Plug and Play (PlugPlay) Service Defaults in Windows 7

Enables a computer to recognize and adapt to hardware changes with little or no user input. Stopping or disabling this service will result in system instability.

Default Settings

Startup type: Automatic
Display name:Plug and Play
Service name:PlugPlay
Service type:share
Error control:normal
Group:PlugPlay
Object:LocalSystem
Path:%SystemRoot%\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch
File:%SystemRoot%\system32\umpnpmgr.dll
Registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PlugPlay
Privileges:
  • SeTcbPrivilege
  • SeSecurityPrivilege
  • SeAssignPrimaryTokenPrivilege
  • SeTakeOwnershipPrivilege
  • SeLoadDriverPrivilege
  • SeBackupPrivilege
  • SeRestorePrivilege
  • SeImpersonatePrivilege
  • SeAuditPrivilege
  • SeChangeNotifyPrivilege
  • SeUndockPrivilege
  • SeDebugPrivilege
  • SeShutdownPrivilege

Default Behavior

Plug and Play is a Win32 service. In Windows 7 it is starting automatically on the operating system startup. Then the Plug and Play service is running as LocalSystem in a shared process of svchost.exe. Other system components, such as drivers and services, may run in the same process. If Plug and Play fails to start, Windows 7 attempts to write the failure details into Event Log. Then Windows 7 startup should proceed and the user should be notified that the PlugPlay service is not running because of the error.

Dependencies

If Plug and Play is stopped, the following services cannot start:

Restore Default Startup Configuration of Plug and Play

1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.

2. Copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER:

sc config PlugPlay start= auto
sc start PlugPlay

3. Close the command window and restart the computer.

The PlugPlay service is using the umpnpmgr.dll file that is located in the C:\Windows\system32 directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 7 installation media.