Tip #4154 - No Need for That in Vista
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Q:
I just recently started using Windows Vista and I've noticed that there
are some programs running that don't really need to be, but I can't figure
out how to turn them off. I know you've discussed this topic for Windows
XP before, but how do we do it in Vista? Please help!
A:
What an excellent question! And it couldn't have come at a better time.
Just the other day, one of my co-workers here at WorldStart, who happens
to use a Windows Vista computer, asked me that same exact question. I
must admit that I'm not using Vista yet, so I didn't know what to tell
her at first. But, I promised to do some research and let her know. Then
I go to my e-mail and I see this question in my Inbox. How perfect! So,
I figured I'd go ahead and write a tip on this to help all of you out,
as well as, my co-worker, all at the same time. I just love it when it
works out like that. Here we go!
To begin, all computers
have what are called services and those are basically special programs
that take care of all the different functions your computer has to deal
with in order to run properly. Some of those services are put in place
to support some of the other programs on your computer, but in reality,
a lot of them are unnecessary. Some of them sort of just sit there and
take up space, which is quite annoying when you think about it. I'm sure
Microsoft had good reasoning for putting those services in place, but
when it comes down to it, you don't really need all of them running all
the time. I mean, most of them run the entire time you have your computer
turned on and that's just not necessary!
So, if you think there
are some services running on your computer that you don't really need
(like the person who asked this question), luckily, there is an easy way
to turn them off. Windows Vista has a utility called the Microsoft
Management Console (MMC), which is what you can use to turn off
all those unwanted services. Keep going to learn all about it and find
out how you can start using it today!
To open the MMC, click
on the Start button and in the search box below it, type
in "services.msc." When your results show up,
scroll through and click on the one that simply says Services.
A new window (it's called the Service Console) will then open for you
and you will be able to see all of the services you have running at the
present time. There's a lot of them, huh?!
As you can see, the
Service Console gives you a lot of information about each service. It
also allows you to sort through the services by the titles of Description,
Status and Startup Type. If you want to learn more about a specific service,
just click on it and a detailed description will then pop up on the left
hand side that you can read through. (Note: In order
to see the description, you need to be in the Extended mode, so keep that
in mind!)
I highly suggest that
you read through each of the services before you start closing them down.
Like I said before, some of these services support other programs on your
computer that you may use on a regular basis, so you'll definitely want
to do your homework on each one before you disable them. You may even
want to do a little further research on the ones you're not 100 percent
positive about, just to be sure you're disabling the right services, etc.
Then once you've decided which ones you don't need, just simply right
click on the service name and hit Stop.
That's all there is
to it. It's a pretty easy process to go through thanks to the MMC, so
just take your time and be sure you're turning off what you really want
to. If you do that, you'll be good to go from now on!
~ Erin
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