Why are these "per-user services" always running on my single-user PC?

Version: 1909

I was just wondering if someone can explain these to me more. I've read about them and I understand they are "services that are created when a user signs into Windows or Windows Server and are stopped and deleted when that user signs out," but as I am the only user on this PC...who is this other "user" running these services?

A bunch of these start up every time I boot up this PC, but I can't think of a reason why any of them should be running in the first place. Can someone please explain?

Thanks.



Note: I posted a similar thread in the "User Accounts and Family Safety" forum but I this might be a better place for this. I hope this is OK.

Jordan, I don't know what you mean by "other" user. Even if you are the only user defined on the system at this time, you still have a user account that you logon with. You still have a unique ID that differentiates you from any other user on your system, or other users that may be created in the future as well as from anyone else on the network.

Is there some specific problem that you are trying to resolve? These services look perfectly normal.

Not all services are run with your user account, probably not even the majority. Some are run by SYSTEM etc.

hsehestedt said:

Jordan, I don't know what you mean by "other" user. Even if you are the only user defined on the system at this time, you still have a user account that you logon with. You still have a unique ID that differentiates you from any other user on your system, or other users that may be created in the future as well as from anyone else on the network.

Is there some specific problem that you are trying to resolve? These services look perfectly normal.

So these are all started by "me," even though they're all set to "Manual," and I haven't started them? Like, "Xbox Live Auth Manager" is running right now, and it's set to "Manual," but I absolutely have not done anything remotely Xbox Live-related on this PC today.

I just have security concerns. I've have weird problems:

-a "Bluetooth (Personal Area Network)" device I don't recognize connecting to every Windows PC in my house

-multiple Microsoft Wi-Fi Direct Virtual Adapters active on my PCs after that Bluetooth device connects

-slow download speeds on this PC (often 1/10th, even though a line check proves that my connection is fine overall)

-high upload speeds (16GB on a day I am certain no device in the house uploaded anything)

and now a crap ton of Service Host instances sending/receiving data 24/7 even when the computer idle, often involving services that have something to do with connected devices and cloud storage.

It just makes me wonder if someone is connecting to my computer(s) and backing up data using legitimate Windows functions.

They are just normal services that run in Windows. Each user logged in can have per user services and the system also has services that can mirror per user. There is nothing wrong.

Also, to address one of your questions: yes, it's normal for these services to be set to have a manual start. Some services dont start automatically on their own but are started by other services or processes.

I see nothing unusual in the services in question. Documentation regarding Windows services is limited but it is known that some services perform functions beyond what the name or description might imply. There is no publicly available documentation anywhere that fully describes what each service does.

In Windows 10 it is not unusual for services to run under the users own account. This may not always be clearly shown. The principle is that services run under an account with the lowest privileges that have the rights to perform it's function. This is a security measure that makes it more difficult to make a service do something it was designed to do.

A running service designated as "Manual" start wasn't necessarily started by the user. Typically it was started by a Windows component or an application. Any software with the necessary privileges can enable, disable, start, and stop services.

There is much about Windows that I do not understand and at times it may appear to make no sense. I don't see that as a problem. It is just my own lack of understanding.

Check your system for dodgy files,

*.OCX
*.XML
*.BMP

Also files which have no extension

Good luck