Guide to Windows Vista Services
From HowToGeek
Contents |
Overview
This guide should help you navigate through all of those confusing Windows services. Click on any of the items to view the details for each service.
Disabling Services
You can disable a service easily by going to Services in control panel, and then double-click on the service you want to disable.
On the service detail page, you can change the Startup type drop-down to "Disabled", and then click the Stop button if you want to stop it immediately.
At this point the service should be disabled.
Deleting Services
You can delete a service entirely by using the sc command from an administrator mode command prompt. The syntax of the command is:
sc delete ServiceName
The service name can be found on the service detail page.
List of Services in Windows
| Service Name | Description | Enabled |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe LM Service | AdobeLM Service | Manual |
| andLinux | Manual | |
| Application Experience | Processes application compatibility cache requests for applications as they are launched | Automatic |
| Application Host Helper Service | Provides administrative services for IIS, for example configuration history and Application Pool account mapping. If this service is stopped, configuration history and locking down files or directories with Application Pool specific Access Control Entries will not work. | Automatic |
| Application Information | Facilitates the running of interactive applications with additional administrative privileges. If this service is stopped, users will be unable to launch applications with the additional administrative privileges they may require to perform desired user tasks. | Manual |
| Application Layer Gateway Service | Provides support for 3rd party protocol plug-ins for Internet Connection Sharing | Manual |
| Application Management | Processes installation, removal, and enumeration requests for software deployed through Group Policy. If the service is disabled, users will be unable to install, remove, or enumerate software deployed through Group Policy. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| ASP.NET State Service | Provides support for out-of-process session states for ASP.NET. If this service is stopped, out-of-process requests will not be processed. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Ati External Event Utility | Automatic | |
| Background Intelligent Transfer Service | Transfers files in the background using idle network bandwidth. If the service is disabled, then any applications that depend on BITS, such as Windows Update or MSN Explorer, will be unable to automatically download programs and other information. | Automatic (Delayed Start) |
| Base Filtering Engine | The Base Filtering Engine (BFE) is a service that manages firewall and Internet Protocol security (IPsec) policies and implements user mode filtering. Stopping or disabling the BFE service will significantly reduce the security of the system. It will also result in unpredictable behavior in IPsec management and firewall applications. | Automatic |
| Block Level Backup Engine Service | Engine to perform block level backup and recovery of data | Manual |
| Bluetooth Support Service | Automatic | |
| Certificate Propagation | Propagates certificates from smart cards. | Manual |
| Cisco Systems, Inc. VPN Service | Automatic | |
| CNG Key Isolation | The CNG key isolation service is hosted in the LSA process. The service provides key process isolation to private keys and associated cryptographic operations as required by the Common Criteria. The service stores and uses long-lived keys in a secure process complying with Common Criteria requirements. | Manual |
| COM+ Event System | Supports System Event Notification Service (SENS), which provides automatic distribution of events to subscribing Component Object Model (COM) components. If the service is stopped, SENS will close and will not be able to provide logon and logoff notifications. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| COM+ System Application | Manages the configuration and tracking of Component Object Model (COM)+-based components. If the service is stopped, most COM+-based components will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Computer Browser | Maintains an updated list of computers on the network and supplies this list to computers designated as browsers. If this service is stopped, this list will not be updated or maintained. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Cryptographic Services | Provides four management services: Catalog Database Service, which confirms the signatures of Windows files and allows new programs to be installed; Protected Root Service, which adds and removes Trusted Root Certification Authority certificates from this computer; Automatic Root Certificate Update Service, which retrieves root certificates from Windows Update and enable scenarios such as SSL; and Key Service, which helps enroll this computer for certificates. If this service is stopped, these management services will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| DCOM Server Process Launcher | Provides launch functionality for DCOM services. | Automatic |
| Desktop Window Manager Session Manager | Provides Desktop Window Manager startup and maintenance services | Automatic |
| DFS Replication | Enables you to synchronize folders on multiple servers across local or wide area network (WAN) network connections. This service uses the Remote Differential Compression (RDC) protocol to update only the portions of files that have changed since the last replication. | Manual |
| DHCP Client | Registers and updates IP addresses and DNS records for this computer. If this service is stopped, this computer will not receive dynamic IP addresses and DNS updates. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Diagnostic Policy Service | The Diagnostic Policy Service enables problem detection, troubleshooting and resolution for Windows components. If this service is stopped, diagnostics will no longer function. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Diagnostic Service Host | The Diagnostic Service Host service enables problem detection, troubleshooting and resolution for Windows components. If this service is stopped, some diagnostics will no longer function. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Diagnostic System Host | The Diagnostic System Host service enables problem detection, troubleshooting and resolution for Windows components. If this service is stopped, some diagnostics will no longer function. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Distributed Link Tracking Client | Maintains links between NTFS files within a computer or across computers in a network. | Disabled |
| Distributed Transaction Coordinator | Coordinates transactions that span multiple resource managers, such as databases, message queues, and file systems. If this service is stopped, these transactions will not occur. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| dlbt_device | Manual | |
| DNS Client | The DNS Client service (dnscache) caches Domain Name System (DNS) names and registers the full computer name for this computer. If the service is stopped, DNS names will continue to be resolved. However, the results of DNS name queries will not be cached and the computer's name will not be registered. If the service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Extensible Authentication Protocol | The Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) service provides network authentication in such scenarios as 802.1x wired and wireless, VPN, and Network Access Protection (NAP). EAP also provides application programming interfaces (APIs) that are used by network access clients, including wireless and VPN clients, during the authentication process. If you disable this service, this computer is prevented from accessing networks that require EAP authentication. | Manual |
| Function Discovery Provider Host | Host process for Function Discovery providers. | Manual |
| Function Discovery Resource Publication | Publishes this computer and resources attached to this computer so they can be discovered over the network. If this service is stopped, network resources will no longer be published and they will not be discovered by other computers on the network. | Automatic |
| Group Policy Client | The service is responsible for applying settings configured by administrators for the computer and users through the Group Policy component. If the service is stopped or disabled, the settings will not be applied and applications and components will not be manageable through Group Policy. Any components or applications that depend on the Group Policy component might not be functional if the service is stopped or disabled. | Automatic |
| Health Key and Certificate Management | Provides X.509 certificate and key management services for the Network Access Protection Agent (NAPAgent). Enforcement technologies that use X.509 certificates may not function properly without this service | Manual |
| HP Service | Automatic | |
| Human Interface Device Access | Enables generic input access to Human Interface Devices (HID), which activates and maintains the use of predefined hot buttons on keyboards, remote controls, and other multimedia devices. If this service is stopped, hot buttons controlled by this service will no longer function. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| IIS Admin Service | Enables this server to administer the IIS metabase. The IIS metabase stores configuration for the SMTP and FTP services. If this service is stopped, the server will be unable to configure SMTP or FTP. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules | The IKEEXT service hosts the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) and Authenticated Internet Protocol (AuthIP) keying modules. These keying modules are used for authentication and key exchange in Internet Protocol security (IPsec). Stopping or disabling the IKEEXT service will disable IKE and AuthIP key exchange with peer computers. IPsec is typically configured to use IKE or AuthIP; therefore, stopping or disabling the IKEEXT service might result in an IPsec failure and might compromise the security of the system. It is strongly recommended that you have the IKEEXT service running. | Automatic |
| Interactive Services Detection | Enables user notification of user input for interactive services, which enables access to dialogs created by interactive services when they appear. If this service is stopped, notifications of new interactive service dialogs will no longer function and there may no longer be access to interactive service dialogs. If this service is disabled, both notifications of and access to new interactive service dialogs will no longer function. | Manual |
| Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) | Provides network address translation, addressing, name resolution and/or intrusion prevention services for a home or small office network. | Disabled |
| IP Helper | Provides automatic IPv6 connectivity over an IPv4 network. If this service is stopped, the machine will only have IPv6 connectivity if it is connected to a native IPv6 network. | Manual |
| iPod Service | iPod hardware management services | Manual |
| IPsec Policy Agent | Internet Protocol security (IPsec) supports network-level peer authentication, data origin authentication, data integrity, data confidentiality (encryption), and replay protection. This service enforces IPsec policies created through the IP Security Policies snap-in or the command-line tool netsh ipsec. If you stop this service, you may experience network connectivity issues if your policy requires that connections use IPsec. Also,remote management of Windows Firewall is not available when this service is stopped. | Automatic |
| KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator | Coordinates transactions between MSDTC and the Kernel Transaction Manager (KTM). | Automatic (Delayed Start) |
| Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper | Creates a Network Map, consisting of PC and device topology (connectivity) information, and metadata describing each PC and device. If this service is disabled, the Network Map will not function properly. | Manual |
| Messenger Sharing Folders USN Journal Reader service | Service installed by Messenger to enable sharing scenarios | Manual |
| Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v2.0.50727_X86 | Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN | Manual |
| Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service | Manages Internet SCSI (iSCSI) sessions from this computer to remote iSCSI target devices. If this service is stopped, this computer will not be able to login or access iSCSI targets. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Microsoft Office Diagnostics Service | Run portions of Microsoft Office Diagnostics. | Manual |
| Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider | Manages software-based volume shadow copies taken by the Volume Shadow Copy service. If this service is stopped, software-based volume shadow copies cannot be managed. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Multimedia Class Scheduler | Enables relative prioritization of work based on system-wide task priorities. This is intended mainly for multimedia applications. If this service is stopped, individual tasks resort to their default priority. | Automatic |
| Net.Msmq Listener Adapter | Receives activation requests over the net.msmq and msmq.formatname protocols and passes them to the Windows Process Activation Service. | Disabled |
| Net.Pipe Listener Adapter | Receives activation requests over the net.pipe protocol and passes them to the Windows Process Activation Service. | Manual |
| Net.Tcp Listener Adapter | Receives activation requests over the net.tcp protocol and passes them to the Windows Process Activation Service. | Manual |
| Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service | Provides ability to share TCP ports over the net.tcp protocol. | Manual |
| Netlogon | Maintains a secure channel between this computer and the domain controller for authenticating users and services. If this service is stopped, the computer may not authenticate users and services and the domain controller cannot register DNS records. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Network Access Protection Agent | Enables Network Access Protection (NAP) functionality on client computers | Manual |
| Network Connections | Manages objects in the Network and Dial-Up Connections folder, in which you can view both local area network and remote connections. | Manual |
| Network List Service | Identifies the networks to which the computer has connected, collects and stores properties for these networks, and notifies applications when these properties change. | Automatic |
| Network Location Awareness | Collects and stores configuration information for the network and notifies programs when this information is modified. If this service is stopped, configuration information might be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Network Store Interface Service | This service delivers network notifications (e.g. interface addition/deleting etc) to user mode clients. Stopping this service will cause loss of network connectivity. If this service is disabled, any other services that explicitly depend on this service will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Office Source Engine | Saves installation files used for updates and repairs and is required for the downloading of Setup updates and Watson error reports. | Manual |
| Offline Files | The Offline Files service performs maintenance activities on the Offline Files cache, responds to user logon and logoff events, implements the internals of the public API, and dispatches interesting events to those interested in Offline Files activities and changes in cache state. | Manual |
| Parental Controls | This service enables Windows Parental Controls on the system. If this service is not running, Parental controls will not work. | Manual |
| Peer Name Resolution Protocol | Enables Serverless Peer Name Resolution over the Internet. If disabled, some Peer to Peer and Collaborative applications, such as Windows Meetings, may not function | Manual |
| Peer Networking Grouping | Provides Peer Networking Grouping services | Manual |
| Peer Networking Identity Manager | Provides Identity service for Peer Networking | Manual |
| Performance Logs & Alerts | Performance Logs and Alerts Collects performance data from local or remote computers based on preconfigured schedule parameters, then writes the data to a log or triggers an alert. If this service is stopped, performance information will not be collected. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Plug and Play | Enables a computer to recognize and adapt to hardware changes with little or no user input. Stopping or disabling this service will result in system instability. | Automatic |
| PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator | The PnP-X bus enumerator service manages the virtual network bus. It discovers network connected devices using the SSDP/WS discovery protocols and gives them presence in PnP. If this service is stopped or disabled, presence of NCD devices will not be maintained in PnP. All pnpx based scenarios will stop functioning. | Manual |
| PNRP Machine Name Publication Service | This service publishes a machine name using the Peer Name Resolution Protocol. Configuration is managed via the netsh context 'p2p pnrp peer' | Manual |
| Portable Device Enumerator Service | Enforces group policy for removable mass-storage devices. Enables applications such as Windows Media Player and Image Import Wizard to transfer and synchronize content using removable mass-storage devices. | Automatic |
| Print Spooler | Loads files to memory for later printing | Automatic |
| Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support | This service provides support for viewing, sending and deletion of system-level problem reports for the Problem Reports and Solutions control panel. | Manual |
| Program Compatibility Assistant Service | Provides support for the Program Compatibility Assistant. If this service is stopped, the Program Compatibility Assistant will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Protected Storage | Provides protected storage for sensitive data, such as passwords, to prevent access by unauthorized services, processes, or users. | Manual |
| Quality Windows Audio Video Experience | Quality Windows Audio Video Experience (qWave) is a networking platform for Audio Video (AV) streaming applications on IP home networks. qWave enhances AV streaming performance and reliability by ensuring network quality-of-service (QoS) for AV applications. It provides mechanisms for admission control, run time monitoring and enforcement, application feedback, and traffic prioritization. | Manual |
| ReadyBoost | Provides support for improving system performance using ReadyBoost. | Disabled |
| Remote Access Auto Connection Manager | Creates a connection to a remote network whenever a program references a remote DNS or NetBIOS name or address. | Manual |
| Remote Access Connection Manager | Manages dial-up and virtual private network (VPN) connections from this computer to the Internet or other remote networks. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Remote Procedure Call (RPC) | Serves as the endpoint mapper and COM Service Control Manager. If this service is stopped or disabled, programs using COM or Remote Procedure Call (RPC) services will not function properly. | Automatic |
| Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator | Manages the RPC name service database. | Manual |
| Remote Registry | Enables remote users to modify registry settings on this computer. If this service is stopped, the registry can be modified only by users on this computer. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Routing and Remote Access | Offers routing services to businesses in local area and wide area network environments. | Disabled |
| Secondary Logon | Enables starting processes under alternate credentials. If this service is stopped, this type of logon access will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol Service | Provides support for the Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol (SSTP) to connect to remote computers using VPN. If this service is disabled, users will not be able to use SSTP to access remote servers. | Manual |
| Security Accounts Manager | The startup of this service signals other services that the Security Accounts Manager (SAM) is ready to accept requests. Disabling this service will prevent other services in the system from being notified when the SAM is ready, which may in turn cause those services to fail to start correctly. This service should not be disabled. | Automatic |
| Security Center | Monitors system security settings and configurations. | Automatic (Delayed Start) |
| Server | Supports file, print, and named-pipe sharing over the network for this computer. If this service is stopped, these functions will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Shell Hardware Detection | Provides notifications for AutoPlay hardware events. | Automatic |
| SL UI Notification Service | Provides Software Licensing activation and notification | Manual |
| Smart Card | Manages access to smart cards read by this computer. If this service is stopped, this computer will be unable to read smart cards. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Smart Card Removal Policy | Allows the system to be configured to lock the user desktop upon smart card removal. | Manual |
| SNMP Trap | Receives trap messages generated by local or remote Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) agents and forwards the messages to SNMP management programs running on this computer. If this service is stopped, SNMP-based programs on this computer will not receive SNMP trap messages. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Software Licensing | Enables the download, installation and enforcement of digital licenses for Windows and Windows applications. If the service is disabled, the operating system and licensed applications may run in a reduced function mode. | Automatic |
| SQL Server (SQLEXPRESS) | Provides storage, processing and controlled access of data and rapid transaction processing. | Automatic |
| SQL Server Active Directory Helper | Enables integration with Active Directories. | Disabled |
| SQL Server Browser | Provides SQL Server connection information to client computers. | Disabled |
| SQL Server VSS Writer | Provides the interface to backup/restore Microsoft SQL server through the Windows VSS infrastructure. | Automatic |
| SSDP Discovery | Discovers networked devices and services that use the SSDP discovery protocol, such as UPnP devices. Also announces SSDP devices and services running on the local computer. If this service is stopped, SSDP-based devices will not be discovered. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Superfetch | Maintains and improves system performance over time. | Automatic |
| System Event Notification Service | Monitors system events and notifies subscribers to COM+ Event System of these events. | Automatic |
| Tablet PC Input Service | Enables Tablet PC pen and ink functionality | Automatic |
| TabletService | Automatic | |
| Task Scheduler | Enables a user to configure and schedule automated tasks on this computer. If this service is stopped, these tasks will not be run at their scheduled times. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper | Provides support for the NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service and NetBIOS name resolution for clients on the network, therefore enabling users to share files, print, and log on to the network. If this service is stopped, these functions might be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Telephony | Provides Telephony API (TAPI) support for programs that control telephony devices on the local computer and, through the LAN, on servers that are also running the service. | Manual |
| Terminal Services | Allows users to connect interactively to a remote computer. Remote Desktop and Terminal Server depend on this service. To prevent remote use of this computer, clear the checkboxes on the Remote tab of the System properties control panel item. | Automatic |
| Terminal Services Configuration | Terminal Services Configuration service (TSCS) is responsible for all Terminal Services and Remote Desktop related configuration and session maintenance activities that require SYSTEM context. These include per-session temporary folders, TS themes, and TS certificates. | Manual |
| Terminal Services UserMode Port Redirector | Allows the redirection of Printers/Drives/Ports for RDP connections | Manual |
| Themes | Provides user experience theme management. | Automatic |
| Thread Ordering Server | Provides ordered execution for a group of threads within a specific period of time. | Manual |
| TPM Base Services | Enables access to the Trusted Platform Module (TPM), which provides hardware-based cryptographic services to system components and applications. If this service is stopped or disabled, applications will be unable to use keys protected by the TPM. | Automatic (Delayed Start) |
| UPnP Device Host | Allows UPnP devices to be hosted on this computer. If this service is stopped, any hosted UPnP devices will stop functioning and no additional hosted devices can be added. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| User Profile Service | This service is responsible for loading and unloading user profiles. If this service is stopped or disabled, users will no longer be able to successfully logon or logoff, applications may have problems getting to users' data, and components registered to receive profile event notifications will not receive them. | Automatic |
| Virtual Disk | Provides management services for disks, volumes, file systems, and storage arrays. | Manual |
| Visual Studio 2008 Remote Debugger | Allows members of the Administrators group to remotely debug server applications using Visual Studio 2008. Use the Visual Studio 2008 Remote Debugging Configuration Wizard to enable this service. | Disabled |
| VMware Agent Service | VMware Agent Service | Manual |
| VMware Authorization Service | Authorization and authentication service for starting and accessing virtual machines | Automatic |
| VMware DHCP Service | DHCP service for virtual networks | Automatic |
| VMware NAT Service | Network address translation for virtual networks | Automatic |
| VMware Virtual Mount Manager Extended | Automatic | |
| Volume Shadow Copy | Manages and implements Volume Shadow Copies used for backup and other purposes. If this service is stopped, shadow copies will be unavailable for backup and the backup may fail. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Web Management Service | The Web Management Service enables remote and delegated management capabilities for administrators to manage for the Web server, sites and applications present on this machine. | Manual |
| WebClient | Enables Windows-based programs to create, access, and modify Internet-based files. If this service is stopped, these functions will not be available. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Windows Audio | Manages audio for Windows-based programs. If this service is stopped, audio devices and effects will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start | Automatic |
| Windows Audio Endpoint Builder | Manages audio devices for the Windows Audio service. If this service is stopped, audio devices and effects will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start | Automatic |
| Windows Backup | Provides Windows Backup and Restore capabilities. | Manual |
| Windows CardSpace | Securely enables the creation, management, and disclosure of digital identities. | Manual |
| Windows Color System | The WcsPlugInService service hosts third-party Windows Color System color device model and gamut map model plug-in modules. These plug-in modules are vendor-specific extensions to the Windows Color System baseline color device and gamut map models. Stopping or disabling the WcsPlugInService service will disable this extensibility feature, and the Windows Color System will use its baseline model processing rather than the vendor's desired processing. This might result in inaccurate color rendering. | Manual |
| Windows Connect Now - Config Registrar | Act as a Registrar, issues network credential to Enrollee. If this service is disabled, the Windows Connect Now - Config Registrar will not function properly. | Manual |
| Windows Defender | Scan your computer for unwanted software, schedule scans, and get the latest unwanted software definitions. | Manual |
| Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework | Manages user-mode driver host processes | Automatic |
| Windows Error Reporting Service | Allows errors to be reported when programs stop working or responding and allows existing solutions to be delivered. Also allows logs to be generated for diagnostic and repair services. If this service is stopped, error reporting might not work correctly and results of diagnostic services and repairs might not be displayed. | Automatic |
| Windows Event Collector | This service manages persistent subscriptions to events from remote sources that support WS-Management protocol. This includes Windows Vista event logs, hardware and IPMI-enabled event sources. The service stores forwarded events in a local Event Log. If this service is stopped or disabled event subscriptions cannot be created and forwarded events cannot be accepted. | Manual |
| Windows Event Log | This service manages events and event logs. It supports logging events, querying events, subscribing to events, archiving event logs, and managing event metadata. It can display events in both XML and plain text format. Stopping this service may compromise security and reliability of the system. | Automatic |
| Windows Firewall | Windows Firewall helps protect your computer by preventing unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network. | Automatic |
| Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) | Provides image acquisition services for scanners and cameras | Automatic |
| Windows Installer | Adds, modifies, and removes applications provided as a Windows Installer (*.msi) package. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Manual |
| Windows Live Setup Service | Windows Live Setup Service | Manual |
| Windows Management Instrumentation | Provides a common interface and object model to access management information about operating system, devices, applications and services. If this service is stopped, most Windows-based software will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Windows Media Center Extender Service | Allows Windows Media Center Extender devices to locate and connect to the computer. | Disabled |
| Windows Media Center Receiver Service | Windows Media Center Service for TV and FM broadcast reception | Manual |
| Windows Media Center Scheduler Service | Starts and stops recording of TV programs within Windows Media Center | Manual |
| Windows Media Center Service Launcher | Starts Windows Media Center Scheduler and Windows Media Center Receiver services at startup if TV is enabled within Windows Media Center. | Manual |
| Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service | Shares Windows Media Player libraries to other networked players and media devices using Universal Plug and Play | Manual |
| Windows Modules Installer | Enables installation, modification, and removal of Windows updates and optional components. If this service is disabled, install or uninstall of Windows updates might fail for this computer. | Manual |
| Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0 | Optimizes performance of Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) applications by caching commonly used font data. WPF applications will start this service if it is not already running. It can be disabled, though doing so will degrade the performance of WPF applications. | Manual |
| Windows Process Activation Service | The Windows Process Activation Service (WAS) provides process activation, resource management and health management services for message-activated applications. | Manual |
| Windows Remote Management (WS-Management) | Windows Remote Management (WinRM) service implements the WS-Management protocol for remote management. WS-Management is a standard web services protocol used for remote software and hardware management. The WinRM service listens on the network for WS-Management requests and processes them. The WinRM Service needs to be configured with a listener using winrm.cmd command line tool or through Group Policy in order for it to listen over the network. The WinRM service provides access to WMI data and enables event collection. Event collection and subscription to events require that the service is running. WinRM messages use HTTP and HTTPS as transports. The WinRM service does not depend on IIS but is preconfigured to share a port with IIS on the same machine. The WinRM service reserves the /wsman URL prefix. To prevent conflicts with IIS, administrators should ensure that any websites hosted on IIS do not use the /wsman URL prefix. | Manual |
| Windows Search | Provides content indexing and property caching for file, email and other content (via extensibility APIs). The service responds to file and email notifications to index modified content. If the service is stopped or disabled, the Explorer will not be able to display virtual folder views of items, and search in the Explorer will fall back to item-by-item slow search. | Automatic |
| Windows Time | Maintains date and time synchronization on all clients and servers in the network. If this service is stopped, date and time synchronization will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| Windows Update | Enables the detection, download, and installation of updates for Windows and other programs. If this service is disabled, users of this computer will not be able to use Windows Update or its automatic updating feature, and programs will not be able to use the Windows Update Agent (WUA) API. | Automatic (Delayed Start) |
| WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service | WinHTTP implements the client HTTP stack and provides developers with a Win32 API and COM Automation component for sending HTTP requests and receiving responses. In addition, WinHTTP provides support for auto-discovering a proxy configuration via its implementation of the Web Proxy Auto-Discovery (WPAD) protocol. | Manual |
| Wired AutoConfig | This service performs IEEE 802.1X authentication on Ethernet interfaces | Manual |
| WLAN AutoConfig | This service enumerates WLAN adapters, manages WLAN connections and profiles. | Automatic |
| WMI Performance Adapter | Provides performance library information from Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) providers to clients on the network. This service only runs when Performance Data Helper is activated. | Manual |
| Workstation | Creates and maintains client network connections to remote servers using the SMB protocol. If this service is stopped, these connections will be unavailable. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. | Automatic |
| World Wide Web Publishing Service | Provides Web connectivity and administration through the Internet Information Services Manager | Automatic |
See Also
- How To Delete a Windows Service in Vista or XP
- Display a List of Started Services from the Command Line
- Make Windows Vista Shut Down Services Quicker
- Start Your Computer More Quickly by Delaying the Startup of a Service
