It's no secret that Windows systems often have so many unnecessary user-needed features activated by default. background processes and services that just makes your head spin. It is quite natural that many people think about system optimization issues, since some applets load the computer resources quite heavily, which is why even user programs work very slowly. But if only this were the case! But often many people do not pay attention to the fact that the system constantly monitors user actions, uses data about his location, updates its own components without his knowledge, etc.
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Deactivating all unnecessary or unused processes without special knowledge will be very problematic. That is why it is best to protect yourself from possible incorrect actions that could lead to unstable Windows operation, and use it to disable some components special programs to disable programs and the system itself, and application components that were installed by the user himself, running in background. But which application to prefer, because on the Internet you can find many such applets, and every developer praises his own software product, claiming that he is the best?
When installing an operating system or even after purchasing a new computer, unnecessary programs and applications may be found on the device. The OS can independently write into memory some services that the user may not need at all. Any such software consumes system resources to a certain extent, and there are always few of them. All this can be removed, thereby improving the performance of the PC. The main thing is to know what you can turn off without serious consequences in the future.
Where do preinstalled programs come from?
Additional software may appear on your computer in several cases. For example, you just bought a computer or laptop, launched it and saw several strange shortcuts on the desktop. Sometimes manufacturers give unique “gifts” to customers. New laptops and personal computers are often installed with software from manufacturers of processors and video cards. A little less often, programs distributed under agreement with the developers are installed. It often happens that a kind of “side program” is installed.
This means that during the installation of the software you need, you did not notice the checkbox (usually hidden in the “advanced installation settings”) and installed an annoying, unnecessary application along with it.
Various additions to installation package can also be classified as unnecessary programs. Often these include drivers that, according to developers, are necessary for the device to operate properly. Subsequently, except necessary drivers, others are installed, “just in case.” This also includes unnecessary system services.
Cluttered computer with pre-installed software
Remember that even if your laptop or desktop computer has enough free space on the PC hard drive and RAM, then still remove unnecessary programs for security reasons.
Often such applications collect and send user information to own servers, and the transmission channel for such data is poorly protected. In this case, your confidential information can very easily fall into the hands of ill-wishers.
What applications and processes can be disabled?
Before you delete everything you can get your hands on, remember: “Know what you are doing.” If a process or program is unfamiliar to you, then first figure it out, find out where it came from on the computer. The situation is similar with disabling system services of the operating system.
Please note that uninstalling programs and applications should occur using the traditional system, that is, not by deleting the folder with the program. In this case, you risk clogging hard drive information that you will no longer use.
Without serious consequences when working in the future, you can disable the following system services:
Despite such a large number of unnecessary services, there are several extremely important ones that are responsible for the performance of components and many processes on the PC. Do not under any circumstances disable or delete the following:
How to disable unnecessary processes in Windows 7
Most software can be removed using standard tools and capabilities of the Windows7 operating system itself. A situation when the computer owner cannot quickly delete some third party program is extremely rare (for example, Disable_Windowsupdate.exe). First, it is recommended to generate an operating system restore point.
It may be needed if the user incorrectly removes certain program or system components.
System Restore Point is a unique feature of Windows operating systems that allows the user, if necessary, to make a so-called rollback before making changes. To do this you will need:
Select “Computer” and click “Properties”
Select “System protection”
Create a system restore point
In such a case, the system will indicate the rollback date independently. If something goes wrong during the procedure for removing unnecessary components or entire programs, you can return the computer to its previous state.
Via "Start"
When installing any program or application, a built-in uninstallation program is installed along with the software shell and its functionality. All the shortcuts that we need in this case will be in the Start menu. To delete unnecessary application perform the following manipulations:
Select “All programs” and look for the program we need
In the window, click on the link, but do not delete the shortcut
We look for the program and remove it through “Programs and Features”
Please note that if you delete the shortcut itself, it will have no effect. All data about the program will remain the same, untouched, but you will not be able to launch it.
Via "Control Panel"
The “Control Panel” contains a standard tool for removing programs and components. As a result, we should get into the same window that was mentioned in the previous paragraph. To do this you will need:
In "Start" open "Control Panel"
Launch the Programs and Features utility
We search for, select the unnecessary program and press the “Delete” button
After removal, it is advisable to restart your personal computer. You can do this later, after you have removed all unnecessary components and applications.
Video: deleting through the “Control Panel”
Via "Task Manager"
“Task Manager” allows you to work not only with applications, but also with processes and services. The application on Windows 7 can be launched using the key combination Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
Each tab is responsible for a specific element of the system. Thus, if you go to “Services”, you will be able to view all those services that are available on your personal computer, including stopped ones. The current status is displayed in the Status field. Using the "Task Manager" you can disable a service, just select the one you need, right-click and select "Stop Service". You can restart it using the same method.
You can go to a complete, detailed list of all services by clicking on the “Services” button. It will be here detailed description each service, the functions it performs, and its status. The window allows you to change the way the service starts, which is done by right-clicking the mouse.
A complete list of all computer services
In the "Task Manager" you can deactivate any process or application that you do not need. Be careful, as this displays system processes, disabling them can lead to problems during operation personal computer. Therefore, disable only those processes that you know about. To work with processes you will need:
Disabling processes via Task Manager
Please note that such forced shutdown is valid only for a specific session of the device. The next time you start, the process will load automatically.
Video: cleaning through Task Manager
Using "System Configuration"
The System Configuration utility allows you to disable autostart of unnecessary services and applications after loading the OS. To change the configuration you should:
We remove unnecessary services and programs through “System Configuration”
Disable unnecessary services through “System Configuration”
To disable unnecessary services and programs from startup, you just need to uncheck the box on the left next to the name of the application (service). Click the “Apply” and “Ok” button to save the changes and exit the utility.
Programs for removing unnecessary files
You can save time and take advantage of special software, which will automatically find and delete unnecessary files on a personal computer.
A small, easy-to-use program that will improve the performance of your PC by removing old and unnecessary files, including getting rid of unnecessary software on your computer or laptop. The utility has a simple and intuitive interface.
Select unnecessary programs and begin the removal procedure
During the first activation, the program will require you to confirm license agreement and will ask whether PC-Decrapifier is being used on this computer for the first time or not? If this is your first time using this utility, it will automatically create a system restore point. After answering this question, the program will analyze the computer and provide you with information about all installed programs, residual files. The only thing you will need to do is select the applications that you do not need and click on the delete button.
Video: removal via PC-Decrapifier
CCleaner
The program is designed to clean your computer from various “garbage”. The utility analyzes information on the device and shows detailed data about all files found, including those inside the system registry. With its help you can easily get rid of unnecessary temporary files preinstalled programs(even those that are not deleted in the standard way) and find residual data.
To remove unnecessary files and programs you should:
PC analysis via CCleaner
The result of checking your computer with CCleaner
This will find all the old, unused data that you can get rid of.
If you need any of the found fragments, uncheck the box next to it and only then click the “Cleanup” button.
Video: working with CCleaner
Easy to use, free utility. Available paid version with an additional set of functions: automatic removal software when uninstalled by another application, regularly checking for updates. By and large, users will have enough free version. With its help, you can analyze the system for the presence of old, temporary files, delete them and unnecessary programs.
To work with the utility it is enough:
Cleaning your computer using IObit Uninstaller
Video: removal via IObit Uninstaller
Thus, using standard means Windows 7 operating system or additional software, you can improve your computer's performance, free up hard drive space, and provide good protection your device from external threats.
In this video we will look at the command Taskkill, which allows you to terminate certain processes from the command line in the Windows operating system. But first, as always, let’s consider why this might be needed at all.
On regular workstations this command not particularly in demand, since you can end the process through the task manager. Although, this does not always work out and in this situation the Taskkill command is useful, but this is rather an exception to the rule.
This command is mainly used by system administrators and I personally encountered the following situations:
1) Updating programs on the terminal server - when administering a terminal server, a large number of people can run the same application. But, in most cases, when updating a program, you must first close it, i.e. complete its process. If there are not many clients, then you can use the task manager, but if there are about 100 of them, then this is already problematic. And the Taskkill command allows you to kill all processes for a specific application.
2) Automatic program restart - as you know, not all programs work perfectly and sometimes they freeze. And if this program must work 24 hours a day and 7 days a week, then you have to periodically check its performance.
Personally, I came across the following situation: there is an online store into which product data is uploaded from 1C. But the handler is written somehow crookedly, as a result of which the exchange freezes once a day, or even every 2-3 hours. Therefore, it became necessary to forcefully restart the handler every hour, regardless of whether the program froze or not.
And so, let's move on to practice.
In this article I continue the topic of optimizing computer performance; today we will stop some programs running in the background to speed up and speed up the PC.
In the last lesson we disabled programs from startup(if you haven’t read this lesson, then I advise you to start with it, the link is at the end of this article), thereby increasing performance, and now we will disable Windows services running in the background.
Any of these services can be either system or third-party, but they all eat up a small part of the system’s resources; if you consider that there are several dozen of them, the load increases noticeably.
Of course in most cases system programs working in the background are necessary for the normal operation of the computer, but there are some that are not needed at all and are unlikely to be needed by anyone.
When disabling yourself, you need to be extremely careful; when disabling any process, you need to know what it is responsible for so as not to harm the OS. Below I will give a small list of what can be excluded and what can be translated into manual mode.
What programs can I disable?
To do this you need to log in Service Management by right-clicking on the My Computer shortcut, which is located on yours, or selecting Computer. In the menu that appears, select Control
then click on Services and applications and the last point Services. Here you can see all the necessary and unnecessary programs running in the background; in total, I have more than 150 of them!
First of all, I advise you to look through the entire list and find some familiar programs that you may have installed and simply disable them.
For example: torrent clients µTorrent or BitComet you can safely disable them, unless of course you distribute some files day and night. Program Skype(Skype) if you call once a month then why will it waste resources every day?
Also with other programs, if there is no need for its work every minute, feel free to stop it. Do not confuse it in any way, disabling a program does not mean it will not work in the future! When you need it, just run it with , as you usually do.
Background mode is a standby mode, that is, the program is always running, although it is not used.
And finally, the list I promised Windows Services which can be disabled for sure or switched to manual mode.
Parental Control– turn off
KtmRm for distributed transaction coordinator– manually
Adaptive adjustment— disabling brightness is necessary only for PC owners. with built-in light sensor to automatically adjust monitor brightness
WWAN auto setup– disable if you do not have CDMA or GSM modules
Windows Firewall– disable it if your antivirus has this service
Computer browser– translate manually when not using the local network
Support IP Service– turn off
Secondary login– disable or manually
Dispatcher automatic connections remote access
– disable or manually
Print Manager– turn it off if we don’t use the printer
Windows Defender– disable it, a completely unnecessary service
Distributed Transaction Coordinator– turn off
NetBIOS Support Module– disable, but provided that there is no local network (connection of 2 computers or more)
Setting up a Remote Desktop Server– turn off
Bluetooth support– turn it off, I don’t think this is relevant now.
Download service Windows images(WIA)– if you use a scanner, you don’t touch anything
Service remote control Windows– turn off
Remote Desktop Service– turn off
Smartcard– turn off
Tablet PC input service– turn off
Remote registry– everything is generally bad here; there is an opinion that this is a kind of open door for a virus that can change system registry. Definitely disable
Fax– we turn it off, it’s completely a thing of the past.
To disable a service, double-click on it with the left mouse button, a window will open where we change the value Startup type from Automatic to Disabled then Stop//Apply//OK. This is how we deal with every service we dislike.
This is the list of services that I was able to find out about; I will be glad if anyone can add to it in the comments to this article.
This concludes this article, but the topic of optimization is to be continued, subscribe to updates so as not to miss it and other subsequent articles.
Valery Semenov, website
If your computer is running slowly and the space hard drive overloaded, clean it of unnecessary programs and components, and also disable unnecessary processes and services. This can be done using standard Windows tools or using third-party programs.
Where do unnecessary programs come from?
What programs and processes can be removed in Windows 7
In Windows 7, there are three categories of data that load the system - programs, processes and services. The program is installed on the computer to perform the function required by the user. The process may be systemic, necessary for correct Windows operation 7, and a user one, launched along with the program. Services on the system start by default and are disabled through Computer Management.
Processes can be disabled through the “Task Manager” (instructions are given below).
Table: which processes can be disabled without harm to the system
Process | Description |
office | Responsible for work Open Office. |
reader_sl | Adobe Reader Accelerator. |
hkcmd | Intel process, accompanies hardware computer. |
adobeARM | Checks for Adobe Reader updates. |
RAVCpl64 | Audio manager from Realteck. |
CCC | Control center for ATI video cards, only needed if you play games. |
neroCheck | Looks for conflicting drivers. |
jqs | Speeds up Java programs. |
juicy | Looking for updates for Java. |
wmpnetwk | System Windows search Media Player. |
osppsvc | Protection of MS Office 2010 programs. |
sidebar | Responsible for work Windows gadgets 7. |
nwiz | Responsible for nVidia NView actions. |
atiptaxx | Provides access to the settings of ATI video cards. |
Do not disable the Explorer.exe process - stopping it will remove desktop icons and the Windows taskbar.
Table: processes that cannot be disabled
Process | Description |
taskshot | Host file. |
msdtc | Transaction coordinator for network systems. |
smss | Windows session management. |
wininit | Autorun programs. |
winlogon | Login to Windows. |
services | Starting Windows services. |
explorer | Desktop, shortcuts. |
spoolsy | Supports a print queue. |
lsm | Manages the state of sessions. |
taskmgr | Responsible for the operation of the task manager. |
searchindexer | Search indexing. |
csrss | Responsible for console applications. |
sppsvc | Windows platform protection. |
svhost | Responsible for network communication. |
conhost | For processing console windows. |
lsass | Saves local security users. |
If you are unsure whether the process can be terminated, open the location of the executable file. If he is in system folder Windows, don't stop it.
Windows 7 prevents the user from completing some particularly important processes. When you reboot, the system starts them again.
In addition to processes, the Windows system runs services, some of which can be closed using the Computer Management menu without compromising the security of the PC. List of services that can be stopped:
- fax;
- Windows remote control;
- remote registry;
- remote desktops;
- Bluetooth support;
- remote desktop server;
- secondary login;
- smart card;
- remote access auto connection manager;
- distributed transaction coordinator (DTC);
- ktmrm for KRT.
If you don't use local network, disable the NetBIOS Support Module service and switch the Computer Browser service to manual mode.
The image download service cannot be disabled if a scanner or webcam is connected.
How to erase programs and stop processes on Windows 7
You can remove utilities and stop processes in several ways: through the Start menu, using the Control Panel and Task Manager, as well as using specially designed programs.
How to Uninstall Programs and Disable Services from the Start Menu
By opening Start, you can view the list of programs and remove some:
The disadvantage of this method is that after erasing a program using Windows, its files and residual entries in the registry are saved.
You can also stop services from the Start menu. To do this:
Do not disable all services in a row - some of them are responsible for correct operation Windows.
Video: disabling unnecessary processes and services
How to erase an application from the Control Panel
To uninstall the utility, it is not enough to erase the folder where it is located or the icon from the desktop. You can use the uninstaller from standard Windows tools.
- Click on Start and select Control Panel.
- Open "Uninstall a program".
- The computer will open a list of programs running on the computer, in alphabetical order.
- Click on the name of the utility that you will uninstall and click “Uninstall/Change” at the top of the window.
- Confirm the deletion in the pop-up window.
After uninstallation is complete, you may need to restart your computer.
Video: uninstallation from Control Panel
How to stop processes through Task Manager
To stop processes running in Windows, launch Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del.
When you restart your computer, some processes and services start automatically. Therefore, to permanently disable it, remove the program that uses the process from startup (Task Manager, Startup tab) and disable the corresponding service.
The "Startup" tab displays full list programs that start automatically when Windows startup 7. Select the programs you don't want open and uncheck the boxes next to them, then click OK. After restarting the computer, autorun will be disabled.
Other options for removing unused programs
Almost all installers prompt users to select a folder where the program files will be placed. By default, they install to the C:\Program files folder. Once you open the folder, you will see the software folders. To uninstall the program directly:
- Go to the folder of the utility that you will erase.
- Inside, find the Uninstall.exe file.
- Double click on the file with your mouse.
- An uninstaller window will open. Confirm the deletion and wait until the process completes.
A more complex method is to uninstall applications from the command line. To delete:
- Go to command line. To do this, press Win+R and enter cmd in the “Run” window. Click OK.
- Enter the WMIC command and press Enter. You will see the inscription: wmic: root\cli.
- Enter the product get name request. After a while you will see a list of installed programs.
- Write: product where name = “exact name of the program” call uninstall. When writing the program name, be careful about case. If the name is entered incorrectly, pressing Enter will display error information.
- Press “Y” to confirm the procedure and wait until Method Execution successful appears.
Third-party programs to remove unnecessary files
Using Windows tools, erasing a program without “tails” is difficult. And the developers come up with third party applications- uninstallers. Instructions for working with some of them are given below.
PC Decrapifier
- Click Check for updates.
- In the window that opens you will see the question “Are you using new computer"? Answer without embellishment.
- Create a label for Windows recovery and click “Next”.
- The program will do automatic search unused applications and present them in a list.
- Select the checkboxes of the programs to be removed and click the Remove button.
- PC Decrapifier will prompt you to uninstall other programs manually. Perform as necessary.
- In the last window, uncheck the “Submit feedback” option and click “Finish”.
PC Decrapifier copes well with third-party software, toolbars and applications imposed when loading other programs.
Video: PC Decrepifier review
CCleaner - comprehensive cleaning
The program clears hard disk space and Windows registry. Functionality is provided to control startup and remove previously installed software. Additional functionality is located in the “Service” menu.
CCleaner finds more installed applications than the standard Windows 7 uninstaller. And after uninstallation, it “cleans up” residual files and registry entries. To remove a program:
- Launch CCleaner.
- On the left, select “Service”.
- Find the “Uninstall programs” sub-item.
- From the list, select the program to remove and click “Uninstall”. The “Delete” button is required to remove the name of the utility only from the list - it will not be possible to uninstall the application from the PC.
To disable/enable startup programs:
- Information about programs that start automatically with Windows will open.
- Select the program for which you want to disable startup and click “Turn off.”
CCleaner allows you to manage startup not only for Windows, but also for browser add-ons.
Video: CCleaner review
IObit Uninstaller
IObit Uninstaller is the simplest program uninstaller with a registry cleaning function. The utility offers the user a list of applications to uninstall. It is divided into categories, which you can switch between in the left menu. IObit Uninstaller works in two modes - standard and forced removal.
To uninstall the utility from IObit in standard mode:
- Select it from the list.
- Click "Delete" at the bottom of the window.
- The program will create a restore point, remove unnecessary applications, and then scan the system and registry for residual files and entries.
- After scanning, you will see a list of found components and can remove them permanently.
How to uninstall a program in forced mode (required when files are protected from deletion):
- Select an application that cannot be uninstalled in standard mode and click Forced Uninstall.
- Confirm uninstallation.
Forced uninstall mode can be used for any files. But be careful! After deleting a file, the program will check the folder in which it was located and clear it of other files.
Video: IObit Uninstaller review
Revo Uninstaller
Revo Uninstaller is a program that allows you to erase software from your computer without leaving any residue. To uninstall the application:
- Enable Revo Uninstaller.
- Select the unwanted program and click on the “Delete” icon.
- In the action confirmation window, select “Yes”.
- Select the program uninstallation method: built-in, secure, medium or advanced. For experienced users It's worth using the advanced method.
- Click Next. Revo Uninstaller will remove the program and scan Windows.
- The window that opens will display the entries remaining in the registry. Check them and click “Delete”.
- The next window will display a list of folders and files saved after uninstallation. Mark the ones you don't need and click "Delete".