Apparently, the majority of users who even have an initial level of knowledge on optimizing the operation of Windows operating systems know that a system of any generation and year of release constantly has a very large number of unnecessary services called background services because they are most often hidden from view user, and getting to process control is not always easy. About how to disable background programs in any OS from Microsoft, we will discuss further. For ordinary users, several simple basic options for managing unnecessary services will be offered without the need to intervene in the system registry or group policy management settings, although at this level almost all processes can be deactivated.
Why is it necessary to disable programs running in the background?
Before taking any practical steps to turn off a process, let's briefly dwell on what you can generally deactivate and why you might need to perform such actions. Here you need to clearly understand that any system service or user application that runs in the background (hidden) mode uses the system resources of a computer system, sometimes quite significantly increasing the load on the same central processor and taking up memory with its own additional components loaded into it, which most often presented as dynamic libraries and driver services. If you disable unused processes, the use of resources will decrease, which will entail an automatic increase in the performance of the entire system as a whole.
As for the services themselves, they can be listed almost indefinitely. The most striking examples are background printing services, processes responsible for the functioning of the Hyper-V virtual machine, remote access, etc. Why keep them active if the user, say, does not have a printer, doesn’t use other tests OS in virtual environments or not remotely managing a computer? And this is only the smallest part of the iceberg. In fact, there are many more such services.
How to disable background programs on time?
Now we turn directly to the basic methods of deactivating processes unnecessary for the user, which are not only not needed for everyday work, but also cause a heavy load on the hardware. If you understand how to turn off programs in the background, surely every user knows that any process elementarily ends in the usual "Task Manager", however, for some reason most people use this system tool exclusively to deactivate hung applications, completely losing sight of some additional points .
So, first start the “Task Manager”, and then on the process tab, sort all active processes either by the load on the processor or by the use of RAM (sometimes it is advisable to take into account the load on the hard disk or access to the network). After bringing the list into this form, it will immediately become clear which services are the most “gluttonous”. Now it's up to the small.
Use the RMB menu to abnormally terminate the process (task removal item) or the corresponding button. But far from all processes can be turned off, because their completion may require special privileges! In this case, start the new task via the file menu, enter the command for recalling the “Task Manager” and select the checkbox at the start point of the task with administrator rights.
Note: if we are talking about how to disable background programs in Windows 7, you can immediately use the Run console, since the command launch point on behalf of the administrator is available in it initially.
But such a technique is inconvenient in that it is only possible to complete a certain process for a while. Some system services may be reactivated immediately, while others will restart after a system reboot.
How to disable background programs in Windows that start automatically when any system boots?
In order to exclude the start of processes that start with Windows, in most cases they are deactivated in the configuration settings, which can be accessed by executing the msconfig command.
In systems of the seventh version and below, you should go to the startup tab and uncheck all the items in the list, leaving only the services of a standard antivirus and language panel (ctfmon). Pay special attention to the deactivation of various update modules for user programs, torrent applications, optimizers, etc.
But how to disable background programs in Windows 10 or 8, because the startup section in the configurator does not work? When you try to access it, the user will be redirected to the "Task Manager" (the main settings in these systems were transferred there).
Here you need to perform similar steps, but you can only leave the antivirus, since the language bar service is not listed.
Note: in addition to these systems, you can use the privacy section in the options menu, where you just need to rearrange the slider for activating background services to the disconnected position.
System Component Management
Alas, not all processes that can be deactivated in a standard way are presented in startup. Some applets are simply not displayed there. In this case, you must use the standard section of programs and components in the "Control Panel", go to the link to enable or disable Windows components, and uncheck unnecessary services in the list that appears.
Here you can deactivate the print service, the Hyper-V virtual machine, the use of Internet Explorer, virtual printers and XPS modules, and much more. But you can only perform such actions if you are firmly convinced that you really do not need disconnected components.
Deactivate unnecessary processes through the services section
Now let's see how to disable background programs and processes using the most powerful management tool for this - the services section. You can call it with the services.msc command. For convenience, the list of services can be sorted by service status or by name. Here the choice is much more. What exactly you will disconnect, decide for yourself. As an example, consider disabling the automatic installation of updates. Please note immediately that in order to completely and permanently disable some services, you may need to deactivate their associated processes!
So, how to disable the Windows 10 & raquo; background programs related to the automatic search and installation of updates? To do this, you must deactivate four components: the "Update Center" itself, the Windows installer, the module installer, and delivery optimization.
Enter the settings of each service one by one, using a double click or the RMB menu, press the process stop button, set the disabled value in the start type menu and save the changes. Keep in mind that if you select any other type of startup, the services will still remain active and will be restarted either after a short period of time or after restarting the system.
Disabling background processes in Task Scheduler
Sometimes it’s useful to look into the “Task Scheduler” (taskschd.msc), where you can also find many automatically starting processes.
First, you can go directly to the "Planner" section of libraries and deactivate unnecessary components there. However, if you have more in-depth knowledge of managing system processes, you can expand the Windows directory and disable some of the scheduled tasks there.
Using specialized optimizer programs
All of the above methods using standard Windows tools are not always advisable to use because of some inconvenience. In addition, in some cases it is quite difficult to clearly understand what exactly can be deactivated.
Therefore, it is recommended to use optimizer programs specially designed for this, such as ASC or CCleaner, which have their own tools for managing all system and user processes. By the way, in them it will be possible to see and disable even those services that are hidden in normal mode or cannot be deactivated.
Brief conclusions
With how to disable background programs, there seems to be clarity. It remains to choose the best and safest method of disabling unnecessary processes so as not to harm the system. Ordinary users, of course, can immediately be advised to use optimizers, since working with them is both easier and safer. But if you have sufficient knowledge in the field of Windows optimization, there will be nothing wrong with using the tools of the system itself, since some processes cannot be completely disabled even in such programs (for example, on Windows tablets, this refers to Bitlocker drive encryption, which can even use hardware at the TPM module level or locked primary BIOS / UEFI systems).