XP tip of the day, Nov 5

[reboot]

Today's tip:

What are "services", what ones do I need, and what can I disable, and how?
Services are programs (within Windows) that are started automatically when windows starts. The list is populated with what Microsoft
thinks is best for us. I disagree (as do others), and there's lots of things that you can safely disable, or if you're not sure, set
manually. The "Manual" setting allows you to start the service if needed, or Windows will start the service if it's called by another
process, but it won't start automatically when Windows starts. The list is LONG, so I'm not going to list all of them, just the ones that
everyone should be able to change safely. Again, if you're not sure, just set it to "Manual".
First, to edit the services, go to Control Panel, Administrative tools, and click on Services.
The list will be populated in the right hand pane. Maximize the window so you can see what's really going on.
You'll notice that most services are "Manual", some are "Automatic", and some are "Disabled". It's the "Automatic" one's we're dealing with.
Below is the list (as best I can do in this format).
You will see some settings that I have Automatic, which you may wish to disable. Things like ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) if you don't
use, disable (or set Manual).
Full credit for most of this information is due to Black Viper bv@blkviper.com and you can read his whole website at www.blkviper.com

I have NO idea why there's a huge gap here, but scroll down for the table, it's there and don't forget to vote http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=19917

Service Name	Process Name	Dependencies	Important? (Vital, Yes, Not Sure, No, Not Installed, Never)	DEFAULT (Auto, Manual, Disabled)	My Config (Auto, Manual, Disabled)
Automatic Updates	svchost.exe	None	Never	Automatic	Disabled
Computer Browser	svchost.exe	Server, Workstation	Yes (this one is the master)	Automatic	Automatic
Cryptographic Services	svchost.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	No (Maybe needed for Windows Update to function, but have not verified fully)	Automatic	Manual
DHCP Client	svchost.exe	AFD Networking Support Environment, NetBios over TCP/IP, TCP/IP Protocol Driver	No (unless you need it for internet client or for running IPSEC)	Automatic	Disabled
Distributed Link Tracking Client	svchost.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	No	Automatic	Disabled
DNS Client	svchost.exe	TCP/IP Protocol Driver	No (unless you use IPSEC)	Automatic	Disabled
Error Reporting Service	svchost.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	No (unless you want to help unscrew Windows)	Automatic	Disabled
Event Log	services.exe	None	Vital (Always helpful to check out the Event log to see what problems with applications are popping up that is "hidden" from the normal user.)	Automatic	Automatic
Help and Support	svchost,exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Never (unless you want it...)	Automatic	Disabled
IIS Admin	inetinfo.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC), Security Accounts Manager	Yes (Vital for SMTP server installed on this computer)	Automatic	Automatic
Internet Connection Firewall Internet Connection Sharing	svchost.exe	Application Layer Gateway Service, Network Connections, Network Location Awareness, Remote Access Connection Manager	Vital (for ICS)	Automatic	Automatic
IPSEC Services	lsass,exe	IPSEC driver, Remote Procedure Call (RPC), TCP/IP Protocol Driver	No	Automatic	Disabled
Logical Disk Manager	svchost.exe	Plug and Play, Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	No  (Vital to run the Disk Management MMC console for dynamic volumes)	Automatic	Disabled
Messenger	services.exe	NetBIOS Interface, Plug and Play, Remote Procedure Call (RPC), Workstation	No	Automatic	Disabled
Plug and Play	services.exe	None	Vital	Automatic	Automatic
Portable Media Serial Number	svchost.exe	None	Never	Automatic	Disabled
Print Spooler	spoolsv.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Vital (if you have printers, even if they are network printers)	Automatic	Automatic
Protected Storage	lsass.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	No (Unless you want to "save" your passwords.  Not advised for security reasons.)	Automatic	Disabled
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	svchost.exe	None (but everything depends on IT!)	Vital (everything depends on it...)	Automatic	Automatic
Remote Registry Service	svchost.exe	None	Never (Do I really need to explain?)	Automatic	Disabled
Secondary Logon	svchost.exe	None	Never	Automatic	Disabled
Security Accounts Manager	lsass.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Yes (while using IIS Admin)	Automatic	Automatic
Server	svchost.exe	None	Yes (for Computer Browser + File and Print Sharing)	Automatic	Automatic
Shell Hardware Detection	svchost.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	No (only for auto play with devices such as memory cards, etc)	Automatic	Disabled
Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP)	inetinfo.exe	Event Log, IIS Admin	Vital (for local Mail Server)	Automatic	Automatic
System Event Notification	svchost.exe	COM+ Event System	No	Automatic	Disabled
System Restore Service	svchost.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Never	Automatic	Disabled
Task Scheduler	svchost.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Never	Automatic	Disabled
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service	svchost.exe	AFD Networking Support Enviroment, NetBios over TCP/IP	No	Automatic	Disabled
Themes	svchost.exe	None	Yes (unless you do not want all the pretty XP stuff)	Automatic	Automatic
Upload Manager	svchost.exe	Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	No	Automatic	Disabled
WebClient	svchost.exe	WebDav Client Redirector	Never (this is the computer directly connected to Internet...no chances taken here...)	Automatic	Disabled
Windows Audio	svchost.exe	Plug and Play, Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Yes (for audio purposes)	Automatic	Disabled
Windows Management Instrumentation	svchost.exe	Event Log, Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	Yes (if you want to see the "Dependencies" tab in service configuration	Automatic	Automatic
Windows Time	svchost.exe	None	No (Unless you just can not stand to set your clock manually!!)	Automatic	Disabled
Wireless Zero Configuration	svchost.exe	NDIS Usermode I/O Protocol, Remote Procedure Call (RPC)	No (unless you transmit data over the air...)	Automatic	Disabled
Workstation	svchost.exe	None (but plenty depend on it...)	Vital	Automatic	Automatic