Updated - Saving System Resources Manually - Parts 1 and 2

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Disabling unnecessary services from running at system start-up

This was written with Windows XP Pro in mind, but seeing as all the latest versions of the Windows OS are based upon the NTFS file system, native to Windows NT, it may probably work for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

The method could be a little different, but the principal may still apply.

There are quite a few services, that run automatically at system start-up unnecessarily.
They can be disabled quite safely, which can only save system resources, possibly enhancing the performance of your PC.

It is also very simple to do, as explained below:

[Note: It may be a good idea, to make a note of any changes that you make. then if you do experience any problems, you can always
reset the changes back to their original settings quite simply.]

Click on Start, then Run, and type:

services.msc

then click OK to display the Services [Local], pop-up box.

Before stopping any Service, double click on it, and then select the Dependencies tab,
to establish whether any system components depend on it, by checking in the lower display pane.
If the lower pane is empty, then it should be farly safe to first Stop the Service and then select Disable
from the Startup Type entries in the drop-down list.

For an example, these are the following Services, that I have reset to Disable on my own PC,
after first clicking on the Stop button, under the General tab of the Properties display.

Including, 13 instances of the svchost.exe program.

Disabled Services

Alerter - Notifies selected users and computers of administrative alerts.
Automatic Updates - Enables the download and installation of Windows updates automatically.
Clipbook - Enables ClipBook Viewer to store information and share it with remote computers.
DCOM Server Process Launcher - Provides launch functionality for DCOM services, for distributed network applications to communicate with each other.
Error Report Service - Allows error reporting for services and applications running in non-standard environments
Fast User Switching Compatibility - Provides management for applications that require assistance in a multiple user environment.
Messeger - Transmits net send and Alerter service messages between clients and servers. Not related to Windows Messenger.
Network DDE - Provides network transport/security for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) for programs running on the same PC or different PC's.
Network DDE DSDM - Manages Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) network shares.
SSDP - Enables discovery of UPnP devices on your home network.
Portable Media serial No. Service - Retrieves the serial number of any portable media player connected to your PC.
UPNP - Provides support to host Universal Plug and Play devices.
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager - Creates a connection to a remote network whenever a program references a remote DNS or NetBIOS name or address.
Remote Desktop Help session Manager - Manages and controls Remote Assistance.
Remote Procedure Call [RPC] Locator - Manages the RPC name service database.
Remote Registry - Enables remote users to modify registry settings on your PC.
Routing and Remote Access - Offers routing services to businesses in local area and wide area network environments.
Security Center - Monitors system security settings and configurations.
SSDP Discovery Service - Enables discovery of UPnP devices on your home network.
Task scheduler - Enables a user to configure and schedule automated tasks on this computer.
Telnet - Enables a remote user to log on to this computer and run programs, and supports various TCP/IP Telnet
Universal Plug and Play Device Host - Provides support to host Universal Plug and Play devices.
Windows Time - Maintains date and time synchronization on all clients and servers in the network.

There are also quite a few other Services, that I have reset to Manual start, and if you take a look at them,
you may find that some of these do not need to run automatically at system start-up on your own PC.

Once again, double click on the Service, and then select the Dependencies tab,
to establish whether any system components depend on it, by checking in the lower display pane.

Stop the Service, if it is running, then reset to Manual the services that you do not want to start automatically,
by modifying the Startup Type entries in the drop-down list.

If by any chance, you experience any problems, you can always reset it back to the original setting.

Also, if in any doubt at all, you can always leave the currently running Service as it is.

Hopefully, this may have enhanced the performance of your PC somewhat.

I hope that this may have been of some interest to some of you here.