My Batch file for turning off Services

[CoolBeans]

I thought I'd share a batch file I use to quickly turn off Windows services. This frees up resources before playing some of the more demanding games. I'm using Windows 7 64bit so you might have to change some entries. I'd love to hear If anyone has other services they think could be added. Or if any I have already might cause a problem while gaming. I've attached the actual file but it looks like this:

NET STOP "Application Experience"
NET STOP "Base Filtering Engine"
NET STOP "Bluetooth Support Service"
NET STOP "Desktop Window Manager Session Manager"
NET STOP "Diagnostic Policy Service"
NET STOP "Diagnostic System Host"
NET STOP "Diskeeper"
NET STOP "Distributed Link Tracking Client"
NET STOP "Function Discovery Provider Host"
NET STOP "Human Interface Device Access"
NET STOP "IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules"
NET STOP "Network List Service"
NET STOP "Portable Device Enumerator Service"
NET STOP "Print Spooler"
NET STOP "Security Center"
NET STOP "Server"
NET STOP "SSDP Discovery"
NET STOP "Themes"
NET STOP "Windows Update"

Obviously, If you don't use diskeeper or bluetooth you'd remove those. For anyone who doesn't know, a batch file is simply a text file but the .txt is changed to .bat. You can keep the file on you desktop or game folder and just double click it to turn off the services. I've also uploaded my "Start Services" bat, that you can use after your done gaming!

[Pinnacle [Rob]]

Cool idea, but I just want to remind everyone that this is USE AT YOUR OWN RISK if you try CoolBeans's batch file above... it probably is perfectly safe, but it's possible that some things could go wacky on your PC if you shut these services down. Most likely restarting the computer would resolve any issues, but still you should only use this with the understanding that some problems could popup...

[cybmole]

from what i've read - these speed up tricks only make a difference on very low end PCs

so, out of interest, have you done any benchmarking to measure the impact of turning these off e.g. by using games with fixed benchmarks or DIY with fraps ?

[Pinnacle [Marco]]

I've used a freeware app called SmartClose in the past to do this very sort of thing.

[CoolBeans]

No, I didn't do benchmarking. And your right, cybermole. High end systems probably wouldn't notice much of an impact by running this batch file during gaming. I figure though, why have Windows using system resources that my game could be using. Especially, the way games are evolving so quickly
And thanks for the disclaimer, Rob!

I did all my 'research', on which services could safely be turned off, from this website:
http://www.blackviper.com/

Black Viper is pretty much the authority on the mysterious world of Windows background services. His site is really impressive. Take a little time and really check it out!
All I did was check, on my system, which background services were running. Then matched that against Black Vipers "tweaked configuration" for Windows 7. My batch file is based on this information. I mean, He's been doing this for 10 years. I trust him!

But, I'm over explaining again... aren't I?

CB

[CoolBeans]

I decided I should run some benchmarks to see if my above batch file would really increase game performance. I think my media machine makes a good test bed to try it out on. (It's somewhere in the middle) "Feel" is one thing, but having numbers to back it up is important too.

And the good news is... my machine didn't freeze up during testing!

As far as gaming, I was not overly impressed with the results. There was improvement but not really a significant amount. IMO

System Model................ ECS MCP61PM-GM
Processor................. AMD Phenom 9500 2.2gHz Quad-Core Processor
Physical Memory........ 6 GB @800mHz
Graphics................... ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2
GPU Memory............ 510 MB
Operating System....... Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
C:\ Drive................... 2 750GB WD Black Caviar RAID 0 (40% used space)
D:\ Drive................... 74GB WD Raptor (Page file/Temp folder)
E:\ Drive................... 5 1TB Seagate RAID 5 eSATA case (Storage)
Test Application..........PCMark Vantage (64-bit)

Non-Tweaked results: 69 Windows Background Services running
Gaming - Total Score: 4,257.0

Tweaked results: 44 Windows Background services running
Gaming - Total Score: 4,307.0

I know, +50 points!
BUT...the devil is in the details, as they say!

Non-Tweaked sub totals:
GPU gaming............ 22.2 FPS
CPU gaming............ 8,048.4 operations/s
HDD gaming............ 16,294,305.0 B/s

Tweaked sub totals:
GPU gaming............. 20.2 FPS
CPU gaming............. 8,334.2 operations/s
HDD gaming............. 16,394,354.0 B/s

In my defense, I'd have to say that the CPU and HDD results, while not showing a large increase, do show a significant improvement. Strangely, the GPU results actually decreased by 2 FPS. Therefore, dragging the total score down. I'll mark that down as a testing anomaly because shutting off services shouldn't really effect the GPU. I mean, I wasn't looking for an improvement there, at any rate.

I'll continue to use the batch file for the latest games though. Mostly, because I feel this machine is not worth sinking any more money into.
and I'll take any edge I can get until I can fund a new machine.

CB

[cybmole]

i had in mind playing an actual game using fraps to measure your FPS, then replaying the same game from the same point after using your batch tweak.

i also found the black viper site good for fine tuning a vista pc, by turning off non-needed services permanently ( like why run telephony & fax services if you don't have a modem.. ), but there were not that many which could sensibly be disabled.

there is also a downside to tunring off obscure serivces that you think you'll never need... t a year later you go through hell trying to get something to work & it's bacause of what you did long ago & forgot about.
e.g. media sharing from my PC to Xbox360 would not work until I realised that I'd one time disabled a PC service that I though I'd never ever need.

[Pinnacle [Marco]]

Strangely, the GPU results actually decreased by 2 FPS. Therefore, dragging the total score down. I'll mark that down as a testing anomaly because shutting off services shouldn't really effect the GPU.

That's odd. Have you tried any other benchmarking software?

I'll continue to use the batch file for the latest games though. Mostly, because I feel this machine is not worth sinking any more money into.

Have you checked out that SmartClose I mentioned? It's free and goes beyond services. The batch file is cool, very simple, but maybe you can squeeze some more power out of your machine with a program designed just for this purpose.

Also, do you know that you can run your batch file as a command in PGP?

i had in mind playing an actual game using fraps to measure your FPS, then replaying the same game from the same point after using your batch tweak.

I think that running PCMark Vantage, as he did, or other benchmark software like 3DMark gives you more reliable data to assess the effectiveness. It's synthetic, but at least it's apples to apples.

[CoolBeans]

Okay! Thanks for the input guys!

I just may check out fraps because I'm a little concerned about that 20-22 fps score. I repeated it and scored 27 fps, but still...seems low!

Marco, I also downloaded smartclose. Will let you know what I think.

cybermole, I agree about disabling services permanently having unintended consequences. That's the reason for the batch file. One file stops the services, the other starts them back up. Or a reboot puts everything back to normal.

[Pinnacle [Marco]]

I think you should try another synthetic benchmarking program.