Much
like previous versions of Windows NT, Windows 2000 also uses system
Services. These allow support for other Programs/Hardware, etc. to
run correctly. Or you can configure them to improve system security.
By default Windows 2000 automatically runs many of these
services & consumes more memory than it actually may need to for
your particular needs, E.g. If you don't intend to use Task Scheduler
or Fax Service, then why waste memory on running them automatically?
In
this guide I'll cover what each service does & whether or not you
really need it. Currently this guide is (still) the
most comprehensive of it's sort (In terms of content & amount of
Services covered). Now, onto the guide itself.
Services
Before
getting off to doing anything you should make sure you have the
latest system components, & any other relevant updates installed.
This will ensure all Services are displayed & in some cases may
even fix issues with some of them. You can check out our OS
Updates page for a listing of Windows 2000 updates.
Begin
by logging on as Administrator. This will give you access to
all the Services available in Windows 2000. To load the
Services Utility, click on Start, Settings,
Control Panel, Administrative Tools, then Services
(You may also be able to access it via Start,
Programs, Administrative Tools, Services if you enabled
Administrative Tools to be displayed on the Start Menu).
This
Utility lists all the Services that are available on your system. In
particular look at the Startup Type tab, this attribute is the
most important one & is the one which we will be dealing with
mostly in this guide. 3 options are available & they are listed
in the following section.
Disabled,
Automatic or Manual?
These
are the 3 choices that face you for each particular service
available. What's the difference between each 3 options ? Well.
Disabled.
This sets that the Service is not started while loading
Windows 2000. If it is needed it cannot
be started either until you set the Startup Type to
Automatic/Manual
& Reboot, or Start the
service. This will help decrease
boot time.
Automatic.
The Service is automatically initiated while loading Windows 2000.
This can increase boot time,
although will save resources as the Service need not be requested to
Start when Windows 2000 is loaded. Certain Services must
be set to Automatic in order for Windows 2000 to function
correctly.
Manual.
The Service is not started while loading Windows 2000,
although if needed it can
be initiated. This will help decrease
boot time, although system performance may degrade slightly
while the Service is initiating.
In
order to change the Startup type of a Service enter the Properties of
the respective Service. To do this, Right click on the Service
in question & select Properties.
From
the Startup type drop-down menu you can choose the Services
Startup type. Select Apply after you have made your selection
for the change to take effect. Select Ok to return to the
Services Utility. NOTE – In most cases it
is recommended that you set a Service to Manual rather than
Disabled first (As discussed
earlier the only difference is that a Service may be started if
needed, rather than not at all). That said, as you'll
discover later on in this guide there are certain instances were it
can be preferable to select Disable
rather than Manual.
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Much
like previous versions of Windows NT, Windows 2000 also uses system
Services. These allow support for other Programs/Hardware, etc. to
run correctly. Or you can configure them to improve system security.
By default Windows 2000 automatically runs many of these
services & consumes more memory than it actually may need to for
your particular needs, E.g. If you don't intend to use Task Scheduler
or Fax Service, then why waste memory on running them automatically?
