Safe: Services that do not affect the user experience in any way. You should not even notice a difference when using these settings, but it is possible. Disables unnecessary services.
Tweaked: Many heavy and most likely unused services have been disabled. This is much lighter than 'Safe'. Aero disabled, but Themes left alone, as many people will blindly run this without reading what services are gone, and will be surprised/angry to see themes disappear.
Minimal: All services that are not necessary to every day use and windows update have been disabled. Themes is disabled, Aero is disabled, firewall disabled. This assumes you have your OWN firewall/AV software installed!
Note: If you want just an overview of all services, check out Services Overview
Too much to take in? Try out one of our registry files that will set up your computer to one of the below settings, or use it to set your services settings back to factory spec.
(A-P) | (P-W) | (W-Z)
| Service | Default | 'Safe' | Tweaked | Minimal |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Windows Color System Description: Gamma/Color mapping for Windows. Managed through the control panel. Handy if you have 2 screens of different models, and the color doesn?ft match between them. Still a pain to get them to match though, as it?fs a much more involved process than the wizard allows for. Consequences of Stopping: It will be up to your monitor to do color correction. Any configurations you have set up in the Windows Color tool will not be applied. All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Manual | Disabled |
|
Windows Connect Now - Config Registrar Description: Issues credentials for connect-now Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Defender Description: Windows spyware and virus protection all in one. Features monitoring of Registry and on access scans. Consequences of Stopping: If you disable this you will need to disable it in the control panel, or else it will nag you every time you boot up that it cannot start. Disabling this means you will not have any automatic spyware searching, unless you install your own All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Disabled |
|
Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework Description: User-mode driver host management Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: Plug and Play Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Manual | Disabled |
|
Windows Error Reporting Service Description: Error reporting. Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: None Required for: None |
Automatic | Automatic | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Event Collector Description: Event logging Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: None Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Event Log Description: Logs from system can be viewed by yourself. It is a good thing to check out every once in a while, but mostly it fills up with junk. Consequences of Stopping: Task Scheduler depends on this, which is required for many other services. It is not recommended that you disable this. All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: None Required for: Task Scheduler |
Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Automatic |
| Service | Default | 'Safe' | Tweaked | Minimal |
|
Windows Firewall Description: Microsoft's included firewall. Consequences of Stopping: Disable it only if you have your own firewall. It offers you security from many forms of online attack. It's probably not the best firewall in the world, and won't protect you from everything, however, it is much safer than running without. All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Base Filtering System, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Disabled |
|
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Description: Image acquisition for scanners/digital cameras. If your camera just come up with a browser, and you don't use WIA: disable. Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Shell Hardware Detection, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Installer Description: MSI Installer package support Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Manual | Manual |
|
Windows Management Instrumentation Description: If stopped, most windows-based software will not function properly'. I have not seen any applications that will fail to run with this off, but it seems that a lot of software uses it. Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: IP Helper, Internet Connection Sharing (ICS), Security Center |
Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Manual |
|
Windows Media Center Extender Service Description: Allows Media Center devices to connect Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator, DCOM Server Process Launcher, SSDP Discovery, Function Discovery Provider Host, Remote Procedure Call (RPC), Terminal Services Required for: None |
Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Media Center Receiver Service Description: TV/Radio support Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Manual | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Media Center Scheduler Service Description: TV show recording scheduling Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Manual | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Media Center Service Launcher Description: If you bought Ultimate for the media center parts, probably don't disable it. Seems to just launch media center software at startup Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Automatic (DS) | Disabled | Manual | Disabled |
|
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service Description: Share WMP files Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: SSDP Discovery, UPnP Device Host Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Modules Installer Description: Enables management of Windows updates (add/remove). Not required to run Windows Update. Will turn itself on automatically if you manage Windows updates in Control Panel. Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: Plug and Play Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0 Description: Caches fonts for WPF apps Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: None Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Disabled | Disabled |
| Service | Default | 'Safe' | Tweaked | Minimal |
|
Windows Remote Management (WS-Management) Description: Remote management of computer. Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Windows Search Description: Windows Indexing service renamed, plus some other features most likely. If you do a lot of searches keep it, but I imagine it's rather heavy to keep such a big index. Uses a fair bit of resources. Search has been integrated into the desktop more fully, so you may find yourself using this more often than not. Consequences of Stopping: Without this, Explorer will have to fall back to its slow search. It will still search though. All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Automatic | Automatic | Manual | Disabled |
|
Windows Time Description: Synchronizes windows clock online. Rather a useless tool, unless you are very serious about keeping valid time. It is a fairly light service. Consequences of Stopping: Your time might become out of sync. All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: None Required for: None |
Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Disabled |
|
Windows Update Description: Allows you to download/install updates and patches from Microsoft. Consequences of Stopping: Windows Update will not function. Not just the automatic service, but running it period. All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Required for: None |
Automatic (DS) | Automatic (DS) | Automatic (DS) | Automatic (DS) |
|
WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service Description: HTTP stack implementation Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DHCP Client, Network Store Interface Service Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Disabled | Disabled |
|
Wired AutoConfig Description: Your wired networking will still continue to work, so I do not actually know what this is useful for. Probably for viewing them in Networking tool. Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, CNG Key Isolation, Remote Procedure Call (RPC), Extensible Authentication Protocol Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Manual | Disabled |
|
WLAN AutoConfig Description: Lists wireless adapters and manages connections. Consequences of Stopping: If you use wireless internet, your wireless adapter will not configure itself, unless you use a 3rd party app that sometimes comes with cards like Netgear. All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: DCOM Server Process Launcher, CNG Key Isolation, Remote Procedure Call (RPC), Extensible Authentication Protocol Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Manual | Disabled |
|
WMI Performance Adapter Description: Windows Management Instrumentation library information provider Consequences of Stopping: . All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: None Required for: None |
Manual | Manual | Manual | Disabled |
|
Workstation Description: Maintains internet connections. Internet still works without it, unless your provider has different requirements. Also used for making connections to remote printers, etc. Consequences of Stopping: ?c All services listed in 'Required For' will be unable to function Depends on: Network Store Interface Service Required for: Netlogon, Computer Browser, Terminal Services Configuration |
Automatic | Automatic | Automatic | Disabled |
