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Turning off services...

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by CrunchDude, 2006/08/15.

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  1. 2006/08/15
    CrunchDude

    CrunchDude Inactive Thread Starter

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    I recently downloaded a really cool .pdf file that outlined very specifically as to how to turn off the Indexing Service, the Messenger Service, etc. I think it was a book that someone made into a .pdf. The problem is, I no longer have it. Does anyone have any idea how to obtain it or something similar? A lot of these services, it explained, are unnecessary for most users and only take up space running in the background and stopping them would improve the speed of my computer.

    I was SO looking forward to trying all this tonight, but I remember that I recently re-imaged my hard drive and probably lost it at that point. Please let me know if you have any ideas??? :confused: Thanks for any replies!!!!!!! :)
     
    CrunchDude,
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  2. 2006/08/15
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    CrunchDude,
    I believe your lost pdf came from BlackViper but his site is down or maybe even discontinued.

    Below, a few links to keep you occupied and you may notice that there are different opinions!

    http://www.blackviper.com/index.html

    http://www.beemerworld.com/tips/servicesxp.htm

    http://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/windows_xp_services_2.php

    http://www.ss64.com/ntsyntax/services.html

    http://www.techspot.com/tweaks/winxp_services/index.shtml

    http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm

    http://www.z123.org/techsupport/xpservices.htm

    http://www.geocities.com/ziyadhosein/xpserv1.htm

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  4. 2006/08/15
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    CrunchDude--BlackViper became (in)famous for suggesting a very aggressive approach to disabling Services you thought you did not need. That may have lead to his site now being down.
    The ElderGeek was a little more conservative, but, at first, also had quite a few recommendations for meddling with Services.
    However, now ElderGeek has mellowed
    You can see the paragraph in red near the top of his site
    http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
    Unless you really know what you are doing, it is probably best to leave Services alone. There are too many interdependencies. And the improvement to speed is pretty small on today's PC's.
    Also, any Service that is set at Manual will not run unless used.
     
    Welshjim,
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  5. 2006/08/15
    viking

    viking Banned

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    viking,
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  6. 2006/08/15
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    I went by BlackViper SAFE settings which I consider to be non-agressive. I still use those settings. My old BOAC, 1GHz/512MB, did benefit from it. Maybe not so much in general speed but in RAM usage and boot time.

    The important services to look into are the security related and third party software. An example of the first - I have disabled Remote Registry (as recommended by BV). An example of the second - I have set GhostStartService to manual (as recommended by Yours Truly since I see no reason for it to start unless I am going to use it).

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  7. 2006/08/15
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    To each his own, I guess.
    I have Ghost9.0 installed on my PC. I am not using it now. I also have Remote Registry set to Manual. Remote Registry is presently not running. So setting RR to Disable, would not seem to accomplish much.
    But I am not familar with GhostStartService. It is not in my list of WinXP Pro SP2 services.
     
    Welshjim,
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  8. 2006/08/15
    viking

    viking Banned

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    very good one to disable

    also while you are at it you should turn OFF sytem restore
    1. use disk space
    2. a lot of viruses and trojans, spyware,,, blah blah install themselves as a service and if they are removed , next reboot xp will reinstall them.
     
    viking,
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  9. 2006/08/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Viking,
    I fully agree on System Restore.

    Initially, I had it running in parallel with Norton Ghost to use it as a "quick fix" but it didn't fix any of my problems. Ghost has a 100% track record. After a few unsuccessful attempts to use SR, I turneded it off, disabled the service and renamed it ...:rolleyes: ... System Destroy ...:rolleyes: ... !

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  10. 2006/08/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Jim,
    you know that a service set to manual can be started when an application is launched by either the user or another application but a service set to disabled can not be started at all. I base my settings on a few considerations:

    When I installed Windows Defender, I didn't want to have it running in the background. I set the associated service(s) to manual and WD no longer started at boot time but when I tried to run WD manually it didn't start, complaining about the service(s). For some reason, my strategy (or WD) failed. Its predesessor, Microsoft AntiSpyware, worked well with that setting and I could use it at will as a pure scanner but no real time protection. MAS never found anything on my system and as a concequence, WD is no longer installed on my computer.

    Referring to my post above, System Restore is used by Windows Installer when installing updates to Windows. I'm not sure but if I had the service set to manual, I believe that Windows Installer would be able to start it and I don't want that to happen.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  11. 2006/08/16
    CrunchDude

    CrunchDude Inactive Thread Starter

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    I noticed that the Indexing service wasn't even running when I went into Add/Remove porgrams and clicked on Windows components. It was unchecked. That means it's not running, right?

    You guys are obviously very knowledgable here. Maybe you can tell me which other services, or anything else for that matter, to either remove or disable???

    I currently have 69 processes running w/ Firefox and AOL 9.0 open, as well as the AOL Safety and Security Center, which is basically McAfee.

    Any help is appreciated. By the way, I'm new to this board. Is this one of the better forums as far as the caliber of members and the wealth of information?

    Thanks again! :)
     
    CrunchDude,
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  12. 2006/08/16
    charlesvar

    charlesvar Inactive Alumni

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    charlesvar,
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  13. 2006/08/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    In "Add/Remove programs" you find installed programs. There is no indication whether a program is running or not. The box for Indexing Service is unchecked on my system but I have it set to disabled.

    No, that's an incorrect conclusion but ...

    If I recall correctly, Indexing Service is by default set to manual which means that Windows can start it at will. I don't know how often IS is running but once the volumes have been indexed ... :confused: ... not very often. I do however not know from experience since I have it set to disabled.

    Have you studied the links I provided? If so, have you taken notes to compare their respective recommendations? That's how I came to decide on my settings. See my signature and the chinese proverb ... ;) ... !

    From a fresh boot (only WinXP, FireWall and AntiVirus running from start) I have 29 processes running (including TaskManager to show that information).

    Not only one of the better ... :cool: ... it is THE BEST ... :) ... thanks to its members!

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  14. 2006/08/16
    viking

    viking Banned

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    I have seen system restore take upwards of 50- 75% of the disk space.

    I think indexing is ON by default , just right click props in windows explorer for your HD. down at the bottom
     
    Last edited: 2006/08/16
    viking,
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  15. 2006/08/16
    charlesvar

    charlesvar Inactive Alumni

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    Hi Viking, again no :)

    The default max file size for SR's file is 12% of HD space.

    This percentage can be lowered by the user: Right click My Computer > Properties > System Restore tab > Settings.

    Regards - Charles
     
    charlesvar,
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  16. 2006/08/16
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Isn't 12 % the maximum setting (by the slider)?

    That gives the user the option to exclude specific drives from being indexed. By leaving the box checked, the user ALLOWS the volume to be indexed by Windows. By unchecking the box, the user DISALLOWS the volume to be indexed.

    I am talking about the service in "services.msc ", not the setting you mention.

    I haven't bothered to uncheck the boxes for my volumes and no matter what, no indexing will take place since I have the service disabled.

    The same goes for System Restore. Right-click the My Computer icon > Properties > System Restore and you will find a box to check to "Disable System Restore for all volumes ". Disabling the service in "services.msc" will grey out the settings for the different volumes.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  17. 2006/08/16
    Gordon

    Gordon Well-Known Member

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    System restore disk space

    Christer,

    When you 'Disable System Restore for all volumes', will this action delete/remove the restore points that had been saved and will it free up the used disk space for other uses?

    Thanks, Gordon
     
    Gordon,
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  18. 2006/08/16
    charlesvar

    charlesvar Inactive Alumni

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    Hello Gordon,

    Yes it will.

    Regards - Charles
     
    charlesvar,
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  19. 2006/08/16
    charlesvar

    charlesvar Inactive Alumni

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  20. 2006/08/16
    Gordon

    Gordon Well-Known Member

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    Restore points

    Thank you Charles.

    Gordon
     
    Gordon,
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  21. 2006/08/16
    viking

    viking Banned

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    I have seen it twice, i do not know if system restore brok or what. The customer complained that they did not have any disk space and sure enough found a Ummm file or folder, yes i think it was a file. Googled it and found it was system restor.:eek:
     
    viking,
    #20
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