As described by Microsoft, “The Remote Access Auto Connection Manager service maps and maintains network addresses to connection destinations. This allows a destination to be automatically dialed from a program or from the command prompt. A network address can be an Internet host name, an Internet Protocol (IP) address, or a NetBIOS server name.” Though this description doesn’t make it clear under which circumstances the service is required, it is set to manual by default, so it will only be called when required, and based on the number of Google hits surrounding startup issues, it may be required often for some users.
Display Name:
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
Process Name:
svchost.exe
Description:
Creates a connection to a remote network whenever a program references a remote DNS or NetBIOS name or address.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Manual
- Home Premium: Manual
- Business: Manual
- Enterprise: Manual
- Ultimate: Manual
Log On As:
Local System Account
Depends On:
- Remote Access Connection Manager
- Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol Service
- Telephony
- Plug and Play
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
- Telephony
- Plug and Play
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
Post from: ITsVISTA
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
Related posts
Written by Joe on May 27th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and Services.
Ed suggests the same thing I’ve found so far, disabling most services gains you nothing, and in the end will probably just caused you problems.
Post from: ITsVISTA
Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com
Related posts
Written by Joe on May 19th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and Performance and Services.
ReadyBoost uses flash memory devices as a disk cache which can help “service random disk reads with performance that is typically 80-100 times faster than random reads from traditional hard drives.” You might think that if you aren’t connecting a flash drive, you don’t need this service, but ReadyBoost is also used to facilitate SuperFetch, which preloads applications based on past utilization to reduce load time. Once your PC gets to know you, disabling this service may actually make your PC feel slower, rather than faster, but the service is not required, and can safely be disabled if you so choose.
Process Name:
svchost.exe
Description:
Provides support for improving system performance using ReadyBoost.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Automatic
- Home Premium: Automatic
- Business: Automatic
- Enterprise: Automatic
- Ultimate: Automatic
Log On As:
Local System Account
Depends On:
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
- Software Licensing
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
Post from: ITsVISTA
ReadyBoost
Related posts
Written by Joe on May 15th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and Services.
Most useful for those running Media Center, Quality Windows Audio Video Experience (qWave) is described by Microsoft as:
“qWave is a collection of QoS-related software modules that run on devices in the home network. qWave supports multiple A/V streams (real-time flows requiring QoS) and data streams (best-effort flows, such as e-mail) simultaneously over the home network, while providing a high-quality A/V user experience. qWave is targeted for home A/V scenarios and is disabled in other environments, such as an enterprise.”
Since it is set to start manually by default, it will only run when needed, so disabling it will offer little benefit.
Display Name:
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience
Process Name:
svchost.exe
Description:
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience (qWave) is a networking platform for Audio Video (AV) streaming applications on IP home networks. qWave enhances AV streaming performance and reliability by ensuring network quality-of-service (QoS) for AV applications. It provides mechanisms for admission control, run time monitoring and enforcement, application feedback, and traffic prioritization.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalService
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Manual
- Home Premium: Manual
- Business: Manual
- Enterprise: Manual
- Ultimate: Manual
Depends On:
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
Post from: ITsVISTA
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience
Related posts
Written by Joe on May 13th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and Services.
Once used heavily by Outlook and Internet Explorer to store sensitive information, Protected Storage (PStore) has been depreciated to read-only in Windows Vista in favor of the more secure Data Protection API (DPAPI). Browsing the internet you’ll find a number of programs that allow you to browse through the contents of Protected Storage on previous versions of Windows, but due to the read-only limitation, there is nothing to view on a Vista machine. I’m uncertain why this service even exists on Vista, since IE7 uses DPAPI and as Microsoft notes “…any application that tries to create new PStore data items will fail.” None-the-less, despite it’s default startup setting of ‘Manual’, I find the service is currently started on my machine, and disabling it has had no noticeable effect.
Display Name:
Protected Storage
Service Name:
ProtectedStorage
Description:
Provides protected storage for sensitive data, such as passwords, to prevent access by unauthorized services, processes, or users.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\lsass.exe
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Manual
- Home Premium: Manual
- Business: Manual
- Enterprise: Manual
- Ultimate: Manual
Log On As:
Local System Account
Depends On:
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
Post from: ITsVISTA
Protected Storage
Related posts
Written by Joe on April 24th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and General and Services.
As stated by Microsoft:
The Program Compatibility Assistant detects known compatibility issues in older programs. After you have run an older program in this version of Windows, it notifies you if there is a problem and offers to fix it the next time you run the program. If the compatibility issue is serious, the Program Compatibility Assistant might warn you or block the program from running. If that happens, you’ll have the option to check online for possible solutions.
For example, the Program Compatibility Assistant can resolve conflicts with User Account Control, a new security feature in this version of Windows that can help make your computer safer. Or, it can run the program in a mode that simulates earlier versions of Windows. The changes that Program Compatibility Assistant makes are done automatically, so you don’t need to make them.
Here’s more detailed information as well. If you know all your applications are compatible, or you don’t care to get any assistance in making them compatible, you can safely disable this service.
Display Name:
Program Compatibility Assistance Service
Process Name:
svchost.exe
Description:
Provides support for the Program Compatibility Assistant. If this service is stopped, the Program Compatibility Assistant will not function properly. If this service is disabled, any services that depend on it will fail to start.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Automatic
- Home Premium: Automatic
- Business: Automatic
- Enterprise: Automatic
- Ultimate: Automatic
Log On As:
Local System Account
Depends On:
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
Post from: ITsVISTA
Program Compatibility Assistance
Related posts
Written by Joe on April 22nd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and Services.
Occasionally when a problem occurs you may be prompted to send information about the issue to Microsoft. This helps Microsoft see where problems are occurring for their users, and sometimes suggestions on how to fix the problem are then given. If you never submit your information to Microsoft, this service isn’t needed, but since it’s set to manual by default, you won’t speed up your machine any by disabling it. Black Viper notes the following:
If you choose to disable this service, it may be due to privacy concerns with sending Microsoft your error reports. If so, to help ensure it will not be utilized even if the service is turned back on due to a future Windows Update, do the following:
Note: you must have administrator privileges to perform some of these actions.
With the default Category Control Panel:
- Head to Start
- Select Control Panel
- Select System and Maintenance
- Under “Problem Reports and Solutions”, Select the Choose how to check for solutions link
- Select Ask me to check if a problem occurs (Radio button)
- Then, Select the Advanced settings link
- Under “For my programs, …”, Select Off (Radio button)
- Under “For all users and programs, …” Select the Change setting button
- Under “For all users, turn Windows problem reporting”, Select Off (Radio button)
- Select the Ok button to apply the settings
- Select the Continue button (if UAC is active)
- Select the Ok button
- Select the Ok button again
Display Name:
Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support
Service Name:
wercplsupport
Process Name:
svchost.exe
Description:
This service provides support for viewing, sending and deletion of system-level problem reports for the Problem Reports and Solutions control panel.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Manual
- Home Premium: Manual
- Business: Manual
- Enterprise: Manual
- Ultimate: Manual
Log On As:
Local System Account
Post from: ITsVISTA
Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support
Related posts
Written by Joe on April 17th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Contributors and Services.
This one is pretty easy to understand. If you need to print (note that not all print devices are physical printers, they could be XPS or PDF writers, etc), you need this service. If you never print, you can disable this service and save around 3-4MB of RAM. You can also disable this service temporarily by typing Net Stop Spooler at a command prompt with administrative rights (Net Start Spooler will start it up again).
Display Name:
Print Spooler
Process Name:
spoolsv.exe
Description:
Loads files to memory for later printing.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\spoolsv.exe
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Automatic
- Home Premium: Automatic
- Business: Automatic
- Enterprise: Automatic
- Ultimate: Automatic
Log On As:
Local System Account
Depends On:
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
Post from: ITsVISTA
Print Spooler
Related posts
Written by Joe on April 15th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Contributors and Print and Services.
This service helps make your portable devices, like a Zune, accessible to programs within Vista, like Media Player. If you don’t have any portable devices that you want available to software within Vista, you can safely disable this service. Note that an iPod does not use this service to communicate with iTunes, so you can still disable it if you have an iPod.
Display Name:
Portable Device Enumerator Service
Process Name:
svchost.exe
Description:
Enforces group policy for removable mass-storage devices. Enables applications such as Windows Media Player and Image Import Wizard to transfer and synchronize content using removable mass-storage devices.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Automatic
- Home Premium: Automatic
- Business: Automatic
- Enterprise: Automatic
- Ultimate: Automatic
Log On As:
Local System Account
Depends On:
- Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
- DCOM Server Process Launcher
Post from: ITsVISTA
Portable Device Enumerator
Related posts
Written by Joe on March 27th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Contributors and Services.
PNRP is a distributed name resolution protocol allowing Internet hosts to publish “peer names” and the corresponding IPv6 address. This basically allows every machine running PNRP to have it’s own name on the internet without having to register a specific domain name. Originally available in Windows XP SP2, it is now part of Windows Vista, and requires IPv6 to work. Here’s an article that talks about PNRP, and even describes how to get it working. There is also tons of information on Microsoft’s Technet. As most users aren’t able to use IPv6 yet, the service probably isn’t necessary for you, but since it’s set to manual by default, there’s little reason to disable it.
Display Name:
PNRP Machine Name Publication Service
Service Name:
PNRPAutoReg
Process Name:
svchost.exe
Description:
This service publishes a machine name using the Peer Name Resolution Protocol. Configuration is managed via the netsh context ‘p2p pnrp peer’.
Path to Executable:
%windir%\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNetworkRestricted
Default Startup:
- Home Basic: Manual
- Home Premium: Manual
- Business: Manual
- Enterprise: Manual
- Ultimate: Manual
Depends On:
- Peer Name Resolution Protocol
- Peer Networking Identity Manager
Post from: ITsVISTA
PNRP Machine Name Publication
Related posts
Written by Joe on March 25th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Contributors and Services.
« Older articles
No newer articles