Prevent multiple instance of a service - best approach?

Question

So what do you think is the best way to prevent multiple threads of a C# Windows service running simultaneously (the service is using a timer with the OnE

Answer 1

Instead of lock you can use Monitor.TryEnter() to return if a callback is already being executed by another timer thread:

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        Timer t = new Timer(TimerCallback, null,0,2000);
        Console.ReadKey();
    }

    static object timerLock = new object();

    static void TimerCallback(object state)
    {
        int tid = Thread.CurrentThread.ManagedThreadId;
        bool lockTaken = false;
        try
        {
            lockTaken = Monitor.TryEnter(timerLock);
            if (lockTaken)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("[{0:D02}]: Task started", tid);
                Thread.Sleep(3000); // Do the work 
                Console.WriteLine("[{0:D02}]: Task finished", tid);
            }
            else
            {
                Console.WriteLine("[{0:D02}]: Task is already running", tid);
            }
        }
        finally
        {
            if (lockTaken) Monitor.Exit(timerLock);
        }
    }
}