Windows System Log · Event 7001
Event 7001: A service could not start because another one did not
Windows services declare what they need running before them. This event says a service gave up because one of its prerequisites failed. The service it names is not the problem — the one it depends on is, and that one has its own error somewhere just above.
Also written as Event ID 70017001 dependency failedservice dependency error windows
- How oftenUncommon
- Vendor calls itError
- LogSystem
- SourceService Control Manager
What it means for you
On a personal computer
One background component could not start because another one it needs did not start either. Scroll up in Event Viewer to just before this entry — the real error is there, and fixing that one fixes this.
The fields that decide it
Everything else in the log line is context.
- The dependent service
- The service that gave up. Usually the visible symptom, such as a feature not working, but never the cause.
- The dependency
- The service that failed first. This is the one to investigate, and it will have its own Event 7000, 7023 or 7024 close by.
- The error text
- Why the dependency failed, quoted from the underlying error.
-
The dependency service or group failed to startThe chain goes further — the dependency has a dependency of its own that also failed. -
The service cannot be started, either because it is disabledSomeone or something set the dependency to disabled. Check Event 7040. -
The system cannot find the file specifiedThe dependency's executable is missing, usually after a failed uninstall or a file being quarantined. -
Access is deniedA permissions problem on the service or its files, common after a botched security baseline. - Dependency depth
- Not a field, but worth knowing: chains can be several deep, and Windows logs a 7001 at each level, so the earliest entry in the burst is the one that matters.
Common questions
Which service should I actually fix?
The dependency, not the one in the title. Event 7001 always names two services: the one that could not start and the one it needed. Find the second name, look for its own error just before this one, and fix that. The 7001 clears on its own once the dependency starts.
How do I see what a service depends on?
Open services.msc, double-click the service, and use the Dependencies tab — it shows both what the service needs and what needs it. From a command line, 'sc qc <servicename>' lists the DEPENDENCIES line. This is worth checking before disabling anything, because disabling one service can silently stop several others.
I get a burst of Event 7001s at every boot. Is that one problem or several?
Usually one. A single failed service at the bottom of a chain produces a 7001 for every service above it, so the count looks worse than the cause. Order the burst by time and start with the earliest entry — that one names the service whose own failure started it.
Can a disabled service cause Event 7001?
Yes, and it is one of the most common causes. If someone set a service to disabled — following a debloating guide, applying a hardening baseline, or otherwise — anything depending on it fails with this event. Check Event 7040 for a start-type change to the dependency named here.
Read next
- Usually comes before Event 7000: A service failed to start The failure of the dependency itself, which is where the real error is recorded.
- Usually comes before Event 7040: A service's start type was changed A start type set to disabled, one of the most common reasons a dependency is unavailable.
- Usually comes before Event 7026: A driver that loads at boot did not load A boot-start driver that did not load, which can break a service chain before any service runs.
- Read alongside Event 7023: A service stopped with an error A service terminating with an error, another way a dependency becomes unavailable.
Vendor documentation
Last reviewed 6 September 2026