One of the first thing I do when I setup a new Operating System (OS) is to turn
off unnecessary services. Why? Those services
that are set for 'Manual' startup
that never start just take up memory when the computer is started. Even with the
maximum ram you can put in your computer that memory being used by those
services is a waste. Also the processor has to refresh that area of memory
periodically thus using up processor time that could be used somewhere else.
By disabling these services you not only keep them from being loaded in to
memory and eating up processor time you also close security holes that a hacker could
use if the service was loaded but not started.
Here is a list of services that are safe to disable, I have made a list
of services that can be safely turned off with two exceptions -
Security Center and Windows Firewall which I will explain later.
|
Display Name |
Option |
|
Diagnostic Policy Service |
Disabled |
|
Diagnostic Policy Service |
Disabled |
|
Diagnostic Service Host |
Disabled |
|
Diagnostic System Host |
Disabled |
|
Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) |
Disabled |
|
IP Helper |
Disabled |
|
Media Center Extender Service ** **** |
Disabled |
|
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service |
Disabled |
|
Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service **** |
Disabled |
|
Peer Name Resolution Protocol |
Disabled |
|
Peer Networking Grouping |
Disabled |
|
Peer Networking Identity Manager |
Disabled |
|
Portable Device Enumerator Service |
Disabled |
|
Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support |
Disabled |
|
Program Compatibility Assistant Service |
Disabled |
|
Remote Desktop Configuration ** |
Disabled |
|
Remote Desktop Services |
Disabled |
|
Remote Desktop Services UserMode Port Redirector |
Disabled |
|
Remote Registry |
Disabled |
|
Routing and Remote Access |
Disabled |
|
WebClient |
Disabled |
|
WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service |
Disabled |
Would you take my
survey on Windows 7?
Receive a free gift when you complete it!
There are 145 services for Windows 7 and this list shows 62 of them
disabled.
Note: You may not want to disable all of these services, you may need
them such as the Windows Media Center services.
Windows 7 64 Bit before disabling the services the OS was
using 460 Meg
of ram, after tweaking the desktop theme and services the OS is using 417 Meg.
Now 43 meg may not sound like much when you have 2 to 8 Gig but that memory is
not open to attack nor is the processor being used to keep the useless data in
memory refreshed. (With anit-virus, trojan, or spyware software installed)
Windows 7 32 Bit before disabling the services and tweaking the desktop
the OS was using 335 Meg of ram. After tweaking the OS is using 265 meg a
savings of 90 Meg. (This Win 7 does not have any anit-virus, trojan, or spyware
software installed).
Note: These memory settings are from Win 7 - 32 and 64 Bit running in a VM
Ware Virtual Computer, physical computer memory will be more because more
hardware drivers will be installed.
The more you turn off that isn't being used will add up in memory and processor
savings. Lower memory and processor usage is lower power usage and lower heat
generation.
Security Center and Windows Firewall should only be disabled if
and only if you are behind a hardware firewall such as a router or a Server
firewall. Do not disable on a laptop that is used at airports, Internet
Cafe's or when traveling. Normally networks that are isolated from the internet through a
firewall and proxy will have difficulties connecting to the local domain when
the Windows Firewall service is active. One way around this is to write a GPO
that sets the required rules to every computer in the domain. This is a labor
intensive task and needs to be tested thoroughly before implementing in a large
environment.
Tweaking Windows 7 like any other Operating System takes time and with
the newer OS's a lot of the services depend on other services. That is if a
service uses another service and that service isn't running then you will
receive an error that the dependency service is not started and the service you
wanted to start failed to start - (Does this make sense to you?) This is why you
can't just go turn off a service because you don't want it to run, you have to
make sure that some other service doesn't need the one you want to turn off.
As always test your settings before going on to the next one, if the service has
a dependency and you turn off all of them at once you will wind up reinstalling
the OS!
You will find more in depth explanations on services and GPO options in
the Windows 7 Ultimate Guide.
