Registry Information
This is strictly for advanced users. Altering Registry settings can lead to system instability.
Once you have established suitable settings for your services, you can create a Registry file to make all of the desired changes in one hit. Changing services with a registry file is very handy if you have multiple PC's or if you're sick of going through and manually setting them each time you reinstall Windows. If you do this, I suggest making a batch file to start or stop the services accordingly, since the registry file is unable to do this and sometimes services may remain in a default started state when they are set to Manual or in some cases, a stopped state when they are set to Automatic. Run the batch file before you run the registry file and then restart the PC. This doesn't apply to the Disabled option, since the services should be prevented from starting on subsequent reboots.
The services that you see listed in the Services MMC Snap-in are listed in amongst many other hidden system services. Be very careful about which services you edit and also the registry name of the service. Check and double-check any registry files you create. You can find the services listing in the registry at:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services]
Editing a Service
The only thing you should consider altering in the registry for services is the startup type, however you may also like to alter the descripion to something more informative. The startup codes are as follows:- dword:00000002 = Automatic
- dword:00000003 = Manual
- dword:00000004 = Disabled
Here is a sample code for a registry file that will set the Help and Support Service's Startup type to Manual:
Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Help And Support
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\helpsvc]
"Start"=dword:00000003