Imports System
Imports System.ServiceProcess

Module Module1

    Sub Main()

        Dim myServiceName As String = "MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS" 'service name of SQL Server Express
        Dim status As String  'service status (For example, Running or Stopped)
        Dim mySC As ServiceController

        Console.WriteLine("Service: " & myServiceName)

        'display service status: For example, Running, Stopped, or Paused
        mySC = New ServiceController(myServiceName)
        Try
            status = mySC.Status.ToString
        Catch ex As Exception
            Console.WriteLine("Service not found. It is probably not installed. [exception=" & ex.Message & "]")
            Console.ReadLine()
            End
        End Try
        Console.WriteLine("Service status : " & status)

        'if service is Stopped or StopPending, you can run it with the following code.
        If mySC.Status.Equals(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped) Or mySC.Status.Equals(ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending) Then
            Try
                Console.WriteLine("Starting the service...")
                mySC.Start()
                mySC.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running)
                Console.WriteLine("The service is now " & mySC.Status.ToString)

            Catch ex As Exception
                Console.WriteLine("Error in starting the service: " & ex.Message)
            End Try
        End If

        Console.WriteLine("Press a key to end the application...")
        Console.ReadLine()
        End
    End Sub
End Module

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;
using System.ServiceProcess;

namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main()
        {

            string myServiceName = "MSSQL$SQLEXPRESS"; //service name of SQL Server Express
            string status; //service status (For example, Running or Stopped)

            Console.WriteLine("Service: " + myServiceName);

            //display service status: For example, Running, Stopped, or Paused
            ServiceController mySC = new ServiceController(myServiceName);

            try
            {
                status = mySC.Status.ToString();
            }
            catch (Exception ex)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Service not found. It is probably not installed. [exception=" + ex.Message + "]");
                Console.ReadLine();

                return;

            }

            //display service status: For example, Running, Stopped, or Paused
            Console.WriteLine("Service status : " + status);

            //if service is Stopped or StopPending, you can run it with the following code.
            if (mySC.Status.Equals(ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped) | mySC.Status.Equals(ServiceControllerStatus.StopPending))
            {
                try
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Starting the service...");
                    mySC.Start();
                    mySC.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus.Running);
                    Console.WriteLine("The service is now " + mySC.Status.ToString());
                }
                catch (Exception ex)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("Error in starting the service: " + ex.Message);

                }

            }

            Console.WriteLine("Press a key to end the application...");
            Console.ReadLine();

            return;

        }

    }
}