diff --git a/src/openvpnserv/automatic.c b/src/openvpnserv/automatic.c
index 4123d0f..75c3be2 100644
--- a/src/openvpnserv/automatic.c
+++ b/src/openvpnserv/automatic.c
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@
 #define false 0
 
 static SERVICE_STATUS_HANDLE service;
-static SERVICE_STATUS status;
+static SERVICE_STATUS status = { .dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS };
 
 openvpn_service_t automatic_service = {
     automatic,
@@ -60,12 +60,6 @@ struct security_attributes
     SECURITY_DESCRIPTOR sd;
 };
 
-/*
- * Which registry key in HKLM should
- * we get config info from?
- */
-#define REG_KEY "SOFTWARE\\" PACKAGE_NAME
-
 static HANDLE exit_event = NULL;
 
 /* clear an object */
@@ -91,15 +85,6 @@ init_security_attributes_allow_all(struct security_attributes *obj)
     return true;
 }
 
-/*
- * This event is initially created in the non-signaled
- * state.  It will transition to the signaled state when
- * we have received a terminate signal from the Service
- * Control Manager which will cause an asynchronous call
- * of ServiceStop below.
- */
-#define EXIT_EVENT_NAME  TEXT(PACKAGE "_exit_1")
-
 HANDLE
 create_event(LPCTSTR name, bool allow_all, bool initial_state, bool manual_reset)
 {
@@ -212,10 +197,19 @@ ServiceCtrlAutomatic(DWORD ctrl_code, DWORD event, LPVOID data, LPVOID ctx)
 
 
 VOID WINAPI
+ServiceStartAutomaticOwn(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
+{
+    status.dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS;
+    ServiceStartAutomatic(dwArgc, lpszArgv);
+}
+
+
+VOID WINAPI
 ServiceStartAutomatic(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
 {
     DWORD error = NO_ERROR;
     settings_t settings;
+    TCHAR event_name[256];
 
     service = RegisterServiceCtrlHandlerEx(automatic_service.name, ServiceCtrlAutomatic, &status);
     if (!service)
@@ -223,7 +217,6 @@ ServiceStartAutomatic(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
         return;
     }
 
-    status.dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS;
     status.dwCurrentState = SERVICE_START_PENDING;
     status.dwServiceSpecificExitCode = NO_ERROR;
     status.dwWin32ExitCode = NO_ERROR;
@@ -237,8 +230,15 @@ ServiceStartAutomatic(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
 
     /*
      * Create our exit event
+     * This event is initially created in the non-signaled
+     * state.  It will transition to the signaled state when
+     * we have received a terminate signal from the Service
+     * Control Manager which will cause an asynchronous call
+     * of ServiceStop below.
      */
-    exit_event = create_event(EXIT_EVENT_NAME, false, false, true);
+
+    openvpn_sntprintf(event_name, _countof(event_name), TEXT(PACKAGE "%s_exit_1"), service_instance);
+    exit_event = create_event(event_name, false, false, true);
     if (!exit_event)
     {
         MsgToEventLog(M_ERR, TEXT("CreateEvent failed"));
@@ -327,8 +327,8 @@ ServiceStartAutomatic(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
                                   TEXT("%s\\%s"), settings.log_dir, log_file);
 
                 /* construct command line */
-                openvpn_sntprintf(command_line, _countof(command_line), TEXT(PACKAGE " --service %s 1 --config \"%s\""),
-                                  EXIT_EVENT_NAME,
+                openvpn_sntprintf(command_line, _countof(command_line), TEXT("openvpn --service \"" PACKAGE "%s_exit_1\" 1 --config \"%s\""),
+                                  service_instance,
                                   find_obj.cFileName);
 
                 /* Make security attributes struct for logfile handle so it can
diff --git a/src/openvpnserv/common.c b/src/openvpnserv/common.c
index e77d7ab..d2c7f4a 100644
--- a/src/openvpnserv/common.c
+++ b/src/openvpnserv/common.c
@@ -24,6 +24,9 @@
 #include "service.h"
 #include "validate.h"
 
+LPCTSTR service_instance = TEXT("");
+
+
 /*
  * These are necessary due to certain buggy implementations of (v)snprintf,
  * that don't guarantee null termination for size > 0.
@@ -53,8 +56,6 @@ openvpn_sntprintf(LPTSTR str, size_t size, LPCTSTR format, ...)
     return len;
 }
 
-#define REG_KEY  TEXT("SOFTWARE\\" PACKAGE_NAME)
-
 static DWORD
 GetRegString(HKEY key, LPCTSTR value, LPTSTR data, DWORD size)
 {
@@ -69,7 +70,7 @@ GetRegString(HKEY key, LPCTSTR value, LPTSTR data, DWORD size)
     if (status != ERROR_SUCCESS)
     {
         SetLastError(status);
-        return MsgToEventLog(M_SYSERR, TEXT("Error querying registry value: HKLM\\%s\\%s"), REG_KEY, value);
+        return MsgToEventLog(M_SYSERR, TEXT("Error querying registry value: HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\" PACKAGE_NAME "%s\\%s"), service_instance, value);
     }
 
     return ERROR_SUCCESS;
@@ -79,16 +80,19 @@ GetRegString(HKEY key, LPCTSTR value, LPTSTR data, DWORD size)
 DWORD
 GetOpenvpnSettings(settings_t *s)
 {
+    TCHAR reg_path[256];
     TCHAR priority[64];
     TCHAR append[2];
     DWORD error;
     HKEY key;
 
-    LONG status = RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, REG_KEY, 0, KEY_READ, &key);
+    openvpn_sntprintf(reg_path, _countof(reg_path), TEXT("SOFTWARE\\" PACKAGE_NAME "%s"), service_instance);
+
+    LONG status = RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, reg_path, 0, KEY_READ, &key);
     if (status != ERROR_SUCCESS)
     {
         SetLastError(status);
-        return MsgToEventLog(M_SYSERR, TEXT("Could not open Registry key HKLM\\%s not found"), REG_KEY);
+        return MsgToEventLog(M_SYSERR, TEXT("Could not open Registry key HKLM\\%s not found"), reg_path);
     }
 
     error = GetRegString(key, TEXT("exe_path"), s->exe_path, sizeof(s->exe_path));
@@ -232,7 +236,7 @@ MsgToEventLog(DWORD flags, LPCTSTR format, ...)
     if (hEventSource != NULL)
     {
         openvpn_sntprintf(msg[0], _countof(msg[0]),
-                          TEXT("%s%s: %s"), APPNAME,
+                          TEXT("%s%s%s: %s"), APPNAME, service_instance,
                           (flags & MSG_FLAGS_ERROR) ? TEXT(" error") : TEXT(""), err_msg);
 
         va_start(arglist, format);
diff --git a/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c b/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
index 0d162e8..ed4603e 100644
--- a/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
+++ b/src/openvpnserv/interactive.c
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
 #define ERROR_MESSAGE_TYPE     0x20000003
 
 static SERVICE_STATUS_HANDLE service;
-static SERVICE_STATUS status;
+static SERVICE_STATUS status = { .dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS };
 static HANDLE exit_event = NULL;
 static settings_t settings;
 static HANDLE rdns_semaphore = NULL;
@@ -1487,7 +1487,7 @@ RunOpenvpn(LPVOID p)
     }
 
     openvpn_sntprintf(ovpn_pipe_name, _countof(ovpn_pipe_name),
-                      TEXT("\\\\.\\pipe\\openvpn\\service_%lu"), GetCurrentThreadId());
+                      TEXT("\\\\.\\pipe\\" PACKAGE "%s\\service_%lu"), service_instance, GetCurrentThreadId());
     ovpn_pipe = CreateNamedPipe(ovpn_pipe_name,
                                 PIPE_ACCESS_DUPLEX | FILE_FLAG_FIRST_PIPE_INSTANCE | FILE_FLAG_OVERLAPPED,
                                 PIPE_TYPE_MESSAGE | PIPE_READMODE_MESSAGE | PIPE_WAIT, 1, 128, 128, 0, NULL);
@@ -1654,6 +1654,7 @@ ServiceCtrlInteractive(DWORD ctrl_code, DWORD event, LPVOID data, LPVOID ctx)
 static HANDLE
 CreateClientPipeInstance(VOID)
 {
+    TCHAR pipe_name[256]; /* The entire pipe name string can be up to 256 characters long according to MSDN. */
     HANDLE pipe = NULL;
     PACL old_dacl, new_dacl;
     PSECURITY_DESCRIPTOR sd;
@@ -1690,7 +1691,8 @@ CreateClientPipeInstance(VOID)
         initialized = TRUE;
     }
 
-    pipe = CreateNamedPipe(TEXT("\\\\.\\pipe\\openvpn\\service"), flags,
+    openvpn_sntprintf(pipe_name, _countof(pipe_name), TEXT("\\\\.\\pipe\\" PACKAGE "%s\\service"), service_instance);
+    pipe = CreateNamedPipe(pipe_name, flags,
                            PIPE_TYPE_MESSAGE | PIPE_READMODE_MESSAGE,
                            PIPE_UNLIMITED_INSTANCES, 1024, 1024, 0, NULL);
     if (pipe == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
@@ -1785,6 +1787,15 @@ CmpHandle(LPVOID item, LPVOID hnd)
     return item == hnd;
 }
 
+
+VOID WINAPI
+ServiceStartInteractiveOwn(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
+{
+    status.dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS;
+    ServiceStartInteractive(dwArgc, lpszArgv);
+}
+
+
 VOID WINAPI
 ServiceStartInteractive(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
 {
@@ -1801,7 +1812,6 @@ ServiceStartInteractive(DWORD dwArgc, LPTSTR *lpszArgv)
         return;
     }
 
-    status.dwServiceType = SERVICE_WIN32_SHARE_PROCESS;
     status.dwCurrentState = SERVICE_START_PENDING;
     status.dwServiceSpecificExitCode = NO_ERROR;
     status.dwWin32ExitCode = NO_ERROR;
diff --git a/src/openvpnserv/service.c b/src/openvpnserv/service.c
index b79e999..5ebe190 100644
--- a/src/openvpnserv/service.c
+++ b/src/openvpnserv/service.c
@@ -223,46 +223,77 @@ out:
 int
 _tmain(int argc, TCHAR *argv[])
 {
-    SERVICE_TABLE_ENTRY dispatchTable[] = {
+    SERVICE_TABLE_ENTRY dispatchTable_shared[] = {
         { automatic_service.name, ServiceStartAutomatic },
         { interactive_service.name, ServiceStartInteractive },
         { NULL, NULL }
     };
+    const SERVICE_TABLE_ENTRY *dispatchTable = dispatchTable_shared;
 
     openvpn_service[0] = automatic_service;
     openvpn_service[1] = interactive_service;
 
-    if (argc > 1 && (*argv[1] == TEXT('-') || *argv[1] == TEXT('/')))
+    for (int i = 1; i < argc; i++)
     {
-        if (_tcsicmp(TEXT("install"), argv[1] + 1) == 0)
+        if (*argv[i] == TEXT('-') || *argv[i] == TEXT('/'))
         {
-            return CmdInstallServices();
-        }
-        else if (_tcsicmp(TEXT("remove"), argv[1] + 1) == 0)
-        {
-            return CmdRemoveServices();
-        }
-        else if (_tcsicmp(TEXT("start"), argv[1] + 1) == 0)
-        {
-            BOOL is_auto = argc < 3 || _tcsicmp(TEXT("interactive"), argv[2]) != 0;
-            return CmdStartService(is_auto ? automatic : interactive);
-        }
-        else
-        {
-            goto dispatch;
+            if (_tcsicmp(TEXT("install"), argv[i] + 1) == 0)
+            {
+                return CmdInstallServices();
+            }
+            else if (_tcsicmp(TEXT("remove"), argv[i] + 1) == 0)
+            {
+                return CmdRemoveServices();
+            }
+            else if (_tcsicmp(TEXT("start"), argv[i] + 1) == 0)
+            {
+                BOOL is_auto = argc < i + 2 || _tcsicmp(TEXT("interactive"), argv[i + 1]) != 0;
+                return CmdStartService(is_auto ? automatic : interactive);
+            }
+            else if (argc > i + 2 && _tcsicmp(TEXT("instance"), argv[i] + 1) == 0)
+            {
+                /* When running as an alternate instance, we are invoked as
+                 * SERVICE_WIN32_OWN_PROCESS - we are the one and only
+                 * service in this process. The dispatch table should
+                 * reflect that.
+                 */
+                static const SERVICE_TABLE_ENTRY dispatchTable_automatic[] = {
+                    { TEXT(""), ServiceStartAutomaticOwn },
+                    { NULL, NULL }
+                };
+                static const SERVICE_TABLE_ENTRY dispatchTable_interactive[] = {
+                    { TEXT(""), ServiceStartInteractiveOwn },
+                    { NULL, NULL }
+                };
+                dispatchTable = _tcsicmp(TEXT("interactive"), argv[i + 1]) != 0 ?
+                    dispatchTable_automatic :
+                    dispatchTable_interactive;
+
+                service_instance = argv[i + 2];
+                i += 2;
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                _tprintf(TEXT("%s -install        to install the services\n"), APPNAME);
+                _tprintf(TEXT("%s -start <name>   to start a service (\"automatic\" or \"interactive\")\n"), APPNAME);
+                _tprintf(TEXT("%s -remove         to remove the services\n"), APPNAME);
+
+                _tprintf(TEXT("\nService run-time parameters:\n"));
+                _tprintf(TEXT("-instance <name> <id>\n")
+                         TEXT("   Runs the service as an alternate instance. <name> can be \"automatic\" or\n")
+                         TEXT("   \"interactive\". The service settings will be loaded from\n")
+                         TEXT("   HKLM\\Software\\" PACKAGE_NAME "<id> registry key, and the interactive service will accept\n")
+                         TEXT("   requests on \\\\.\\pipe\\" PACKAGE "<id>\\service named pipe.\n"));
+
+                return 0;
+            }
         }
-
-        return 0;
     }
 
     /* If it doesn't match any of the above parameters
      * the service control manager may be starting the service
      * so we must call StartServiceCtrlDispatcher
      */
-dispatch:
-    _tprintf(TEXT("%s -install        to install the services\n"), APPNAME);
-    _tprintf(TEXT("%s -start <name>   to start a service (\"automatic\" or \"interactive\")\n"), APPNAME);
-    _tprintf(TEXT("%s -remove         to remove the services\n"), APPNAME);
     _tprintf(TEXT("\nStartServiceCtrlDispatcher being called.\n"));
     _tprintf(TEXT("This may take several seconds. Please wait.\n"));
 
diff --git a/src/openvpnserv/service.h b/src/openvpnserv/service.h
index 9fe573e..1afd20e 100644
--- a/src/openvpnserv/service.h
+++ b/src/openvpnserv/service.h
@@ -73,10 +73,12 @@ typedef struct {
 
 extern openvpn_service_t automatic_service;
 extern openvpn_service_t interactive_service;
+extern LPCTSTR service_instance;
 
-
+VOID WINAPI ServiceStartAutomaticOwn(DWORD argc, LPTSTR *argv);
 VOID WINAPI ServiceStartAutomatic(DWORD argc, LPTSTR *argv);
 
+VOID WINAPI ServiceStartInteractiveOwn(DWORD argc, LPTSTR *argv);
 VOID WINAPI ServiceStartInteractive(DWORD argc, LPTSTR *argv);
 
 int openvpn_vsntprintf(LPTSTR str, size_t size, LPCTSTR format, va_list arglist);
