Services: What Windows is Doing Behind Your Back
Every time Windows boots, it runs several special programs called services in the background. These services supply applications access to the resources on your PC, LAN / network and Internet. Some are a must, while others may be turned off. It makes sense to customize which services will run, since these services do take some resources (which can be used by other applications) and slimming down these services will mean more resources for your applications and faster boot up time. Just remember, you have to logon as 'Administrator' or a user account with administrative privileges to change them.
Right click on the 'My Computer' icon and select 'Manage'. This will bring up the 'Computer Management' window where you could change lots of settings. We're only interested in services for now, so choose the 'Services and Applications' on the bottom of the list on the window's left pane. Open up the 'Services' item and a list of all the services will be displayed on the right pane. I recommend choosing the 'Extended' mode, since in this mode, you'll be able to read the information on a selected service. Do you still remember how to sort a detail list like this? Right, left click on the 'Status' column to sort these services by status - whether or not they are running. There should be several services running, select them one at a time and read the description. There should be also an option to either stop, start or restart the selected service under the description. For those without a LAN / network and don't connect to the Internet, you could probably turn off all those network related services. If you don't have a printer and a UPS, it's a good idea to shut down the related services. Now, to set whether or not a service will run at boot, right click on the service and choose 'Properties'. If you're not sure whether or not you need these services or not, choose 'Manual' for the Startup Type. With these settings, Windows will run this service when it's needed, and not at boot.
Here's a list of services and what I recommend for their respective startup type:
'Manual' settings for:
- Alerter
- Application Layer Gateway Service
- Application Management
- ASP.NET State Service
- Background Intelligent Transfer Service
- ClipBook
- Distributed Link Tracking Client
- Human Interface Device Access (you can disable this if you want)
- IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service
- Indexing Service
- Internet Connection Firewall / Internet Connection Sharing (recommended for those with Wi-Fi or Remote Access connection)
- Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service
- MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
- NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
- Performance Logs and Alerts
- Portable Media Serial Number Service
- Print Spooler
- QoS RSVP
- Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
- Remote Registry (security risk)
- Removable Storage
- Smart Card
- Smart Card Helper
- System Restore Services
- Task Scheduler
- Telnet
- Uninterruptible Power Supply
- Universal Plug and Play Device Host
- Upload Manager
- Volume Shadow Copy
- WebClient
- Windows Installer
- Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions
- Windows Time
- Wireless Zero Configuration (set to automatic for those with Wi-Fi connection)
- WMI Performance Adapter
These services are optional, depending on your needs and whether or not you're connected to a LAN / network:
- Automatic Updates
- Distributed Transaction Coordinator
- Error Reporting Service
- Event Log
- Help and Support
- Terminal Services
- Windows Image Acquisition (for scanners and digital cameras)
Your PC is all primed up and ready to do whatever you want it to do - software wise of course. Now, you can begin installing the applications (and games) you want, be it office productivity applications or just regular Internet applications such as browser, e-mail etc.
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