Starting SQL Server 2012 services in Visual Basic 2013

[MickT]

I am using SQL Server 2012 Developer edition and Visual Studio 2013

Imports System.ServiceProcess (also included in project.references)

Dim service As New ServiceController("MSSQLSERVER") ' For checking status of SQL Server & starting if necessary

If service.Status = ServiceControllerStatus.Stopped Or service.Status = ServiceControllerStatus.Paused Then
        Try
            service.Start()
        Catch ex As Exception
            MsgBox("StartService error: " & ex.Message)
        End Try 
End If

I get the error message that the application can't start the service on my computer.

I've also tried running a .bat file containing NET START Servicename as a shell; it runs but doesn't start the services

My MSSQLSERVER and SQL Server Agent services are set to start Automatically, but they don't alsway start, which is why I want to test their status, and then start them if necessary.

Has anyone any ideas how to resolve this problem

[MickT]

I hope that's all right now.