Windows 8 Service Configurations

With every new Microsoft operating system, regardless of it being a client or server OS, come new and modified services. System administrators as well as end users who are interested in optimizing their PC and knowing what’s running in the background need to spend time to analyze the changes. One of the best Windows Service related Internet sites is Black Viper’s website.

The site offers service listing for all recent Windows operating system. Charles M. Sparks, the guy behind the Black Viper site, has recently posted an update listing all preliminary Windows 8 services. You find all current Windows 8 services in the list, their service name, the default Windows 8 Ultimate configuration setting and the recommended “safe” setting.

Why only Ultimate? Because Microsoft so far has only released that version in form of the Windows 8 Developer Preview. Users may be able to test other Windows 8 editions when the beta or release candidates come out.

Each service is linked to a Wiki entry on Black Viper’s website where additional information are provided. Here you find a service description, default path and command line options, account it is executed on and additional information.

All Windows 8 service information are preliminary in nature. Still, users who are currently running the Windows 8 Developer Preview release can use the information presented on the site to tweak their Windows 8 operating system.

If you have been using Black Viper’s site previously you may remember that the services listing included not only a Safe listing but also a Tweak and Barebones listing. Safe settings are not aggressive and should not cause troubles for the majority of users. It is the best setting to start with and it is likely that Charles will add tweak and barebones listings at a later time. For now, Safe and Default is all you can get.

It is nevertheless reassuring that Black Viper has already started to work on the Windows 8 Services listing on his site. You can check out the listing here. (via Mike)

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Post tags: manage windows services, windows 8, windows services, windows tips

Service Manager, Manage Services, Drivers Locally and Remotely

Tech savvy Windows users know that they can manage the operating systems’ Services either from the System Configuration tool msconfig or the Service management software Services which can be launched by typing in services.msc in the run box.

Service Manager now is a free third party program that home users and administrators can use to manage services and drivers not only on a local PC running Windows, but also on other PCs of a computer network.

The program is offered as a portable version and installer. I personally had problems with the installer (it would simply hang until its process was killed) and no problems whatsoever with the portable version.

When you first run Service Manager you will see all Windows Services in a table. Services are listed with their name, type, start type, status, process ID, account, path, version, language and activation time among other values.

A click on a table header sorts all services this way, which can for instance be handy to display all started services or services owned by a specific company next to each other. When you enable admin tasks you can manage one or multiple services directly from within the program interface. It is then for instance possible to start, stop or restart services.

A double-click on a service opens a new window that lists all service parameters. Here it is also possible to change the service and start type, as well as user account and password the service is started from.

A filter at the top offers to hide or display active, inactive or Microsoft services. You could uncheck the MS box to hide all Microsoft services from the listing.

The second option that the program offers is to display Driver related information in a similar listing. You can either display drivers and services mixed, or only one of them. Drivers are also displayed with their name, type, start type and a handful of additional values. A double-click opens a similar detailed listing of parameters, and the links at the bottom of the interface offer the same management options like starting or stopping drivers on the system.

The third option offered by the program is to connected to a remote host to display its services and drivers in the listing.

The menu bar at the top links to several interesting features. This includes options to export the listing into a csv file, to start the Event Viewer or Task Manager, or an option to create a new system service.

Windows users can download Service Manager from the developer website. The program is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit editions of the Microsoft Windows operating system.

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© Martin Brinkmann for gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials, 2011. | Permalink |
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Post tags: drivers, portable software, service manager, windows drivers, windows services, windows software