diff --git a/packaging/install_service.ps1 b/packaging/install_service.ps1
index 058a5f5..6a46763 100644
--- a/packaging/install_service.ps1
+++ b/packaging/install_service.ps1
@@ -65,11 +65,21 @@ function Ensure-WinSW {
     $stopPs1 = ConvertTo-WinSWPath (Join-Path $PSScriptRoot "stop_netx_app.ps1")
     $progFs = ConvertTo-WinSWPath $prog
     $dataFs = ConvertTo-WinSWPath $data
-    $logPath = ConvertTo-WinSWPath (Join-Path $data "data\runtime")
-    if (-not (Test-Path (Join-Path $data "data\runtime"))) {
-        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path (Join-Path $data "data\runtime") -Force | Out-Null
+    # Own folder: WinSW writes <id>.out.log / <id>.err.log = NetX.out.log, which on Windows is
+    # the same file as start_netx.ps1's netx.out.log. WinSW keeps it open, so NetX could not
+    # truncate its log and every service start failed.
+    $svcLogDir = Join-Path $data "data\runtime\service"
+    $logPath = ConvertTo-WinSWPath $svcLogDir
+    if (-not (Test-Path $svcLogDir)) {
+        New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $svcLogDir -Force | Out-Null
     }
 
+    # Stop hook via cmd: NUL stdin + output to a file. Launched by WinSW directly,
+    # powershell.exe never reached the script's first line (stuck on the inherited
+    # std handles), so the supervisor was never told to exit and stops hung.
+    $stopLog = Join-Path $svcLogDir "stopexec.log"
+    $stopCmd = "/d /s /c `"powershell.exe -NoProfile -NonInteractive -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File `"$stopPs1`" -ProgramRoot `"$progFs`" -DataRoot `"$dataFs`" &lt;NUL &gt;&gt;`"$stopLog`" 2&gt;&amp;1`""
+
     $xml = @"
 <service>
   <id>$svcName</id>
@@ -86,8 +96,8 @@ function Ensure-WinSW {
   <onfailure action="restart" delay="30 sec"/>
   <resetfailure>1 hour</resetfailure>
   <stoptimeout>60sec</stoptimeout>
-  <stopexecutable>powershell.exe</stopexecutable>
-  <stoparguments>-NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File "$stopPs1" -ProgramRoot "$progFs" -DataRoot "$dataFs"</stoparguments>
+  <stopexecutable>cmd.exe</stopexecutable>
+  <stoparguments>$stopCmd</stoparguments>
   <workingdirectory>$progFs</workingdirectory>
 </service>
 "@
diff --git a/packaging/service_lifecycle.ps1 b/packaging/service_lifecycle.ps1
index c3f7e4f..4431991 100644
--- a/packaging/service_lifecycle.ps1
+++ b/packaging/service_lifecycle.ps1
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ function Stop-NetxRunners([switch]$Remove) {
         $state | ConvertTo-Json | Set-Content -LiteralPath $stateFile -Encoding utf8
         if ($svc.Status -ne 'Stopped') {
             Write-LifecycleLog 'Stopping Windows service NetX'
+            Write-NetxServiceStopFlag -DataRoot $data
             Stop-Service -Name 'NetX' -Force -ErrorAction Stop
             (Get-Service -Name 'NetX').WaitForStatus('Stopped', [TimeSpan]::FromSeconds(60))
         }
diff --git a/packaging/service_run.ps1 b/packaging/service_run.ps1
index e514352..3504485 100644
--- a/packaging/service_run.ps1
+++ b/packaging/service_run.ps1
@@ -57,7 +57,16 @@ function Start-NetxChildren {
 
 function Stop-NetxChildren {
     & powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File $stopPs1 `
-        -ProgramRoot $prog -DataRoot $data
+        -ProgramRoot $prog -DataRoot $data -KeepSupervisor
+}
+
+function Wait-NetxStopFlag([int]$Seconds) {
+    # Sleep in 1s steps so a service stop (stop flag) is noticed quickly.
+    for ($i = 0; $i -lt $Seconds; $i++) {
+        if (Test-Path $stopFlag) { return $true }
+        Start-Sleep -Seconds 1
+    }
+    return (Test-Path $stopFlag)
 }
 
 try {
@@ -83,11 +92,11 @@ try {
                 Start-NetxChildren
                 $failStreak = 0
                 # Give API time to come up before counting failures again.
-                Start-Sleep -Seconds ([Math]::Max(15, $HealthIntervalSec))
+                $null = Wait-NetxStopFlag ([Math]::Max(15, $HealthIntervalSec))
                 continue
             }
         }
-        Start-Sleep -Seconds $HealthIntervalSec
+        $null = Wait-NetxStopFlag $HealthIntervalSec
     }
 } catch {
     Write-SvcLog "ERROR: $($_.Exception.Message)"
diff --git a/packaging/stop_netx_app.ps1 b/packaging/stop_netx_app.ps1
index 48d99c1..5f091cb 100644
--- a/packaging/stop_netx_app.ps1
+++ b/packaging/stop_netx_app.ps1
@@ -2,10 +2,23 @@ param(
     [string]$ProgramRoot = "",
     [string]$DataRoot = "",
     [switch]$KeepPostgres = $false,
-    [switch]$KillTray = $false
+    [switch]$KillTray = $false,
+    # Used by service_run.ps1 when it restarts NetX itself: do not ask it to exit.
+    [switch]$KeepSupervisor = $false
 )
 
 $ErrorActionPreference = "Continue"
+# Timestamped trace (service stop path is hard to observe otherwise).
+$script:stopTrace = $null
+function Write-StopTrace([string]$Msg) {
+    if (-not $script:stopTrace) { return }
+    try { Add-Content -Path $script:stopTrace -Value ("{0} [{1}] {2}" -f (Get-Date -Format "yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff"), $PID, $Msg) -Encoding utf8 } catch {}
+}
+if ($DataRoot) {
+    $traceDir = Join-Path $DataRoot "data\runtime\service"
+    if (Test-Path $traceDir) { $script:stopTrace = Join-Path $traceDir "stop_netx_app.log" }
+}
+Write-StopTrace "begin user=$([Environment]::UserName) keepSupervisor=$KeepSupervisor"
 . "$PSScriptRoot\_common.ps1"
 Assert-NetxAdminOrRelaunch -ScriptPath $PSCommandPath -BoundParameters $PSBoundParameters -WindowStyle Hidden
 
@@ -17,14 +30,24 @@ if (Test-Path $envPath) {
     $map = Read-DotEnv -Path $envPath
 }
 
+# Tell the service supervisor (service_run.ps1) to exit first. WinSW runs this script as
+# <stopexecutable> and then waits for the supervisor to exit; without the flag it kept
+# looping, restarted NetX, and the service never stopped.
+if (-not $KeepSupervisor) {
+    Write-NetxServiceStopFlag -DataRoot $data
+    Write-StopTrace "stop flag written"
+}
+
 $stopScript = Join-Path $prog "scripts\stop_netx.ps1"
 if (-not (Test-Path $stopScript)) {
     $stopScript = Join-Path (Get-NetxRepoRoot) "scripts\stop_netx.ps1"
 }
 if (Test-Path $stopScript) {
     Write-Host "==> Stopping NetX processes"
+    Write-StopTrace "stop_netx.ps1 begin"
     Start-NetxPowerShell -File $stopScript -Arguments @("-Force") `
         -WorkingDirectory $prog -WindowStyle Hidden -Wait | Out-Null
+    Write-StopTrace "stop_netx.ps1 end"
 } else {
     Write-Host "[WARN] stop_netx.ps1 not found"
 }
@@ -51,4 +74,5 @@ if ($mode -eq "bundled" -and -not $KeepPostgres) {
     }
 }
 
+Write-StopTrace "done"
 Write-Host "==> Stop done"