Disabling Services - Windows XP

Wintips&Tricks
July 28,  2004 - Issue 8

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Disabling Services - Windows XP

by Vic Ferri

Simply put, services are programs that run continously and invisibly in the 
background.  By default, Windows XP enables a number of services that you may 
not need, especially if you do not have a network.  These non essential 
services run aimlessly in the background and in some cases may even pose 
security risks. So unless you know you need them, it is recommended you disable 
these services.  Doing so will not only make your system more secure, but help 
boost system performance, since each service you disable is one less service 
using up system resources

If you have a single non networked computer, all the services listed in this 
article may be safely disabled if you don't use them. Personally, I've had them 
all disabled for over a year without any ill effect, on a Windows XP Pro 
system.   If your computer is part of a network or LAN,  you may want some of 
these services running
However, unless you really need them, whether part of a network or not, it is 
recommended you disable all the services that can be a security risk. 
For other services, common sense should make it obvious whether you need the 
service or not. . For example, if you do not have a wireless adapter or 
network, then there's no use having a Wireless configuration service running. 
Other services you may want,  even though they are not essential - such as Fast 
User Switching or Themes.

And remember, you can always reenable a service if you ever need to. 

Accessing Services.

In your Control Panel, go to  Administrative Tools> Services.


NOTE:  To be safe, do NOT use "msconfig" to disable services. There are 
services there that are essential for hardware and booting. When you uncheck a
service via Services in msconfig, you completely disable it and if you uncheck 
the wrong one, you can end up not being able to start your computer.
This is not the case when you use Services in the Control Panel management 
console.


Tips
You can also display Services in your Start Menu>Programs group.. To do that, 
right click your Taskbar, click Properites>Start Menu tab>Customize.
Put a checkmark next to "Display Administrative Tools"    You can now access 
Services by clicking Start>Program>Administrative Tools>Services

Another quick way to access Services, is by entering services.msc in the Run 
box and clicking OK. Once entered and run, it will remain in the autocomplete
Run box dropdown list for even quicker access next time.

***

Once you get to Services, you willl see the complete list of Services that are 
either running or not running on your system.
You see this under the Status column. If the service is running it will state 
Started.(you can click a column heading to sort the service by that category
so if you click Status you wll see all the running services grouped together)

To stop a currently running service, double click it to get to its Properties, 
and then click the STOP button.
To disable it from running again, choose Disabled from the dropdown list under 
the Startup type section.

If you are not sure whether you need a cerrtain service, set it to Manual  
instead of Disabled.
With Manual, Windows should start the service when needed but in my experience, 
some services won't start even if they are set to Manual.
Whether they start on Manual seems to depend on ones system configuration. 

Tip  If you want to test if Manual works for you, set Print Spooler to Manual, 
and then see if you can add a printer. If you can, the Add Print wizard will 
begin which you can just cancel and you will then know that Manual works for 
you. If you get a message stating "Operation Could Not Be Completed" it means 
the Manual setting does not work for you.

If you stop a service and set it to Automatic, the service will only remain 
disabled till your next boot up or login.


Ok, here is an alphabetical list of  25  Windows XP services which most users 
of a single non networked computer do not need and which can be
safely disabled.  Click the Name column heading to sort your Services list 
alphabetically so you can follow along more easily.


1. Alerter (no need for this one unless you are on network and need to send and 
receive administrative alerts)

2. Clipbook (no need for this one unless you are on a network and do a lot of 
copying and pasting to others on your network)


3. Computer Browser (only if you have a network you might want this one enabled 
- it keeps track of the computers on the network)

4. Error Reporting Service (only enable this if you like those error reporting 
boxes that pop up whenever you have some crash!)

5. Fast User Switching (if you like it enable it, if not, it's not needed)


6. Human Interface Access Devices (disable if you don't have devices such as 
Internet keyboards with volume or play controls or scanners with hot key 
functions)

7. Indexing Service (this one is a resource hog and tends to slow down system 
performance).


8. Messenger (not the same as MSN messenger  - this is the bad rep one used in 
networking and allowing others tonet send you messages or spam you at will)

9. Net Logon (not needed unless you are part of a Domain)

10. NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing ( security risk - it allows a  remote 
user with NetMeeting to access your computer)


11. Remote Desktop Help Session Manager ( security risk - disable this unless 
you are a Remote Desktop user)

12. Remote Procedure Call Locator (wasn't sure about this one but after a year 
of having it disabled, never caused a problem)


13. Remote Registry ( security risk - unless you want someone to be able to 
edit your registry remotely, disable it)


14. Routing and Remote Access ( security risk - alllows lan and wan dial in 
access to your computer)

15. Server (only if you are on a LAN, you may want this - for basic file and 
print sharing services)


16. SSDP Discovery Service ( security risk - even Microsoft says this is a 
security risk)

17. Telnet(security risk - should definitely be disabled unless you yourself 
are using telnet)

18. Themes (if you are using the Windows classic interface - like in Windows 98 
and 2000 - then you don't need this)

19. SSDP Discovery Service (security risk - it leaves Port 5000 open and 
accessible!)

20. TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper (disable this for security reasons unless your 
network is using the NetBios protocol)


21. Universal Plug and Play Device Host (security risk but note that some 
multiplayer games using DirectX 7 and 8 may use this, but still a security risk)


22. Upload Manager ( not needed even if you do have a network - most use FTP 
for file transfers)

23.  Windows Time (optional -  do you want Microsoft to run an always on 
service to contact time servers to synchronize the clocks on your network?)

24. Wireless Zero Configuration (if you don't have a  wireless network, why 
have this running - you can always reenable it if you ever do get into Wireless)

25. WMI Performance Adapter (provides performance library information from WMI 
HiPerf providers - not essential)

And that's it. Note that this list only represents what I have tested and 
disabled for myself. There may be other services you can disable as well but 
these
are the main ones.  Use caution disabling any other services and only do so if 
you know what you are doing.

****

Messenger Tip

To test if Messenger is running, click Start>Run, type

net send 127.0.0.1 hey there!

and click Ok

If you have Messenger stopped or disabled, you should NOT get a popup box 
stating "hey there!"

For more detailed tips on disabling the bad Messenger service, see here:
http://www.personal-computer-tutor.com/abc3/v27/linda27.htm


vic


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