Poll Which services do you disable to reduce attack surface area of Windows and to enhance privacy?

[Sandbox Breaker - DFIR]

All plus more. End up being Windows 11 Skeletal Edition hehe

 

[Zero Knowledge]

Again you really don't need to do this anymore, disable services in 2025? Are we still stuck in XP/7 days where security was rubbish? Print Spooler bugs are rare and so 2008 era. You don't need to disable Bluetooth you can do that in Windows Settings. The rest meh, doesn't bother me. I just don't see the need to do this anymore.

 

[Parkinsond]

All plus more. End up being Windows 11 Skeletal Edition hehe

W 11 core

Again you really don't need to do this anymore, disable services in 2025? Are we still stuck in XP/7 days where security was rubbish? Print Spooler bugs are rare and so 2008 era. You don't need to disable Bluetooth you can do that in Windows Settings. The rest meh, doesn't bother me. I just don't see the need to do this anymore.

Disabling some services reduce the attack surface area; this does not include services such as sysmain or Windows search.

 

[Parkinsond]

The risky services are in points 1-5.
Other services are usually unnecessary at home. Some of them can be possibly abused by the attackers.
For example, I asked ChatGPT: "Can the Program Compatibility Assistant Service be abused?"

Sometimes, I feel AI just does not want to let you down, finding any reason to support my theory

 

[piquiteco]

services such as sysmain or Windows search.

I have been disabling these services since 2016 and since I used Windows 7 to save write operations on my SSD. I still have an SSD that is 96% healthy and has been in use for over 8 years. I don't know if it's because of these services that I disable, I just know that I always do this on computers that I use SSD.

 

[Parkinsond]

I have been disabling these services since 2016 and since I used Windows 7 to save write operations on my SSD. I still have an SSD that is 96% healthy and has been in use for over 8 years. I don't know if it's because of these services that I disable, I just know that I always do this on computers that I use SSD.

I was disabling sysmain and windows search specifically for SSD writes, but I have read their writes are very small and will not negatively affect SSD.
Other services were disabled to reduce CPU load, but I did not notice significant difference.
So, I re-evaluated the whole process, and decided to only disable services which increase the attack surface area or breach privacy.

 

[anirbandutta01]

Connected user experiences & telemetry.
Geolocation.
Print spooler.
Remote access connection manager.

 

[Parkinsond]

Connected user experiences & telemetry.
Geolocation.
Print spooler.
Remote access connection manager.

Me, too.

 

[rashmi]

Many YouTubers or website authors aren't experts. Some copy from others and post outdated information. Be cautious when disabling services; a few may affect multiple OS features. I previously disabled the Microsoft Account Assistant service to stop sign-in prompts. Now, it blocks installing apps from the Microsoft Store with "The issue is with us; try later" error.

 

[Parkinsond]

Many YouTubers or website authors aren't experts. Some copy from others and post outdated information. Be cautious when disabling services; a few may affect multiple OS features. I previously disabled the Microsoft Account Assistant service to stop sign-in prompts. Now, it blocks installing apps from the Microsoft Store with "The issue is with us; try later" error.

I learned it the hard way; faced the same situation.

 

[piquiteco]

Be cautious when disabling services; a few may affect multiple OS feature

It's true, disabling too many services makes the operating system unstable. I am aware of these side effects, but some people may not know about them.

Now, it blocks installing apps from the Microsoft Store with "The issue is with us; try later" error.

The same thing happens to me when I try to install an app from the Microsoft Store; I get an error when trying to download it. But in my case, it wasn't because I disabled a service. Mine is already blocked by the firewall. I block a lot of things in the firewall, even svchost, and I set rules for it. I'm pretty extreme about this kind of thing, hardcore style, you could say. I don't worry too much about apps because I don't install as many apps as I used to, both in and outside the store. Just Edge, Brave, Chrome, Hard Configurator, Windows Hybrid Hardening Light, and my password manager, nothing else. Many will be surprised to hear that I no longer use Office. When I used it, it was the first thing I installed. Today, I don't even bother with Office.

 

[Parkinsond]

It's true, disabling too many services makes the operating system unstable. I am aware of these side effects, but some people may not know about them.

The same thing happens to me when I try to install an app from the Microsoft Store; I get an error when trying to download it. But in my case, it wasn't because I disabled a service. Mine is already blocked by the firewall. I block a lot of things in the firewall, even svchost, and I set rules for it. I'm pretty extreme about this kind of thing, hardcore style, you could say. I don't worry too much about apps because I don't install as many apps as I used to, both in and outside the store. Just Edge, Brave, Chrome, Hard Configurator, Windows Hybrid Hardening Light, and my password manager, nothing else. Many will be surprised to hear that I no longer use Office. When I used it, it was the first thing I installed. Today, I don't even bother with Office.

Do not you need a media player?

 

[piquiteco]

Do not you need a media player?

Yes, I use the media player. If I need to watch a rare DVD, I install VLC. Nowadays, people watch a lot of streaming content and do everything in their browser.

 

[Victor M]

The first thing I focused on were network facing services, ones that can interact with the net. That means there is a chance of tampering.

 

[Parkinsond]

Yes, I use the media player. If I need to watch a rare DVD, I install VLC. Nowadays, people watch a lot of streaming content and do everything in their browser.

I download media and watch it locally; you can call me "oldschool".

The first thing I focused on were network facing services, ones that can interact with the net. That means there is a chance of tampering.

Me to; I start with disabling IP Helper, Remote access connection manager, Server' SSDP discovery, TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper, and Workstation, as I do not use remote access, nor vpn, and I am not a server.

 

[piquiteco]

@Victor M You said something right, we're worrying about telemetry, me about writing to SSD, blah, blah, blah, he went straight to the point: network-oriented services, which can be exposed or exploited.

 

[piquiteco]

I download media and watch it locally; you can call me "oldschool".

I use the media player just to listen to some MP3s offline.

 

[Jonny Quest]

Again you really don't need to do this anymore, disable services in 2025? Are we still stuck in XP/7 days where security was rubbish? Print Spooler bugs are rare and so 2008 era. You don't need to disable Bluetooth you can do that in Windows Settings. The rest meh, doesn't bother me. I just don't see the need to do this anymore.

I agree, and in my case doing this over how many multiple PC's? (2 notebooks and 1 desktop)

 

[lokamoka820]

I prefer to use a trusted software to deal with services rather than disabling on my own, and was testing several good products on the last few weeks, all of them are good.

I have been disabling these services since 2016 and since I used Windows 7 to save write operations on my SSD. I still have an SSD that is 96% healthy and has been in use for over 8 years. I don't know if it's because of these services that I disable, I just know that I always do this on computers that I use SSD.

I tried disabling both services for a month, when search indexing is disabled I can't find portable apps using my start menu, I tried with 3rd party start menus and all of them rely on windows search, SysMain doesn't write too much.

 

[Parkinsond]

I prefer to use a trusted software to deal with services rather than disabling on my own, and was testing several good products on the last few weeks, all of them are good.

I tried disabling both services for a month, when search indexing is disabled I can't find portable apps using my start menu, I tried with 3rd party start menus and all of them rely on windows search, SysMain doesn't write too much.

Stopped disabling sysmain and search, as there is no considerable gain.
I prefer not using software; I do my services and registry sabotage manually.