Running Windows With No Services

mattOzan writes "So how many of the almost 4 dozen default-enabled services does Windows XP really need in order to preserve basic functioning, like web surfing and running applications? Zero, as it turns out. Mark Russinovich at Sysinternals demonstrates that if certain steps are followed, Windows XP will still run with only two active processes: System and Csrss.exe. No Smss.exe, Winlogon.exe, Services.exe, Lsass.exe... And, contrary to the expectations of various lead engineers at Microsoft, even Internet Explorer will still work under such conditions."

Comments

No Thanks

[fembots]

From the friendly article:

The bottom line is that this stripped-down Windows configuration is not practical, but makes a cool demonstration of just how little of Windows is required for basic functionality.

• There will be a delay before Explorer redraws the desktop
• won't be able to logoff
• Networking is also crippled

I don't think this stripped-down Windows provides even the most basic functionality expected by many users nowadays.

It's like patients are treated as long as their hearts are beating, even though everything else has shut down.

Re:No Thanks

[gmack]

You will get a system with no networking or GUI and all your drives will be read only and a single root prompt (provided you told it you wanted one).

Re:No Thanks

[toddbu]

I've got my own list of stuff that I turn off right after a fresh install. Everything runs just great. Remember, this is a list of stuff to turn OFF:

Alerter
Automatic Updates
COM+ Event System
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Error Reporting Service
Help and Support
IIS Admin
Infrared monitor
IPSEC Services
Logical Disk Manager
Machine Debug Manager
Messenger
Network Location Awareness (NLA)
Remote Registry
Simple Mail Transport Protocol
System Event Notification
System Restore Service
Task Scheduler
Themes
Upload Manager
WebClient
World Wide Web Publishing

Because Windows services support dependencies, some stuff will turn itself back on when needed. But at least you don't take the hit at boot time.

For services you actually should disable...

[rdwald]

Take a look at Black Viper's list of WinXP SP2 services.

Re:Feel "teh diference"

[Umbral Blot]

Do you know who Mark Russinovich is? Besides writing key books on windows published by Microsoft themselves he is also a very important member of the windows developer community. There is no way in hell Microsoft would want to make him an unsatisfied customer. If they really didn't like what he is doing I bet that they would try to bribe him with large sums of money to stop instead.

Microsoft GA

[badmammajamma]

Apparently Microsoft Genuine Advantage is one of the services you can disable.

Sysinternals > Microsoft

[TopSpin]

Sysinternals is teh r0ks0rz!

No, seriously. If you don't know this, they have a utility called "Process Explorer" for Win32. It's like top on steroids. Actually, its vastly better than top, or any other process monitor I've ever seen. It will show you pretty much everything there is to know about a running Windows process; file handles, TCP connections, you name it. Its small, fast, mercifully lacking a "setup" and free.

They've got a bunch of other stuff for Windows I now consider essential. Check them out.

Shutting Down Windows...

[benjamindees]

No Start menu necessary! You just need to know the right options to rundll.

For instance, in Windows 98, it's:

C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE user,exitwindows

Google (along with a bit of experimentation) can help for other versions of Windows.