Temporarily Stop/Start Your Services to Free Up Ram*
This is only an outline of the services “I” can place in the batch file. The same may apply for you but do a little testing first! Please read the entire post before you start copying & pasting for the batch file. Thank you!
So you’ve tweaked your services but still must leave many running in order to gaze at the XP theme or keep your internet/network connection active for day-to-day tasks, but if your like me and dabble with intense production applications or the occasional “system demanding” game-play, the following batch files are for you.
By creating the two batch files as I have outlined, you will be four clicks away from temporarily disabling the extra services enabling the release of 20mb + of Ram for your current app/game.
As of
Off to the races! As you will notice below, the format for this tweak is broken down as follows:
NET STOP/NET START = the command for the task you wish to accomplish
“In-Quotes” = the desired service you wish to stop/start
Note: One _ space in-between the command words and the listed service. Also, you should quote the service exactly as it appears under services.msc.
Stop Services:
******************
NET STOP "Cryptographic Services"
NET STOP "DHCP Client"
NET STOP "DNS Client"
NET STOP "Network Connections"
NET STOP "Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect Service"
NET STOP "Print Spooler"
NET STOP "Protected Storage"
NET STOP "Remote Access Auto Connection Manager"
NET STOP "Shell Hardware Detection
NET STOP "Symantec Event Manager"
NET STOP "Task Scheduler"
NET STOP "Themes"
NET STOP "Windows Management Instrumentation"
NET STOP "Windows Time"
******************
Start Services:
******************
NET START "Cryptographic Services"
NET START "DHCP Client"
NET START "DNS Client"
NET START "Network Connections"
NET START "Norton AntiVirus Auto Protect Service"
NET START "Print Spooler"
NET START "Protected Storage"
NET START "Remote Access Auto Connection Manager"
NET START "Shell Hardware Detection
NET START "Symantec Event Manager"
NET START "Task Scheduler"
NET START "Themes"
NET START "Windows Management Instrumentation"
NET START "Windows Time"
******************
For those that are not familiar with batch file creation, you have to rename the .txt extension of a Notepad file to .bat. To accomplish this, do as follows:
My Computer > Tools > Folder Options > View > Uncheck – “Hide Extensions for Known File Types”
Now you will notice that your files have revealed an extension at the end (e.g., .txt, .mpeg, .avi, .mp3, .jpeg, and etcetera). With extensions revealed,
Right-click on the desktop > New > Text Document > Name – NetStop.bat > Enter.
Now, to add in the services you want, simply right-click on the batch file and hit “Edit”, this will open the batch file like a notepad file enabling you to add start/stop services as you see fit. To find the services on your machine:
Start > Run > Type – services.msc
After you have decided what services you can disable and still accomplish the desired goal, you may want to try this for fun:
Right-click the Taskbar > Task Manager > Processes
Now that you have the Task Manager set to show processes, double-click on the “NetStop” batch file and watch as your active processes and Ram decrease.
I run 512mb of PC2100 DDR with my current services configuration and have an idle Ram state of 76mb. If I end the process of Norton Anti-Virus under Task Manager and run this batch file, I drop my idle Ram state down to 58mb.
Finally, the only services I leave running are - Event Log, Plug and Play, Remote Access Connection Manager, Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator, Security Accounts Manager, and Telephony.
*A valid way to backup service setting tweaks is to create a system restore, as this will save your registry settings and some system settings. If you are trying to reach the status of super geek like me, and have disabled system restore, use an image backup utility like DriveImage 2002. You may also find exporting your registry keys useful as well, for instructions on understanding the registry and exporting registry keys for backup try the following:
Working with the registry per J79zlr {Forum Moderator}
http://www.tweakxp.com/idealbb/view.asp?topicID=20479
Backing up the registry per Microsoft {found by Mnosteele – Forum Moderator}
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;322756
Adjusting Services per TweakXP.com
http://www.tweakxp.com/TweakXP/display.asp?id=34
The location of the services keys in the registry can be found here:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services]
