Gallery

How windows works

Posted on 27 Jan 2005 at 12:14

That's 57 individual services, not processes, and each one is taking up RAM. Factor in that there are usually many browser windows lying around, and at least four or five programs. That's a lot of resources in use.

The next column to click on is Startup Type. This shows you the three possible states for a service when your system first runs. The three states are: Automatic, these will load when your system starts; Manual, will load when called upon, but not before;

Disabled, will not run at all

Clearly, if you intend to start working on your services, switching from Automatic to Manual would be a good move for some, and is a lot safer than going straight to Disabled, especially if you are uncomfortable with the idea of modifying service actions. Generally speaking, if a service is set to start manually I will mention it only if I think it should be disabled.

Inside services

Those familiar with Windows Services might like to take a look at how they are configured under Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP 2). A very noticeable change, for example, is that the Messenger service is now disabled by default in SP 2, whereas before, it was set to Manual.

This is the service that gained notoriety for enabling people to spam your Desktop with adverts, and disabling it was often suggested as the solution for when the problem first arose. I disagreed with disabling it then and still disagree now, although my remarks apply only if you are running a network and you are the system administrator, or someone else in the company who's interested in receiving administrative alerts.

If that's the case then you will want to reset the Messenger service to Manual, along with the other service that provides the warnings in the first place: Alerter. This has also been set to Disabled by default under SP 2. For a standalone user there is no issue; leave them disabled until one of them is required.

The next service I would like to mention is Automatic Updates (AU). I strongly suggest that you do not disable this service, leave it in its default state of Automatic.

Although AU does not require any other services to be running, there are quite a few other services involved when it is being used to talk to the Windows Update website.

There are some services that we would recommend leaving well alone. The Background Intelligent Transfer service (BIT), for example, makes background file transfers between your system and an HTTP server. Importantly, it remembers where it was if the connection to the remote site goes away and picks up where it left off when connection is re-established. It also has a queue component that enables it to handle multiple transfers, and jobs in the queues can have priorities set.

Then there is the Cryptographic service. This is actually three services in one (Catalogue Database service, Protected Root service and Key service). These are used by Windows as part of the Windows File Protection feature to ensure your system files are valid. They also handle certificates, keys and other important items.

And lastly, the Event Log. This is hugely useful and indeed essential to the smooth running of your system. If you disable it, among other things, you will lose the ability to see error, warning and information messages generated by your system for perusal in the Event Viewer. The Event Viewer is accessible by right-clicking on My Computer and selecting Manage from the pop-up menu.

There are three Event Logs (Application, Security and System), and it is clear to see why you would want their information to be always available. In addition, an awful lot of other services make use of the Event Log, so disabling it really is not a good option unless you are in desperate need of some extra RAM. Even if you are, remember to switch it back on again later.