe services.msc /computer=REMOTE-PC-NAME

Or for IP address connection:

mmc.exe services.msc /computer=192.168.1.100

For automation scenarios, these PowerShell commands provide similar functionality:

# Method 1: Using Get-Service with -ComputerName
Get-Service -ComputerName "SERVER01"

# Method 2: Creating a persistent MMC connection
$mmc = New-Object -ComObject "MMC20.Application"
$mmc.Load("services.msc")
$mmc.ActiveDocument.ActiveView.ConnectTo("SERVER02")

Combine with batch scripting for bulk operations:

@echo off
for /f %%i in (server_list.txt) do (
    start mmc.exe services.msc /computer=%%i
)

If you encounter "Access Denied" errors:

• Ensure proper RPC/WMI firewall rules are enabled
• Verify you have administrative privileges on target machine
• Check DCOM permissions if connecting across domains

For performance monitoring scenarios, consider adding the Performance Monitor snap-in simultaneously:

mmc.exe services.msc /computer=SERVER01 perfmon.msc /computer=SERVER01

As a sysadmin managing multiple Windows servers, I've found the GUI navigation path (Action → Connect to remote computer) to be incredibly inefficient when needing frequent access to remote services. Here's the solution I've implemented in my daily workflow:

Windows actually provides a built-in way to launch services.msc pre-connected to a remote machine:

mmc services.msc /computer=RemoteComputerName

Replace RemoteComputerName with either the hostname or IP address of your target system. This command launches the Services snap-in already connected to the specified remote computer.

Here are some real-world usage scenarios:

# Basic connection
mmc services.msc /computer=SRV-WEB01

# Using IP address
mmc services.msc /computer=192.168.1.100

# With domain qualification
mmc services.msc /computer=SRV-DB01.corp.domain.com

For servers I access daily, I create desktop shortcuts with these properties:

Target: mmc services.msc /computer=SRV-FILE01
Start in: %windir%\system32

This saves multiple clicks every time I need to manage services.

When needing alternate credentials:

runas /user:DOMAIN\AdminAccount "mmc services.msc /computer=SRV-APP01"

For those preferring PowerShell, here's an equivalent command:

Start-Process "mmc.exe" -ArgumentList "services.msc /computer=SRV-SQL01"

If you encounter "Access is denied" errors:

• Ensure Windows Firewall allows remote administration (TCP 445)
• Verify the Remote Registry service is running on the target
• Check your account has sufficient privileges