Discussion on:

How do I... Disable services in Windows Vista?

"Depending on what you need to do, disabling unnecessary services in Vista can help your system boot faster and run better."

True, but if you're not very careful about which services you do disable (therefore preventing Vista from being able to use) you could have serious problems. It is always better to set services to Manual rather than Disabled as that way you can work out what activated them and decide if it safe to disable that whole area, rather than simply disabling those which don't seem necessary and hoping Windows will still boot.

Actually, there is one more possible state.

It is known as "Unknown".
When you set a service to the unknown state(0), the startup type becomes "Boot".

You can set this state in the following registry path:
HKEY-LOCAL MACHINE-SYSTEM-CurrentControlSet-Services-ServiceNameHere-Start. Set the dword to zero(0), and the service will start upon boot.

The process here is much more complicated than necessary. Instead of all the steps described to get to the services console, why not:

1) Click on Start
2) Click on Run
3) enter "services.msc" (no quotes) and select OK

That's it. You are now at your step 6...

Hank Arnold

Very well written (with reflection on XP)...to help the average guy or gal I suggest you post a few of the not needed services and let others disable (or go to manual)and see the advantages. JM

Isn't there an easy place to go to see what services have to be running and which ones can be set to manual or disabled? Sure seems like there would be a list of must haves. Thanks,
keyscapt@aol.com

which services R necessary at or for booting the pc ?????

Miss the good old days of XP where you right click on My Computer, choose Manage and scroll down to Services. Why did MS add so many steps to something that is essential....

Come on guys. 99% of the people reading these articles would know how to get to Services one of the many ways and, as many have already pointed out, your way is the longest method. When I saw the title of the article, I assumed I would be seeing a list of non-essential services that can be disabled to tame the Vista beast in hopes of improving stability and performance. Please publish a follow-up to this article with a list of anything and everything that can be safely turned off.

Thanks

http://www.speedyvista.com/services.html
http://www.neowin.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=513758
http://tweakhound.com/vista/tweakguide/page_7.htm

But the crown page is of course

http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

just like with XP...

Thanks a million Dumphrey.

his were bulletproof on XP, especially if you stayed with "safe" options.

If you are not an IT person and a newbie where would you recommend finding Vista tips?

The article began:

"Recently, TechRepublic published a list of Vista services and identified which ones can safely be disabled."

Link: http://downloads.techrepublic.com.com/download.aspx?docid=296633

Which Services are Safe to Turn Off?

As a novice, I don't know what services are candidates to either disable or manual start. I DO need the improved performance. How can I find this out?

Autoruns from Sysinternals shows everything that is loaded and running on the machine and allows disabling and deleting. Check it out at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx .
Microsoft bought Sysinternals a while ago. I hope they don't muck up the very fine utilites.

Hi, I managed to disable the Mysql service in Windows Vista but have never managed to disinstall it. Can anyone help me?
Thanks,
Alexandra

MySQL? As in the open source? Or an MS SQL product?

Neither shows in the add-remove programs dialog? That's odd.

I suppose you could do it the hard way; search for every instance of "sql" in the registry and delete it, then delete any files associated. I would have to assume everything except data would be under Program Files.

Thanks for your reply. Yes I'm talking about the open source database. Unfortunately, I have a Vista box, which everytime I try to uninstall Mysql launching its own command (mysql-nt --remove), first asks if I am sure that I want to launch the program and then tells me that I don't have enough privileges to do so.
Do consider that I installed the mysql service with the same account that I am trying to remove it with. Also, the account has administrator privileges.

Have you any idea as to how I can resolve the problem?
Thanks!

You might want to check and see that MySql is starting under the same account as you. If it's running with limited privileges, and it attempts to remove itself - well, that could be the issue right there. Stop MySql and start it with your account. Just a thought.

Simple really; format the hard disc and install Ubuntu (or similar).

Saves time, money, and all that frustration, and lets you get on with the job.

Thank you for the informative information.

why not juist go to run and type in mmc. Then add the sbap-in and then do the rest? Wouldnt that save a little time and effort?

I've been reviewing my Vista services, as part of an investigation into repeated BSOD episodes. I notice that I have a service named "WJ" (no description, stopped, manual, Local System). Anyone know what this might be?

I JUST SIGNED UP FOR THIS SITE, EXPECTING TO GET A LIST OF SERVICES TO DISABLE WITH NO AFFECT ON SYSTEM AS PART OF SIGNING UP, BUT IT DID NOT HAPPEN AND I DO NOT SEE HOW TO SEND IN A REQUEST TO GET THIS LIST EMAILEDD TO ME--WHAT ELSE SHOULD I DO???