Vista has a lot of Services. The more expensive your version of Vista, the more services it has. By default, many of these services run automatically when you start your computer, whether you need them or not. If you don’t need them, they’re just using memory and processor time that could best be used by something else. This is why you may want to turn some of them off.

Which ones to turn off? Check my Services page which will expand (roughly one new service per day) to explain what each one does, and why you may or may not need it. You can also see the SpeedyVista site, that gives some basic recommendations as well. How to disable them? Follow these steps:

1. Click on the Start menu and type services in the search box
   
2. When you see Services appear in the programs list, press Enter (or click on it if it’s not the top entry in the list)
   
3. If you have UAC active, you’ll need to approve elevated rights. You’ll then see the Services window open, which lists all installed services.
   
4. Generally you don’t need to worry about the services with Manual startup types as they are only started when they are needed (only disable if you prefer that service not run even if it is needed). Don’t just start disabling services without knowing what they do! You’ll probably end up with serious problems. Double-click the name of the service you wish to disable and you’ll get a Properties window for the service.
   
5. If the service is currently started, you’ll probably want to stop it. Again, be sure this is a service you don’t need! If you stop a service, not only is it not available, but other services that depend on it will be unavailable as well. To stop the service, simply click the Stop button.
   
6. Click on the Startup Type menu (in this case it currently says Automatic) and choose Disable.
   
7. Click Apply or OK and the service is disabled.