on the "UPnP Device Host" service in XP?

hi,
aamof, i just wanted to post a reply on this (https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showpost.php?p=1462010&postcount=4) thread, but the wilders system didn't allow me to do so by telling me that this thread was too old to post reply to. anyway, regarding to what stem explained in a very good way, in the context of stem's post and the ot, is UPnP Device Host really a necessary service? should this service be set disabled or manual or automatic? if set as disabled, would it have any adverse effect on the system in general?
please try to reply taking the below article and the sw mentioned in it (UnPlug n' Pray) into consideration.
http://www.grc.com/unpnp/unpnp.htm
thanks

 

uPNP is just a way for devices to establish connection automatically, as in no need for end-user to manually modify any parameters. With uPNP disabled, the devices are still able to communicate, but you would need to set that up yourself. So the service is not really needed if you know what you're doing, if you are not sure, you're better off leaving it alone, On default auto setting.

If you are certain that you don't have any devices/apps that need uPNP (or if you're comfortable setting the comms manually), you are well advised to disable uPNP in your router/gateway as well, if you use one.