The easiest way to speed up Windows 7 is to shut down and disable non required services. We have compiled a list of services that can be safely disabled.
Note: Script to automate disabling all services mentioned in first table below and point 5,7,8 and 9 'other tweaks' can be downloaded from http://infracc-server/DisableServices.vbs
To disable these services:
1. Right-click on Computer icon on desktop and select Manage, it'll open a new window. Now go to Services & Applications -> Services. You can also open the same from Administrative Tools ->Computer Management. Or you can directly open "Services" list by providing services.msc command in RUN or Start Menu search box.
2. Now you can set the unnecessary services to DISABLED or MANUAL. Just double-click on any service and select the desired option in Startup type list box.
Here is a list of services that can be safely set to DISABLED
Sr. |
Service Name |
Description |
1. |
Windows Search |
This service consumes a lot of CPU and writes a lot of data which might choke the network in RDP deployment. Data generated by this service also ends up using lots of disk space. |
2. |
Windows Update |
In RDP environment, updates are pushed centrally by updating golden images |
3. |
Superfetch |
Although superfetch on systems with individual hard disk makes sense, it will actually slow down the overall performance in RDP environment. |
4. |
IP Helper |
Many organizations haven't even started testing IPv6, much less fully deployed it. As indicated in the service description, the IP Helper service is leveraged in IPv4-to-IPv6 transitions. |
5. |
Network Access Protection Agent |
If you're not doing network-based remediation or if you're doing remediation with a third-party tool that doesn't leverage the NAP client, this service can be disabled. |
6. |
Parental Controls |
This service is a stub for Windows Parental Control functionality that existed in Vista. It is provided for backward compatibility only.Corporate networks rarely used Vista's Parental Control functionality. Further, this is a legacy service from Windows Vista. |
7. |
Smart Card |
If your organization does not use smart cards for authentication purposes, you can safely disable this service. |
8. |
Smart Card Removal Policy |
Same as above |
9. |
Windows Media Center Receiver Service |
In most corporate environments, TV and FM broadcast reception on desktop computers is not considered a "business critical" item that needs support, and it's often not allowed anyway. You can disable this service to save some resources. |
10. |
Windows Media Center Scheduler Service |
Same as above |
11. |
Fax |
If your organization is not using a network-based faxing service, disabling this service will have no business impact. |
12. |
Tablet PC Input Service |
The vast majority of PCs that are deployed to users do not have hardware that can leverage tablet-like capability. This service simply uses system resources with no possible benefit. |
13. |
Background Intelligent Transfer Service |
This service is used by windows to download updates. Since we have disabled updates, this service can be disabled |
Other tweaks:
Sr. |
Tweak |
Procedure |
1. |
Limit size of windows event logs |
|
2. |
Disable startup and recovery logging |
|
3. |
Improve performance tuning |
|
4. |
Turn off periodic defrag |
|
5. |
Disable System Restore |
|
6. |
Disable Drive Indexing |
|
7. |
Disable Hibernation |
|
8. |
Disable Prefetch and SuperFetch |
|
9. |
Ntfs Disable Last Access Update |
|
10. |
Disable readyboot.etl |
|
11. |
Disable paging NOTE: paging can't be disabled if memory is less then 2GB |
|
Restart the machine after applying above tweaks.