XP services and User Accounts

[Shivian]

Could anyone tell me if Services are unique to User Accounts?

I have been tweaking my win XP to run games smoother and wondered if I created a user account called GAME and turned off all the XP eyecandy effects would I also be able to shut down services to that user and not have it affect other Accounts?

Thanks Shivian

 

[Justin]

No, services are not unique. Services are, at their heart, a component meant to run in the background all the time, and either launch at system start or when requested.

 

[StormBringer]

I would think that some services would be unique to a particular account because you may use applications on one account that aren't run on another.

When I built this machine I set up two accounts, one for me with Admin and one for my wife without Admin. I had to go into her account and install Office and Morpheus separately, as well as a few games. I also have things installed on my account that she doesn't use and I found later that some of those apps aren't installed on her account. I just left it like that as she never uses them. I already knew that some programs may have to be installed separately on different accounts because all the articles on XP had said that. But what I'm trying to say is, if the account doesn't have something installed, shouldn't the services associated with that application also not be running?

 

[Justin]

If an application itself installs a service, then by all intents and purposes it should set the service to start type "Manual". If it does not, then the service is always running, regarldess of who is logged in or who is at the computer. If you install an application that has services it installs, make sure the services are set to manual. Then, although the service is always present, it will only be running when requested.

 

[Rick]

Some services do require high-level access (eg. Administrator) to run, so something such as a user with only guest privelages may have fewer services running... But they may also have trouble running some games and programs.

The memory you will save from disabling non-essential services is minimal at best and (to me), it isn't worth the reboot just to play a game.

If I were to disable some services, I would probably turn off the "Themes" serivce, which will disable the XP skinning engine. This is one of the most memory intrusive services. You may want to check out the XP service tweak guide on this site and disable them accordingly.

 

[Shivian]

Thanks for the info.

So I take it when the service says Manual and is not started it does not take up resources? I was under the impression that it had to be stopped or removed.


I will have to play around more and Ill try turning the themes service off and give it a try.


thanks,
Shivian

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Originally posted by Shivian
when the service says Manual and is not started it does not take up resources? I was under the impression that it had to be stopped or removed.

If the service is to "Manual", it won't start unless required, thus speeding up booting &c. Services can start without user interaction, however, it's not literally manual. If services aren't started, they're stopped and don't take up resources or memory.