Windows Vista Turn Windows Features on or off!

Hi everyone. I am running Windows Vista Ultimate 32-bit edition. I was looking around in the turn windows features on or off window and I noticed that there are probably items in there that I dont need or will use. Since I am running Vista Ultimate I will most likely not be using every feature thats included in the OS. I would like to disable the features that I don't need in order to gain more performance out of my computer as well as enable any features that I would use and need.

Here is the list:

• ActiveX Installer Service- Unchecked
• Games- Checked
• Indexing Service- Checked
• Internet Information Services- Unchecked
• Microsoft .Net Framework 3.0- Filled, XPS Viewer- Checked
• Microsoft Message Queue (MSMQ) Server- Filled, MSMQ DCOM Proxy- Checked
• Print Services- Filled, Internet Printing Client- Checked
• Remote Differential Compression- Checked
• Removable Storage Management- Unchecked
• RIP Listener- Unchecked
• Services for NFS- Unchecked
• Simple TCPIP Services- Unchecked
• SNMP Feature- Unchecked
• Subsystem for Unix-based applications- Unchecked
• Tablet PC Optional Components- Checked
• Telnet Client- Checked
• Telnet Server- Checked
• TFTP Client- Unchecked
• Windows DFS Replication Service- Checked
• Windows Fax and Scan- Checked
• Windows Meeting Space- Unchecked (it was checked but I disabled it)
• Windows Process Avtivation Service- Unchecked
• Windows Ultimate Extras- Checked

If there are any features which you guys think I can disable let me know. That also goes for any features that I should enable as well. I greatly appreciate some help. Thanks in advance!

 

Hi Charles. For the indexing service I do use the search function a lot and I turned it on about a month ago and I noticed my searches were much faster than when I had it disabled. I know that it may access the harrdrive a lot but if it keeps my searches pretty quick then I will probably keep it enabled for now. I also appreciate the links for the Ultimate Extras, they were pretty helpful. Do you know if any of the other windows features can be disabled? Thanks again for any comments.

 

Does anyone know whether any more of the Windows Features can be disabled so I can get more performance out of my system? Thanks.

 

Thanks for the reply Dennis. I will try some of the performance tweaks on the website and hopefully I will notice some gains in performance. But do you know of any windows features that I can disable or not. I know I can disable some windows services but I'd rather not mess with them because I don't know what the effects of disabling some of the services might be.

 

Hi Dennis. Thanks for the link to the blackviper site. I can go there in case I want to do more tweaking to my system. Anyway I actually went into the Turn Windows Features on or off Window and I disabled everything except Games, Indexing Service, Microsoft .Net Framework 3.0, Tablet PC Optional Components, Windows DFS Replication Service, Windows Fax and Scan, and Windows Ultimate Extras. All of the fearures that I listed are ones that I know I will need. I did a little googling and I found some additional information about the Windows features which I wasn't sure about disabling. The only other feature that I still have to look up to find more information on whether I can disable it or not is the Windows DFS Replication Service. I am not 100% sure what this feature is used for. I may do a bit more googling but if anyone knows what the DFS Replication Service is I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Hi all. I ended up finding some additional information about the DFS Replication Service located here. http://itsvista.com/2007/04/dfs-replication/ I disabled the service and I haven't noticed any adverse effects to my system. So for those of you who are not connected to a network you don't really need this service and it can be disabled safely through the turn windows features on or off window.

 

Thanks for the reply Charles. Probably from now on if I want to do more tweaking as far as services go I will set any services I don't need to manual instead of disabling them. Thanks for the tip BTW. My system is running about 15% faster because of me disabling some of windows features that I don't need. I greatly appreciate yours and Dennis's help, thanks a lot.

 

Hi Sparrow. When I said that my system is about 15% faster I base it on a few factors.

1. How long does my system take to boot up after disabling the features
2. How long does it take to do basic tasks such as open Control Panel and browse through the settings for example
3. How much faster is my browsing speed since disabling the uneeded features
4. How long does it take to run a scan using an antispyware application
5. How long does it take to shut down my system

I have noticed that my system has improved in those 5 factors and 15% is a rough estimate. My system is still a bit slow but it is faster than it was when I had all of those additional features running. You can try it yourself and see if you notice any improvement.