Initial Services Installed On Windows 7

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What are Windows Services?
List of Initial Services
Which Services Can I Turn Off?

A couple of days ago I got my new Acer laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium on it and I immediately copied down the initial services installed on it because if I start downloading and installing software then this list will get bigger and I'll have no idea what services are important.. I'd like to share them with you :-) Questions?

What are Windows Services?
A Window service is a program that is registered with Windows operating system as a service, and can be configured to run automatically at system startup. The service, once runs, can stop or continue running depending on its purpose. Some services are critical and MUST run while others are merely additional features or functions that you may or may not want. You don't have to worry about accidentally unchecking critical services because when system starts up it'll automatically run critical services. Questions?

You can access your system's services by click Start -> type "msconfig" then enter -> click Services tab. Once you make changes reboot to have them reflected. You don't have to worry about making a mistake because you can always revert your changes later.

Many people want to know what services are essential and what are not so that we can turn off the unimportant ones to make our computers run faster.

List of Initial Services
Below is the list of names, manufacturers, and statuses of services that come with my Acer laptop. I'll also talk about what services you can turn off to speed up your computer.

Service	Manufacturer	Status
Acer ePower Service	Acer Incorporated	Running
ActiveX Installer (AxInstSV)	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Adaptive Brightness	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Agere Modem Call Progress Audio	LSI Corporation	Running
Application Experience	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Application Identity	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Application Layer Gateway Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Background Intelligent Transfer Service	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Base Filtering Engine	Microsoft Corporation	Running
BitLocker Drive Encryption Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Block Level Backup Engine Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Bluetooth Support Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Certificate Propagation	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
CNG Key Isolation	Microsoft Corporation	Running
COM+ Event System	Microsoft Corporation	Running
COM+ System Application	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Computer Browser	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Credential Manager	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Cryptographic Services	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Desktop Window Manager Session Manager	Microsoft Corporation	Running
DHCP Client	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Diagnostic Policy Service	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Diagnostic Service Host	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Diagnostic System Host	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Disk Defragmenter	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Distributed Link Tracking Client	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Distributed Transaction Coordinator	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
DNS Client	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Encrypting File System (EFS)	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Extensible Authentication Protocol	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Fax	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Function Discovery Provider Host	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Function Discovery Resource Publication	Microsoft Corporation	Running
GameConsoleService	WildTangent, Inc.	Stopped
Google Software Updater	Google	Stopped
Google Update Service (gupdate)	Google Inc.	Stopped
GRegService	Acer Incorporated	Running
Group Policy Client	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Health Key and Certificate Management	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
HomeGroup Listener	Microsoft Corporation	Running
HomeGroup Provider	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Human Interface Device Access	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Intel(R) Matrix Storage Event Monitor	Intel Corporation	Running
Interactive Services Detection	Microsoft Corporation	Running
IP Helper	Microsoft Corporation	Running
IPsec Policy Agent	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Link-Layer Topology Discovery Mapper	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
McAfee Anti-Spam Service	McAfee, Inc.	Stopped
McAfee Application Installer Cleanup	McAfee, Inc.	Stopped
McAfee Network Agent	McAfee, Inc.	Stopped
McAfee Personal Firewall Service	McAfee, Inc.	Stopped
McAfee Proxy Service	McAfee, Inc.	Stopped
McAfee Real-time Scanner	McAfee, Inc.	Running
McAfee Scanner	McAfee, Inc.	Stopped
McAfee Services	McAfee, Inc.	Stopped
McAfee SiteAdvisor Service	McAfee, Inc.	Stopped
McAfee SystemGuards	McAfee, Inc.	Running
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v2.0.50727_X64	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v2.0.50727_X86	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Microsoft Office Diagnostics Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Multimedia Class Scheduler	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Netlogon	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Network Access Protection Agent	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Network Connections	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Network List Service	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Network Location Awareness	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Network Store Interface Service	Microsoft Corporation	Running
NTI Backup Now 5 Backup Service	NewTech InfoSystem, Inc.	Stopped
NTI Backup Now 5 Scheduler Service	NewTech InfoSystem, Inc.	Running
NTI IScheduleSvc	NewTech InfoSystem, Inc.	Running
Office Source Engine	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Parental Controls	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Partner Service	Google Inc.	Stopped
Peer Name Resolution Protocol	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Peer Networking Grouping	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Peer Networking Identity Manager	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Performance Counter DLL Host	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Performance Logs & Alerts	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
PNRP Machine Name Publication Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Portable Device Enumerator Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Power	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Print Spooler	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Program Compatibility Assistant Service	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Protected Storage	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Quality Windows Audio Video Experience	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Remote Access Auto Connection Manager	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Remote Access Connection Manager	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Remote Desktop Configuration	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Remote Desktop Services	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Remote Registry	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
RPC Endpoint Mapper	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Secondary Logon	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Secure Socket Tunneling Protocol Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Security Accounts Manager	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Security Center	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Server	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Shell Hardware Detection	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Smart Card	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Smart Card Removal Policy	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
SNMP Trap	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
SPP Notification Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
SSDP Discovery	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Superfetch	Microsoft Corporation	Running
System Event Notification Service	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Tablet PC Input Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Task Scheduler	Microsoft Corporation	Running
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Telephony	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Themes	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Thread Ordering Server	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
TPM Base Services	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Updater Service	Acer	Running
UPnP Device Host	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Virtual Disk	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Volume Shadow Copy	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
WebClient	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Audio	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Audio Endpoint Builder	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Backup	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Biometric Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows CardSpace	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Color System	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Connect Now - Config Registrar	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Defender	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Error Reporting Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Event Collector	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Event Log	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Firewall	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Font Cache Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Installer	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Management Instrumentation	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Media Center Receiver Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Media Center Scheduler Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Modules Installer	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Remote Management (WS-Management)	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Windows Search	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Time	Microsoft Corporation	Running
Windows Update	Microsoft Corporation	Running
WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Wired AutoConfig	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
WLAN AutoConfig	Microsoft Corporation	Running
WMI Performance Adapter	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped
Workstation	Microsoft Corporation	Running
WWAN AutoConfig	Microsoft Corporation	Stopped

Which Services Can I Turn Off?
In general you wouldn't want to mess with them too much because you might turn off a service of a dependency of one that plays sound from your speakers, browses the Internet, prints document, etc. If you are an advanced user you can turn off services that are unimportant judging by their names. In the above list I'd turn off services with McAfee and Google because they are not essential to the operating system. Then I'd turn off services I don't need such as Bluetooth Support Service, Windows Firewall (I use Sygate firewall), Smart Card, Parental Controls, etc. Questions?

One way to absolutely know the minimum services you need simply uncheck one service and reboot and test. If you can hear audio, browse the net, etc., then proceed with unchecking the next service. If unchecking one fails the test check it back.

Any questions or comments let me know!