Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services

Ed Bott continues writing about how to get the best out of Windows Vista and debunking many of the myths around the operating system. In part 4 Ed looks at services and counters the myth that you should disable many of the Windows services.

Today’s installment in this series is a little different. Mostly, it’s about not wasting your time following bad advice. Dozens of websites purport to offer tips on how to speed up Vista. In most cases, I’ve found the advice to be fairly obvious, but I’ve also seen plenty of popular tips that are just plain bogus.

The single most common bogus tip I read is the one that advises Vista users to disable “unnecessary” services. This tip starts with the reasonable argument that Windows Vista just has too damn many services running, and each service you shut down will free up memory and CPU cycles and put the zip, zing, and zoom back in your desktop. One popular website even lists several levels of recommended service configurations

The one thing I have found every time I run across this tip is the complete absence of any evidence to establish what it’s supposed to do for you

I found that unless you start installing programs without understanding what they are you don't have to start disabling services.

Fixing Windows Vista, Part 4: Get smart about services | Ed Bott’s Microsoft Report | ZDNet.com