Services list & Recommendations

Task Scheduler. Enables a program to run at a designated time. Much like Task Scheduler in Windows 98 this can be used to schedule certain programs be to run at specified times & such. Personally I leave this set to Disabled & run the programs myself, although if you need to have task to schedule then set it to Automatic.

TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service. Enables support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service & NetBIOS name resolution. If your Internet connection is setup to enable LMHOSTS Lookup then set this to Automatic. Otherwise you may set this to Manual.

Telephony. Provides Telephony API (TAPI) support for programs that control telephony devices & IP based voice connections on the local computer &, through the LAN, on servers that are also running the service. Leave this set to Automatic, generally this Service is started when you load Windows 2000 anyway, even when set to Manual.

Telnet. Allows a remote user to log on to the system & run console programs using the command line. In the event that you still use Telnet ,or wish to enable others to (Locally or remotely) access your system via Telnet set this to Automatic. Otherwise you should Disable it altogether, this will improve system security as well.

Uninterruptible Power Supply. Manages an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) connected to the computer. If you are connected to such a power supply leave this set to Automatic, otherwise leave it Manual.

Utility Manager. Starts & configures accessibility tools from 1 window. If you don't use (or have Uninstalled) the Accessibilty Tools in Windows 2000 you should set this to Disabled/Manual. If you use Accessibility Tools set this to Automatic.

WMDM PMSP Service. This Service is added during installation of Windows Media Player 7. Seemingly this Service deals with the Windows Media Device Manager – WMDM (Thanks Belial666), although if anyone has any more specific information on What this Service actually controls please Email Me. Currently I've found setting this to Manual causes no noticeable effects in Windows Media Player 7.

Windows Installer. Installs, repairs & removes software according to instructions contained in .MSI files. Leave this set to Manual. This will allow you to Install/Uninstall/Repair programs listed in the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel. You should set this to Disable this if you don't wish others to have the ability to change any software installation, or to install Programs/Hardware which use the Windows Installer.

Windows Management Instrumentation. Provides system management information. WMI is a management infrastructure in Windows 2000 that supports monitoring & controlling system resources through a common set of interfaces & provides a logically organized, consistent model of Windows operation, configuration, & status. Leave this set to Automatic.

Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions. Provides systems management information to & from drivers. This should be set to Automatic as it seemingly gets Started even if you set it to Manual. Setting it to Disable (Or attempting to Stop the service) will display the following error window.

Windows Time. Sets the computer clock. You may leave this Service set to Manual.

Workstation. Provides network connections & communications. Should you have the Alerter or Messenger Services set to Automatic then set this to Automatic also. Otherwise you should be able to safely set this to Manual instead.

World Wide Web Publishing Service. Provides Web connectivity & administration through the Internet Information Services snap-in. If you have IIS 5.0 installed, & is configured to provide a Website on your machine set this to Automatic, otherwise leave it set to Manual.

Should you find that any of the Services you have attempted setting to Manual are Started when Windows 2000 is loaded you should set them to Automatic instead. You may verify this by checking the Status tab in the Services Utility in Administrative Tools.