Which services to disable in Windows 8?

Are these the only ones?

It´s really starting to get on my nerves, especially the Task Scheduler, has anyone safely disabled it?

 

First : Why you shouldn't disable it :
http://blogs.technet.com/b/askpfepl...duler-service-in-windows-7-and-windows-8.aspx

You could disable any service that your computing doesn't require in order to function properly .
It depends entirely on what you do with your PC, so it's really hard for anyone who doesn't know that to give you anything but general advice .

Should you ?
Well, not for this reason IMHO :
( and I'm not alone with that opinion, MANY of the 'performance-tweaks' you can find on the internet do nothing at best, some may even reduce performance or even worse, stability. )

No they are not really,really.. unless you use outdated old hardware with way to little installed RAM .
On modern home-systems, in real-use settings, 'out of memory' is extremely rare and idle CPU-activity is so low that it's irrelevant .
(Many of these tweaks are built on the false assumption that you should always, at any time, have as much free memory available as possible .)

Any AV, Firewall etc etc will have a much larger impact on resource-usage .
The only 'tweak' I use is to disable the 'indexing-service', to reduce accesses
to my ancient mechanical HDD's ..

There could be 'security-reasons' to do it however -
Maybe you don't want the PC to phone home for updates every time you turn it on - disable the windows-update service ..
Things like that ....

Best thing is to stop worrying about all that tweaking and just get some work done instead .. And don't disable the swap-file either, worst 'tweak' ever.

 

Seing how fast/smooth W8 is i dont think you need to disable any services at all.

 

None. Not because the idea is bad, but because it's based on bad data. Most Windows system services are relatively small DLLs loaded into svchost processes, and do not consume much memory; you can verify this in Process Explorer.

And now for some sad truths learned by bitter experience:

I don't know about Windows 8, but Windows Vista and 7 use a lot of RAM, and also make it really non-obvious where it's being used. It's not Superfetch (disabling that does nothing), it's not filesystem cache (otherwise active programs could reclaim it!); I don't know what it is. I suspect it might be something in the kernel, but I lack the expertise to confirm that.

Needless to say, a lot of things add to the problem, e.g.
- Third party drivers doing invisible bloaty things in kernel space.
- Userspace programs installing different library versions, so shared memory can't be used to its maximum potential.
- Windows NT just loving to use the pagefile for some strange reason.

But yeah, point is that (in my experience) the memory usage of individual Windows processes literally does not add up to the total memory usage (with caches, buffers, and swap subtracted). I wish I could offer better advice than "buy some more RAM," but at the moment that's the only advice I can offer that will actually work.

 

@ Rasheed187

Here http://www.blackviper.com

It's your comp, so you can do what you want with it

 

I wouldn't recommend disabling the Task Scheduler completely in Win7 and Win8. Instead, you should take your time and document yourself about the processes it starts, and then see if you can disable some of them that you feel you don't need.

 

I can understand the interest in disabling Task Scheduler in Windows 8/8.1 since it seems that every time my machine is idle for even a few seconds it runs until it is not idle again. On my laptop it throttles up the CPU fan and it gets really annoying. I have not been able to track down what it is running that requires so much CPU time but Task Scheduler is not something I would disable. If I thought it were safe to do so it would have already been done.

 

I have disabled those: http://www.ulozisko.sk/obrazky/670775/capture_03282014_120502.jpg and http://www.ulozisko.sk/obrazky/670776/capture_03282014_120518.jpg

If you have a router, you can disable Network Store Interface Service + dependecies like DHCP, but Windows Update will not work.

The best way to test it is to set it to Disabled and stop the service, you will also see dependencies.

I have also disabled some Windows startup tasks in Task Scheduler.

Code:

"\Microsoft\Windows\AppID - SmartScreenSpecific
\Microsoft\Windows\Application Experience - AitAgent / ProgramDataUpdater / StartupAppTask
\Microsoft\Windows\Autochk - Proxy
\Microsoft\Windows\Customer Experience Improvement Program - BthSQM / Consolidator / KernelCeipTask / Uploader / UsbCeip
\Microsoft\Windows\Defrag - ScheduledDefrag
\Microsoft\Windows\DiskDiagnostic - Microsoft-Windows-DiskDiagnosticDataCollector
\Microsoft\Windows\File Classification Infrastructure - Property Definition Sync
\Microsoft\Windows\IME - SQM data sender
\Microsoft\Windows\MobilePC - HotStart
\Microsoft\Windows\Maintenance - WinSAT
\Microsoft\Windows\Multimedia - SystemSoundsService
\Microsoft\Windows\NetCfg - BindingWorkItemQueueHandler
\Microsoft\Windows\Offline Files - Background Synchronization
\Microsoft\Windows\PerfTrack - BackgroundConfigSurveyor
\Microsoft\Windows\PI - Sqm-Tasks
\Microsoft\Windows\RAC - RacTask
\Microsoft\Windows\SettingSync - BackupTask / NetworkStateChangeTask
\Microsoft\Windows\Shell - FamilySafetyRefresh
\Microsoft\Windows\SkyDrive - Idle / Sync Maintenance Task / Routine Maintenance Task
\Microsoft\Windows\TextServicesFramework - MsCtfMonitor
\Microsoft\Windows\TPM - Tpm-Maintenance
\Microsoft\Windows\User Profile Service - HiveUploadTask
\Microsoft\Windows\WDI - ResolutionHost (Disable)
\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting - QueueReporting
\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsBackup - ConfigNotification
\Microsoft\Windows\Wininet - CacheTask
\Microsoft\Windows\WS - Badge Update License / License Validation / ValidationWSRefreshBannedAppsListTask / WSTask"

Note, that 8 stops unused services by itself, once they are not needed, but a little help will not hurt.

Yes, but once disabled forget everything automatic like Windows Updates, applications updates like Chrome and so on. It can get pretty annoying.

 

Chrome's update service is the reason it does not get installed on any of my machines. It is ridiculous the amount of resources it uses.

 

Why, it runs only once at startup and then it ends and since browser's updates are the most important for the security reasons, I wonder why would you disable it?

 

None, let it be.
Mrk

 

If you are going to mess around with services, make sure you:

1. Do a backup of the defaults so that you can easily revert if and when the need arises.

2. Check the dependencies (some of which are listed within services.msc itself) and possible implications. Not all are obvious at first sight. Refer to multiple sources. Do a search like "should I disable xyz" - you might
find relevant arguments for both sides.

3. It may be tempting but avoid disabling services that are critical to system security and stability. The only exception is crippling the system is your objective in the 1st place.

4. Know what you are using the machine and OS for. Is it
multi-purpose desktop or is it limited to a certain specific role/use?

If you don't feel like doing the above and merely expecting a "one size fits all" type of list, you might as well leave the defaults as it is. After all, Microsoft designed it as such.

 

In reference to the Chrome Updater? It ran a lot more than that for more. It was running every time I checked Process Explorer.

 

True, I recall it now, they used to run nonstop, but they changed it for better.

 

Microsoft: do not turn off Windows Firewall service, even if using 3rd party firewall

Confessions of a security pro: I was wrong about host hardening

 

Several things. Windows Defender virus scan, windows update cleanup, disk cleanup, defrag, etc. Maintenance applications run when the PC is idle for X minutes.

 

@ Everyone, thanks for all the input.

The reason why it´s annoying to me, is because of all the extra processes that are running on my system, compared to my old Win XP system.

Yeah, I´ve read that it should´t be disabled. However, on Win XP it didn´t cause any problems.
Perhaps I can leave it enabled but I´m looking for a tweak to disable the creation of new tasks.

The Task Scheduler really sucks, I´ve noticed that some apps will automaticly create tasks.
I just hate it when I´m not in control of my system. It can also be a security risk, I guess.

 

I did some disabling beyond reason and here are the results: Running services and processes after startup.

Spoiler: Disabled services (registry)

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ALG]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AMD External Events Utility]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AMD FUEL Service]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BFE]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BDESVC]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\BrokerInfrastructure]
"Start"=dword:00000002
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CryptSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000003
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\CscService]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\EFS]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\FDResPub]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\fdPHost]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\IKEEXT]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters]
"srvcomment"="E525"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lmhosts]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MpsSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MSDTC]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NcbService]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\nsi]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\PcaSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\ShellHWDetection]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SCardSvr]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Spooler]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SSDPSRV]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SstpSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\StiSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SysMain]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermService]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TimeBroker]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Wcmsvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wuauserv]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WerSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\W32Time]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WinRM]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WMPNetworkSvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wscsvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WSearch]
"Start"=dword:00000004

So far everything is working fine, but Windows Updates need some services enabled to be able to check and download.

 

if you have a newer machine I don't think there's a need to fiddle with this.

this is stuff we used to do in the Win 95/98/XP days because machines were not as fast.
these days, computers come with a lots of RAM and processing power.

right now, I have a music player going, IE 11 open a calendaring app ans mouse cursor app.
the machine is using 2% CPU and 13% of my 8 GB or RAM.
so what? I got 7 GB left doing nothing.

 

People these days do not buy computers anymore, but notebooks, tablets and such. And those need a lot of tweaking, especially the cheap ones.
It is not just about RAM, but also CPU and HDD usage. RAM usage just show, how much stuff is loaded and it is a good comparison guide for tweaking.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I will check it out when I´m on Win 8 again.

@ TairikuOkami, what happened to your nickname?

 

I previously switched it to TOMxEU, because it was a shortcut for my name, I removed Thomas recently, plus I liked EU, now not that much.
Anyway, since I am a grey wolf, I should be called like one, but English nick is always taken and I am otaku, so I have used Japanese phonetic.

 

Hello moontan:

For well protected careful users, you are very likely correct.

For the under served computer, a future zero-day vulnerability, in a never used but active Windows service, is an attack surface we can all do without.

Respectfully

 

Actually, for Privacy reasons it IS a Very good reason to disable the swap/pagefile, if you have enough RAM. I always have since 98SE days with NO problems

 

None.
Lot of RAM, here.