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Is disabling Windows services a good idea to speed up your computer?

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User experience is often elevated by the use of third-party software. These software can give you anything from stats monitoring to productivity boosts. In this article, we bring you the top five windows software/apps every user should have. Note that some power users might already be aware of them. The programs on this list are pretty common. Rainmeter Rainmeter is a program used to create perplexing windows desktops. Below is my own desktop, modelled after a Bumblebee theme. My desktop, modelled using Rainmeter Using Rainmeter can take your Windows Desktop to a whole new level. There are already hundreds of amazing skins available to download for a variety of resolutions. You can just download them and get started. The program provides both utility and productivity. Most Rainmeter skins include stat monitors, custom program launchers, notes, weather updates and so on. Not only this makes your desktop look infinitely cooler, but it also provides for a good, well-organised desktop. The software is open-source and so are the skins. Anyone can create, modify and reuse the skins to their heart's content. You can get Rainmeter here Also read: How does Windows 'Disk Cleanup' work? 10 things it does f.lux f.lux is cross-platform software which changes your screen's colour temperature according to the time. During the daytime, computer screens look fine. They're designed to look like the sun. But at night, when you're busy blasting away at your desktop, it's probably not a good idea to stare at a screen like that. f.lux fixes this. Much like the night mode on many smartphones, f.lux controls the blue tint of computer screens according to the time of the day. Making it warmer as the night passes by. This can save your eyes some serious strain. You can get f.lux here AVG PC TuneUp AVG PC TuneUp (previously TuneUp Utilities) is a software suite with a bunch of extremely useful utilities up its sleeve. It is an all in one management suite for your PC. You can manage your storage, diagnose hardware issues, fix registry issues, fix broken/missing drivers, update firmware/drivers and what not. The app also has anti-malware systems built in. The Game Mode in the app temporarily boosts your computer's performance so that you can get better performance in your games. As aforementioned, the app also has a bunch of excellent memory management apps. This is truly the one app you need for all your OS management. You can get AVG PC TuneUp here CPU-Z CPU-Z is also another very useful hardware monitoring app. Essentially it's a freeware system profiling and monitoring software for Windows. Upon installation, it detects and shows the CPU, RAM, GPU, MotherBoard and other hardware components of a PC. It used by PC enthusiasts all over the world for monitoring basic hardware stats. It is an extremely lightweight software too. Also, it barely needs any system resources to run and hence can be used on a wide variety of systems. You can get CPU-Z here SpeedFan If your PC runs hot, this software can save your life. SpeedFan is a system monitoring app for Windows that monitors your PC's temperatures, fan RPMs and voltages of various components. Power PC users widely use to it monitor hardware temperatures and voltages especially during overclocking. The software displays system variables as charts and as an indicator in the system tray as well. Depending upon your fan's hardware, SpeedFan also lets you set fan speeds for various components. You can get SpeedFan here Also read: How to manage app permissions on Windows 10?

Many different Windows services like Service Host (svchost.exe) keep running in the background of your Windows computer and usually, they start running as soon as you boot it up.

If you have ever opened Task Manager, you will notice a dedicated tab for Windows ‘Services’ showing information about every service and the resources that each of them is consuming.

Sometimes, these Windows services use up a lot of Disk Space and CPU memory, which can make your computer slow and make the other tasks lag.

Also read: Is Windows Defender good enough for your PC?

What are Windows Services and why are they running on your computer?

Windows services is a core component of the Windows operating system and enable the creation and management of long-running processes. Most of these services are a part of the OS but even applications installed externally can add up to these services. They do not require any user permission to start or stop running.

They run from dynamic-link libraries (the files with .dll extension) and control numerous functions of the Windows operating system or the installed application.

The .dll files being non-executable, need to be compiled into executable applications and this is where Windows Services is created.

Also read: How to pause Windows 10 update? Here are 4 ways that might help

Should you disable Windows Services to speed up your computer?

Is disabling Windows services a good idea to speed up your computer?

A decade and a half back, during the time of Windows XP, it was quite often suggested that you should stop or disable certain processes hogging up the relatively little memory that systems had back then, but the case isn’t the same anymore.

According to Microsoft, disabling any Windows services does not make a difference to your computer. The slow working of your computer may be due to an infected virus or malware. A malfunctioning app can also contribute to a PC working slow.

Disabling a service can lead to a number of system failures that you wouldn’t want. The audio can be bricked, or even core applications might stop working. Besides, Windows has an AI built into the OS, which controls the startup of different services and only triggers them if and when required.

Considering all things just mentioned, disabling a Windows service is not recommended as it might cause more trouble in the long run than reduce your immediate pain of a slow system.

If you wish to make your PC faster, you should think about upgrading its components, such as the RAM, storage, processor and even the fan. Heating in an electronic device is one of the major causes of lag.

Also read: How to secure a folder on Windows with a password?

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Rajiv Kulkarni

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