Windows XP Shutting Down Unneeded Services

Shutting Down Unneeded Services
Windows XP and Windows 2000 offer a lot of services, and too many of them are up and running by default. By shutting down the services that you don't need or use, you'll improve both security and performance.

A service is a program that runs continuously in the background, processing requests from other programs or from the network. Services don't interact with the user directly, the way an application such as Microsoft Word or Excel might. Instead, you usually configure the behavior of services through the Services console (shown in Figure 17-7) or, in some cases, through registry settings.


Figure 17-7. Windows provides a lot of services, but most systems don't need all of them running.
To start the Services console, open Control Panel, Administrative Tools (in the Performance And Maintenance category), Services. If you prefer to use a command prompt, simply type services.msc. The Services snap-in also appears as part of Computer Management, which you can start by right-clicking My Computer and choosing Manage or by typing compmgmt.msc at a command prompt.

In the Services console, services that are currently running are designated as Started in the Status field. All other services are not running. The Startup Type field indicates when and whether Windows starts the service: If the type is Automatic, the service starts when Windows boots. A startup type of Manual means the service starts only if a program requests one of the features the service provides. A service whose startup type is Disabled never starts, even if another program needs it.

CAUTION
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Disabling a service that's critical to system operation can render your computer unbootable. Stopping some services can cause subtle problems that are quite difficult to trace. In many cases, you should take additional steps before stopping a service to make sure that Windows is properly informed that you don't want to use that service. Read the information for each service before deciding whether to change its startup type.
When turning off a service that you think your system isn't using, a safe first step is to stop the service without changing its startup type. Run your computer for a while—perhaps a few days—with the service stopped to be sure that it's really not needed. If you see any unusual system behavior, restart the service to see whether that solves the problem. If you return to the Services console and find a service running that you've previously stopped, you'll know that some part of the system restarted the service because it was needed and that setting the service to Disabled might cause trouble.

TIP
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The Dependencies tab in the properties dialog box for a service provides additional clues about whether a service is expendable. It shows which other services depend on a particular service and which other services a particular service requires. Be sure to click the plus icons to fully expand the dependencies trees.
If you run your computer for a few days without the service and all seems well, you can change the service's startup type to Manual. Usually, Windows starts a service that is set to Manual when it is needed. In contrast, you should use the Disabled startup type only sparingly. Disabling a service tells Windows never to run the service, even if it's needed for a critical operation. You might want to disable services that pose a significant security risk, such as Telnet or SMTP, but few others should receive this treatment.