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Before we begin, it should be noted that certain services require other services to be enabled before they can run. This requirement is known as Dependency. Should you disable a service, later decide you want it enabled, then try to start it and receive an error, it's likely that one or more members of it's dependency group have been disabled. Not all services have dependencies, but it's important that you do not disable a service you want that relies on another. Click the Dependencies tab on the service properties menu to view what dependencies a service has. This will also allow you to view which system components rely upon that service. Now, let's get started. |
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We will now examine each Windows XP service individually. The following list covers every service installed on my computer (Windows XP Professional, or Linux Red Hat 7.2 if I'm really bored). Your computer might not have all of the following components. For example, if you do not have a NVIDIA graphics card you will not have the NVIDIA Driver Helper service like I do. The Default settings listed below tell what your computer was preset to in case you forget and what to change something back without resetting your entire registry. Most of these configurations are the same for both XP Home and Professional unless otherwise noted. |
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Alerter Notifies selected users and computers of administrative alerts. This service is basically useless. You can leave it to Manual or set it to Disabled. Default: Manual Application Layer Gateway Service Provides support for 3rd party protocol plugins for Internet Connection Sharing and the Internet Connection Firewall. Unless you use the built-in firewall you can leave this on Manual. Default: Manual Application Management Provides software installation services such as Assign, Publish, and Remove. It's best to leave this on Manual to allow normal installing and uninstalling. Default: Manual Automatic Updates Enables the download and installation of critical Windows updates. If you're one of those odd ones that uses Automatic Updates then leave this on Automatic. For everyone else, I'm sorry to say, you've been betrayed. Even though you've turned off Automatic Updates under your System Properties menu this service is still running! Go ahead and set this to Disabled. If you want to switch download methods, then make sure to first turn off automatic updating under the System Properties menu before disabling. Default: Automatic Background Intelligent Transfer Service Uses idle network bandwidth to transfer data. This can set to either Manual or Disabled without problem in most cases. Default: Manual ClipBook Enables ClipBook Viewer to store information and share it with remote computers. If the service is stopped, ClipBook Viewer will not be able to share information with remote computers. Unless you actually do this (which almost no one does) just set it to Disabled. Default: Manual COM+ Event System Supports SENS (System Event Notification Service), which provides automatic distribution of events to subscribing COM (Component Object Model) components. While most everyone can leave set this to Manual, you might find it useful to set it to Automatic. Your computer won't suffer if you don't, so test it out and see for yourself. Default: Manual COM+ System Application Manages the configuration and tracking of COM+ (Component Object Model) based components. Manual is just fine, but you can try Automatic too. Default: Manual Computer Browser Maintain an updated list of computers on the network and supplies this list to computers designated as browsers. You can set this to Manual unless you need the rapid access for some strange reason. Default: Automatic Cryptographic Services Provides three management services: Catalog Database Service, which confirms the signatures of Windows files; Protected Root Service, which adds & removes Trusted Root Certification Authority certificates from this computer; and Key Service, which helps enroll this computer for certificates. Leave this set to Automatic for optimal security. Default: Automatic Creative Service for CDROM Access This service only exists for those of us with Creative soundcards and software. I found it nothing but annoying and later I uninstalled all non-driver related Creative software entirely. If you use their Disk Detector (for some bizarre reason) leave it. Otherwise, disable it. A word of warning, Creative installs Disk Detector by default and sets it to Automatic. Make sure to disable it in the Creative menu first before killing it here. Default: Automatic DHCP Client Manages network configuration by registering and updating IP addresses and DNS names. You should be able to set this to Manual without problem. However, if you find you have problems connecting to the internet after changing it, set it back to Automatic. Default: Automatic Diskeeper Controls the Diskeeper service. This service exists only for those of us who use the Diskeeper defragmentation software as opposed to the Windows pre-installed defragmenter. Set this to Manual. Default: Automatic Distributed Link Tracking Client Maintains links between NTFS files within a computer or across computers in a network domain. In most cases this can be set to Manual. If your drives are formatted with FAT32 you do not need it at all. However, if you are on an XP/2000 network or use NTFS 5.0 formatting then you might want to set it to Automatic so it can fix links and such. Default: Automatic Distributed Transaction Coordinator Coordinates transactions that span multiple resource managers, such as databases, message queues, and file systems. Set this to Manual. It's pretty much useless unless you fulfill the requirements above in which case you should still be able to set it to Manual without problems. Default: Manual DNS Client Resolves and caches Domain Name System (DNS) names for this computer. Unless you use a DNS server (check your Network Connections properties and see if any are specified) set this to Manual. Default: Automatic Error Reporting Service Allows error reporting for services and applications running in non-standard environments. If you enjoy sending your system errors to Microsoft Headquarters then set this to Manual. Otherwise, go to the System menu on the Control Panel, click Advanced, click Error Reporting and disable the service there first before setting it here to Disabled. Default: Automatic Event Log Enables event log messages issued by Windows-based programs and components to be viewed in Event Viewer. Leave this set to Automatic! Don't even think about changing it. Default: Automatic Fast User Switching Compatibility Provides management for applications that require assistance in a multiple user environment. Allows you to quickly switch to another user account without having to close any programs -- a rather stupid service to be set to Automatic by default. If you are the only user on your computer, have only one account, or never need this fast switching ability, go to User Accounts on the Control Panel, go to Change the Way Users Log On or Off, and uncheck Use Fast User Switching. Click Apply options, then set it to Disabled here. Default: Manual Help and Support Enables Help and Support Center to run on this computer. Set this to Manual -- it will work the same and only take an extra second to load when you actually need it. Default: Automatic Human Interface Device Access Enables generic input access to Human Interface Devices (HID), which activates and maintains the use of predefined hot buttons on keyboards, remote controls, and other multimedia devices. This setting really depends upon the user. If your keyboard or whatnot uses its own drivers for hotkeys then you can Disable this service. If it uses default Windows drivers and you use these keys (such as the video play keys for Windows Media Player) then set this to Automatic. If you don't use those keys that often and really want the little extra bit of memory, you can set this to Manual and start the service from the configuration menu whenever you need it (which is what I do). Default: Automatic IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service Manages CD recording using Image Mastering Applications Programming Interface (IMAPI). If you use the Windows preinstalled CD-RW burning support (check the drive properties in the Hardware Manager to configure this) then set this to Automatic. If you, like me, use other burning software then set this to Manual or Disabled. Default: Manual or Automatic Indexing Service Indexes contents & properties of files on local and remote computers; provides rapid access to files through flexible querying language. Makes searches for specific document file extensions easier. In most cases you can Disable this without issue. It is a good idea to delete the catalogues that Windows has already created. To do this, open Computer Management from Administrative Tools. Expand Services and Applications, then System, go to the Directories folder and, on the right-hand side, delete each of the listed catalogued directories. Default: Manual Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) / Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Provides network address translation, addressing, name resolution and/or intrusion prevention services for a home or small office network. Should you use either of these set this to Automatic. Otherwise you can set it to Manual or Disabled. Default: Manual (Home) or Automatic (Professional) IPSEC Services Manages IP security policy and starts the ISAKMP/Oakley (IKE) and the IP security driver. Most ISPs don't have support for this so most people can set it to Manual or Disabled without issue. However, for added security or if you're not sure, setting it to Automatic won't hurt anything as it may possibly add extra security and stops itself anyway after use. Logical Disk Manager Detects and monitors new hard disk drives and sends disk volume information to Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service for configuration You should be able to set this to Manual without any problems. Default: Manual (Home) or Automatic (Professional) Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service Configures hard disk drives and volumes. Set this to Manual. Default: Manual |
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