Yeah, I know Win10 fires up a lots of services. Lots of folks are in a hurry to disable services. I get it. Back in the Windows XP days this could make a big difference. With todays wicked fast PCs and Win10s fantastic memory management, this is no longer the case.
Many sites will try and convince you to disable services that do not start by default. This is pointless. Disabling services unnecessarily can lead to problems and you’ve gained nothing.
A warning. Lots of folks/sites/guides will tell you to delete a service (sc delete). Do not delete services. This can lead to a host of problems.
There are only a few services I’m going to recommend you disable and I will explain why.
Comments and suggestions welcome but please provide DOCUMENTATION for your suggestion or reasoning.
Connected User Experiences and Telemetry
Disable – Part of Win10 telemetry. See Windows 10 Privacy Settings
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Manual – Usually OK to disable but there is an odd app or 2 that uses this. Manual setting is best.
dmwappushservice
Disable – Part of Win10 telemetry. See Windows 10 Privacy Settings
Geolocation Service
Leave alone. Turn this off via Settings > Privacy > Geolocation.
HomeGroup Provider
Disable – ONLY if you are NOT using HomeGroup.
Below is a table with default RUNNING services (Microsoft only) with suggestions.
TweakHound’s Win10 Services Recommendations For Home Users | |||
Name | Status | Startup Type | Settings, etc. |
Application Information | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Background Tasks Infrastructure Service | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Base Filtering Engine | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Bluetooth Support Service | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Only running if you have Bluetooth |
CNG Key Isolation | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
COM+ Event System | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Connected User Experiences and Telemetry | Running | Automatic | Disable |
CoreMessaging | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Credential Manager | Running | Manual | Needed |
Cryptographic Services | Running | Automatic | Needed |
DCOM Server Process Launcher | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Device Association Service | Running | Automatic (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Device Install Service | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
DHCP Client | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Diagnostic Policy Service | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Diagnostic Service Host | Running | Manual | Needed |
Diagnostic System Host | Running | Manual | Needed |
Distributed Link Tracking Client | Running | Automatic | For home usually OK to disable. Best to set to Manual |
dmwappushservice |
| Manual (Trigger Start) | Disable. Not auto started but this is part of Win10 telemetry. |
DNS Client | Running | Automatic (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Function Discovery Provider Host | Running | Manual | Needed |
Function Discovery Resource Publication | Running | Manual | Needed |
Geolocation Service | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | The “trigger” is your Privacy > Geolocation settings. Turn it off there. |
HomeGroup Provider | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Disable if you are not using HomeGroup. |
Human Interface Device Service | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
IP Helper | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Local Session Manager | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Network Connected Devices Auto-Setup | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Network Connection Broker | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Network List Service | Running | Manual | Needed |
Network Location Awareness | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Network Store Interface Service | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Plug and Play | Running | Manual | Needed |
Power | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Print Spooler | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Program Compatibility Assistant Service | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) | Running | Automatic | Needed |
RPC Endpoint Mapper | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Security Accounts Manager | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Security Center | Running | Automatic (Delayed Start) | Needed |
Server | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Shell Hardware Detection | Running | Automatic | Needed |
SSDP Discovery | Running | Manual | Needed |
State Repository Service | Running | Manual | Needed |
Superfetch | Running | Automatic | Needed |
System Event Notification Service | Running | Automatic | Needed |
System Events Broker | Running | Automatic (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Task Scheduler | Running | Automatic | Needed |
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed if you are networked with older Windows Oss, Linux, some printers… |
Themes | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Tile Data model server | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Time Broker | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed if you want your time kept accurate via internet. |
User Manager | Running | Automatic (Trigger Start) | Needed |
User Profile Service | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Windows Audio | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Windows Audio Endpoint Builder | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Windows Connection Manager | Running | Automatic (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Windows Defender Network Inspection Service | Running | Manual | Needed |
Windows Defender Service | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Windows Driver Foundation | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Windows Event Log | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Windows Firewall | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Windows Font Cache Service | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Windows License Manager Service | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
Windows Management Instrumentation | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Windows Search | Running | Automatic (Delayed Start) | Needed |
Windows Update | Running | Manual (Trigger Start) | Needed |
WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service | Running | Manual | Needed |
WLAN AutoConfig | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Workstation | Running | Automatic | Needed |
Wilco says
Thank you so much for this . I made a screenshot of it in case I run into problems.
The Connected User Experiences and Telemetry service seems to be gone here thanks to DSW Lite and I hope that won,t give me any problems in the feature .
swarfega says
I used to do this under XP, but since Windows 8 I haven’t felt the need to.
oldelfin says
Thanks for the list. I was mostly curious about the telemetry services.
Kelly says
“Geolocation Service
Running
Manual (Trigger Start)
The “trigger” is your Privacy > Geolocation settings. Turn it off there.”
What do you man here by turn it off, to stop the service or to disable it?
BTW I used to follow BV settings but, haven’t seen the need since XP…
Eric (a.k.a. TweakHound) says
If you turn off Geolocation settings the service never starts.
Kelly says
Ok I see what your saying now…