The idea presumably would be to make 3rd party programs easy to see in a single list and so easy to safely disable, without letting the normal user fiddle to their detriment.
However, not all startups either originate from the same place in the registry, and some are implemented by other means, from the Startup folder (not exposed in Win 10's start menu) to the task scheduler.
Want to be dangerous? Try Autoruns, free.
Hmm, perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned that.
MSConfig is only for troubleshooting. Do not worry about what CCleaner states, since it can be in err. Changing items in Services.msc can break the OS or application, so be very careful.
Many thanks for letting me know. I haven't had any irreversible experiences with services.msc yet but I will keep what you said in mind.Changing items in Services.msc can break the OS or application, so be very careful.
Actually I have had more problems with regedit in Windows, regedit in CCleaner and being unable to go back to a restore point. This is why I leave regedit alone unless I have very specific instructions that I think I can trust...
Unfortunately S Restore is not always reliable in completing restoration.
Strongly recommended- routinely using disk imaging, e.g. Macrium Reflect (free) - not the same thing as S Restore, but essential by way of support.
Then there's Rollback RX - the free version should do.
I have already tested it and yes I agree it works nicely.Strongly recommended - routinely using disk imaging, e.g. Macrium Reflect (free)
Bringing this subject up again about disabling selected services in services.msc. When I was running Windows 7 I installed SQL Server. It was obvious it was using quite a bit of processor and memory. I knew I wouldn't be using it for a few months and disabled all SQL Server and its related entries in services.msc (I don't remember if I did this in msconfig > Startup as well) and saw a noticeable boot performance difference as well as far less processor and memory use.
I quote this from LMiller7:
So what he is saying is that this can cause a problem (unspecified) more in Windows 10 with new builds rather than Windows 7 SP1? Unless this is something to do with Windows Update? I can't recall any problems when I did this...The risks of disabling services are very real, particularly in an OS that is in active development like Windows 10. Microsoft is free to change undocumented behavior of services at any time without notice. Disabling a service that appeared to be unneeded may become important after even a minor update.
In one case with Windows 7 I had disabled a service which I thought was safe. I will not say which one it was. Later I made a system change and there was a serious problem. Eventually after much time it was determined to be due to the disabled service. I have no desire to repeat that experience.
Incidentally, setting a service startup to "Manual" is not a safe alternative to disabling it. In this case either the system or an application can enable it if needed. But it is not safe to assume this will actually happen. When something fails due to a service not running, even when it is set to to "Manual", typically neither the system nor an application will attempt to determine why. Typically it just fails. The only time it is really safe to set a service start to "Manual" is when that is the default setting.
My statements apply exclusively to the standard Windows services. They do not apply to third party services or even those that may come with Microsoft installed programs.
The difference between Windows 7 and Windows 10 is that Windows 10 is in active development while Windows 7 is not. As stated previously, some standard services do more than is stated in the documentation. Being undocumented, Microsoft is free to move these functions between services as they see fit without notice. You can hardly expect Microsoft to publish information about changes to undocumented functions of services. One of these undocumented functions may be required for proper functionality of your system with it's current configuration. An update may move that function to some other service that you have disabled. You then have problem. As Windows 7 is currently receiving only security updates such changes are highly unlikely. And Windows 7 had a different update model where such changes are likely to be found only in a service pack, of which there has only been 1.
I have no way of knowing how serious this situation might be. Microsoft has never provided the necessary details. They only official information Microsoft has provided about undocumented functions of services is that they exist. You may never have a problem with disabling services. But others have, and thus the warning.
As always my statements are intended for the wider audience, not just the original poster. These posts will be available to anyone with an Internet connection for years to come.
What is safe for you. 10 needs only about 10 core services, the rest can be "safely" disabled. But then comes dependencies, like DHCP required by Windows updates an Defender, Network Store by Windows Firewall. Disabling some can be beneficial, like disabling Task Scheduler noticably improves performance/startup, but it also disables essential tasks, like updating certificates used by browsers. Disabling Print Spooler prevents some attacks, but it is needed by printers, etc. There are also some third party apps, which need some services. So it is basically trial and error method. As long as you are using a backup software, you can fiddle with services as much as you like. For the record, my active services:
From what I can see someone would be better trying things out on a test computer first if they don't have the confidence or experience with services.msc...What is safe for you. 10 needs only about 10 core services, the rest can be "safely" disabled. But then comes dependencies, like DHCP required by Windows updates an Defender, Network Store by Windows Firewall. Disabling some can be beneficial, like disabling Task Scheduler noticably improves performance/startup, but it also disables essential tasks, like updating certificates used by browsers. Disabling Print Spooler prevents some attacks, but it is needed by printers, etc. There are also some third party apps, which need some services. So it is basically trial and error method. As long as you are using a backup software, you can fiddle with services as much as you like.
I recently found a viable spare computer for testing. I think this is a must if you are really interested in operating systems as you have the flexibility to take risks knowing you are not going to mess up your main operating system or lose important data.VM is good for testing software, but in essence, you are not really testing your computer, it uses a different hardware, so it will not tell, what problems will be caused by drivers and also network related stuff.
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