Quick question about Services.

[Teekz]

Hey, all.

I often have to change the startup type of a number of services on different machines, which quite frankly, is quite time-consuming and dull. Basically, I'd like to be able to automate this process, with the use of something like a .bat, or a .reg file, for example.

I've looked into it a little, but I only found information on how to stop the services, not change the startup type. Any insight into whether this is possible would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom.

 

[Bill2]

This should help.

Script to Backup Current Start State (Startup Type) of Windows Services « My Digital Life

 

[DeaconFrost]

You have very very little to gain and MUCH to lose when messing with services. There's a simple phrase for tweaking Windows 7: Leave it alone.

 

[Devux]

You have very very little to gain and MUCH to lose when messing with services. There's a simple phrase for tweaking Windows 7: Leave it alone.

Not true if you know what you're doing. Out of the box, there are some services that don't need to be running, and even if you disable one that you shouldn't have, it's easy enough just to re-enable it.
Black Viper’s Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Service Configurations | Black Viper's Website | www.blackviper.com
Great guide on services for Windows 7. The proprietor of the website above used to have registry files that you could import to automate the process of slimming down services, it doesn't look like he has them for Windows 7 though. XP was the last I saw.

 

[DeaconFrost]

And here I thought the internet was FINALLY done with people posting guides from QuackViper. As a helpful hint, there have been other performance/enthusiast level forums that would ban people for even suggesting or posting links to his site.

This debate had merit about 5-7 years ago when XP tweaking was all the rage, but it's been severaly debunked, put to bed, nd buried. Leave services alone.

If I can offer you any friendly advice, delete that site from your Favorites, and forget everything you were told there.

 

[cluberti]

If you want to modify services, use the sc command (in a .cmd or .vbs) or write a powershell script (.ps1) to do it. I would agree with Deacon though - there are very few services on a Windows 7 machine that need messing with even with users who are the most control freakish. This is similar to trying to defragment every single file on disk in perfect ways to achieve 0% fragmentation - it's no longer actually beneficial, it's just satisfying an obsessive-compulsive desire at that point.

 

[Devux]

If I can offer you any friendly advice, delete that site from your Favorites, and forget everything you were told there.

Duly noted, though it does provide information for what each service is/does in a neat and orderly list, so I'll still link to it providing the post is appropriate to the need... Even if it does mean being banned from a forum.

it's just satisfying an obsessive-compulsive desire at that point.

Yes, I do have an obsessive compulsive desire to control my computer.

 

[karlsnooks]

If you want to inflict pain upon yourself, then be sure to mess around with the services.

Leave them alone.

That said, if you absolutely insist upon shooting yourself in the foot, then:

BEFORE CHANGING ANY SERVICES CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT.

You will need it.

Now that I've cautioned you:
Stay away from the Viper.

Here is a link from a professional regarding changing the status of various services.

Windows 7 Default Services and Suggested Startup Mode

 

[DeaconFrost]

Duly noted, though it does provide information for what each service is/does in a neat and orderly list, so I'll still link to it providing the post is appropriate to the need... Even if it does mean being banned from a forum.

That's great, but you are missing the biggest, most important fact, and one that led to this "myth" being debunked years ago. Disabling services yields nothing at all in terms of increased efficiency and performance. It only increase your potential for issues. If you missed all the debates, you missed many forums participating in testing, benchmarking, etc.

If you think some of us seem to staunch about leaving them alone, it's because we were around for the debates and the tests. There's absolutely no reason to go "tweaking" services.

 

[marsmimar]

FWIW, I'd been using Windows 7 for about two weeks when I found this forum. I moved over from XP and bypassed Vista completely. The reason I came to this forum was because I borked my new computer trying to tweak things like I did with XP. Deacon was one of the first people to help me out. He and several other very knowledgeable folks set me straight on how 7 is not your daddy's XP.

Trust me on this ... all of my services are at the default settings. In fact, most everything is set to default except for msconfig/startup. My machine boots in under 40 seconds. Web pages open almost instantaneously. The few games I play do so without stutter or lag. Deacon's advice is spot on.

But I guess we all have our own OCDs to contend with.

 

[cluberti]

Yes, I do have an obsessive compulsive desire to control my computer.

There's nothing wrong with having OCPD, per se, but in this case I would strongly recommend that you fight the urge. Just like fighting disk fragmentation gains you nothing other than some dopamine in the brain, fighting with service configuration isn't going to get you any real-world performance either. Fight the urge!

 

[Devux]

Yes, I do have an obsessive compulsive desire to control my computer.

There's nothing wrong with having OCPD, per se, but in this case I would strongly recommend that you fight the urge. Just like fighting disk fragmentation gains you nothing other than some dopamine in the brain, fighting with service configuration isn't going to get you any real-world performance either. Fight the urge!

Either way. I like opening up task manager and seeing only a slender 36 processes running on idle. As opposed to the 70-something when I pulled it out of the box.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Who cares about the number of processes, especially if many of them aren't taking up CPU time? Windows 7 is very efficient. I might be missing something, but why do some people seem so concerned with staring at gauges and monitors all day? I built my computer to use it, not to start at screens in an attempt to use as little of my hardware as possible. Play a game, watch a movie, write a blog...etc. Enjoy your computer, don't obsess over things that at best, amount to a waste of time.