X

Taming and Tweaking Windows Vista Services

One of the most common performance-enhancing tips offered by many Windows-oriented websites is to "disable unnecessary services." But is this really a good idea? Ed Bott explains how to measure the impact of services on system performance and decide which services are worth disabling.
By Ed Bott, Senior Contributing Editor
202006.jpg
1 of 7 Ed Bott/ZDNET
By Ed Bott

The default view of Task Manager, shown here, lists only the processes running under your user account. To see processes running under service accounts, click the Show processes from all users button in the lower left corner.

For a detailed discussion of when and how to manage services, see Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services
202007.jpg
2 of 7 Ed Bott/ZDNET
This listing shows a complete set of processes, including those running under service accounts, as indicated by the capitalized names in the User Name column. I've clicked the Memory heading to show which processes are using the most memory.

For a detailed discussion of when and how to manage services, see Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services
202008.jpg
3 of 7 Ed Bott/ZDNET
The process highlighted in the center of this list is using 9% of all available CPU resources. But what is it? The generic process name, Svchost.exe, provides no clues at all. To see the details, right-click the entry in the list and then click Go To Service(s) from the shortcut menu.

For a detailed discussion of when and how to manage services, see Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services
202009.jpg
4 of 7 Ed Bott/ZDNET
In this case, at least 13 processes are running under s single Svchost instance. You'll need more advanced tools to identify which of those services is active at any given time, but it's a good guess in this case that Superfetch is doing most of the work.

For a detailed discussion of when and how to manage services, see Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services
202010.jpg
5 of 7 Ed Bott/ZDNET
On a properly running system, most Windows services run predictably. Third-party services are much more likely to run amok and use too much memory, CPU, or disk I/). To see a concise list of third-party services, open the System Configuration utility (Msconfig.exe), click the Services tab, and select the checkbox circled at the bottom of this dialog box. As a diagnostic tool, you can temporarily disable a service by clearing its checkbox here and then restarting.

For a detailed discussion of when and how to manage services, see Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services
202011.jpg
6 of 7 Ed Bott/ZDNET
Msconfig provides a quick-and-dirty troubleshooting tool, but for long-term management, you'll want to use the Services console (Services.msc). Click the Status heading (1) to sort all the running (Started) processes into a group. Use the command buttons (2) to start, stop, pause, or restart a service. For quick testing, use the Stop and Restart links (3) in the sidebar, where you'll also find descriptions of the selected service.

For a detailed discussion of when and how to manage services, see Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services
202012.jpg
7 of 7 Ed Bott/ZDNET
The Stop button temporarily puts a service out of commission. But it's likely to restart the next time you start your system, unless you specifically disable it. Use the Disable choice on the Startup Type menu, shown here, to ensure that a service won't run at all. The Manual option keeps a service turned off but allows it to start if it's needed.

For a detailed discussion of when and how to manage services, see Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services

Related Galleries

Holiday wallpaper for your phone: Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and winter scenes
Holiday lights in Central Park background

Related Galleries

Holiday wallpaper for your phone: Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and winter scenes

21 Photos
Winter backgrounds for your next virtual meeting
Wooden lodge in pine forest with heavy snow reflection on Lake O'hara at Yoho national park

Related Galleries

Winter backgrounds for your next virtual meeting

21 Photos
Holiday backgrounds for Zoom: Christmas cheer, New Year's Eve, Hanukkah and winter scenes
3D Rendering Christmas interior

Related Galleries

Holiday backgrounds for Zoom: Christmas cheer, New Year's Eve, Hanukkah and winter scenes

21 Photos
Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6: Electric vehicle extravaganza
img-8825

Related Galleries

Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6: Electric vehicle extravaganza

26 Photos
A weekend with Google's Chrome OS Flex
img-9792-2

Related Galleries

A weekend with Google's Chrome OS Flex

22 Photos
Cybersecurity flaws, customer experiences, smartphone losses, and more: ZDNet's research roundup
shutterstock-1024665187.jpg

Related Galleries

Cybersecurity flaws, customer experiences, smartphone losses, and more: ZDNet's research roundup

8 Photos
Inside a fake $20 '16TB external M.2 SSD'
Full of promises!

Related Galleries

Inside a fake $20 '16TB external M.2 SSD'

8 Photos