What’s New In Windows 8 Services

Posted on March 4, 2012 by chentiangemalc

If you take a look at a a default installation of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 and Windows 8 Consumer Preview x64 you’ll notice the following changes in Windows services:

Quick Stats

Windows 7 Windows 8
Total Services 149 160
Running Services 57 66
Stopped Services 92 94

So what’s new in Windows 8:

Display Name Service Name Description
Broker Infrastructure BrokerInfrastructure Coordinates execution of background work for WinRT applications. Set to Automatic startup and runs as Local System. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch. DLL at %windir%\system32\bisrv.dll
Device Association Service DeviceAssociationService Enables pairing between the system and wired or wireless devices. Set to Manual startup and runs as Local System. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted. DLL at %SystemRoot%\system32\das.dl
Device Install Service DeviceInstall Enables a computer to recognize and adapt to hardware changes with little or no user input. Stopping or disabling this service will result in system instability. Set to Manual startup and runs as Local System. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch. DLL at %SystemRoot%\system32\umpnpmgr.dll
Device Setup Manager DsmSvc Enables the detection, download and installation of device-related software. If this service is disabled, devices may be configured with outdated software, and may not work correctly. Set to manual startup and runs as local System. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs. DLL at %SystemRoot%\system32\DeviceSetupManager.dll
File History Service fhsvc Protects user files from accidental loss by copying them to a backup location. Set to manual startup and runs as Local System. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted. DLL at %systemroot%\system32\fhsvc.dll
Hyper-V Remote Desktop Virtualization Service vmicrdv Provides a platform for communication between the virtual machine and the operating system running on the physical computer. Set to Manual startup and runs as local system. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted
Local Session Manager LSM Core Windows Service that manages local user sessions. Stopping or disabling this service will result in system instability. Startup set to Automatic and runs as Local System. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k DcomLaunch. DLL at %SystemRoot%\system32\lsm.dll
Microsoft Account Sign-in Assistant wlidsvc Enables user sign-in through Microsoft account identity services. If this service is stopped, users will not be able to logon to the computer with their Microsoft account. Startup is set to manual and runs as Local System account. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs. DLL is %SystemRoot%\system32\wlidsvc.dll
Network Connected Devices Auto-Setup NcdAutoSetup Network Connected Devices Auto-Setup service monitors and installs qualified devices that connect to a qualified network. Stopping or disabling this service will prevent Windows from discovering and installing qualified network connected devices automatically. Users can still manually add network connected devices to a PC through the user interface. Set to manual run as Local Service account. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNoNetwork. DLL is %SystemRoot%\system32\NcdAutoSetup.dll
Network Connectivity Assistant NcaSvc Provides DirectAccess status notification for UI components. Set to manual and run as Local System. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k NetSvcs, DLL is %SystemRoot%\system32\ncasvc.dll
Printer Extensions and Notifications PrintNotify This service opens custom printer dialog boxes and handles notifications from a remote print server or a printer. If you turn off this service, you won’t be able to see printer extensions or notifications. Set up as manual startup and run as local system. Launched via  C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k print. DLL is C:\Windows\system32\spool\DRIVERS\x64\3\PrintConfig.dll
Sensor Monitoring Service SensrSvc Monitors various sensors in order to expose data and adapt to system and user state.  If this service is stopped or disabled, the display brightness will not adapt to lighting conditions. Stopping this service may affect other system functionality and features as well. Startup is manual and runs under Local Service account. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation. DLL is %SystemRoot%\System32\sensrsvc.dll
Still Image Acquisition Events WiaRpc Launches applications associated with still image acquisition events. Startup is manual, runs as Local System account. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted. DLL is %SystemRoot%\system32\wiarpc.dll
Storage Service StorSvc Enforces group policy for storage devices. Startup is manual, runs as Local System account. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted. DLL is %SystemRoot%\System32\StorSvc.dll
System Events Broker SystemEventsBroker Coordinates execution of background work for WinRT application. If this service is stopped or disabled, then background work might not be triggered. Startup is manual, runs as local system account. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k netsvcs, DLL is %windir%\system32\SystemEventsBrokerServer.dll
Time Broker TimeBroker Coordinates execution of background work for WinRT application. If this service is stopped or disabled, then background work might not be triggered. Manual startup, runs as local service account. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation, DLL is %windir%\system32\TimeBrokerServer.dll
Windows All-User Install Agent AllUserInstallAgent Install AppX Packages for all authorized users. Startup is manual, run as local system. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalSystemNetworkRestricted, DLL is %SystemRoot%\System32\AUInstallAgent.dll
Windows Connection Manager Wcmsvc Makes automatic connect/disconnect decisions based on the network connectivity options currently available to the PC and enables management of network connectivity based on Group Policy settings. Startup is automatic, runs as Local Service account. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\system32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceNetworkRestricted, DLL is %SystemRoot%\System32\wcmsvc.dll
Windows Defender Network Inspection Service WdNisSvc Helps guard against intrusion attempts targeting known and newly discovered vulnerabilities in network protocols. Startup is manual, runs as local service account. Launched via C:\Program Files\Windows Defender\NisSrv.exe
Windows Store Service (WSService) WSService Provides infrastructure support for Windows Store.This service is started on demand and if disabled applications bought using Windows Store will not behave correctly. Startup is manual, runs as local service. Launched via C:\WINDOWS\System32\svchost.exe -k LocalServiceAndNoImpersonation, DLL is %SystemRoot%\system32\WSService.dll

What’s changed

  • Dns Client (DNSCache) service had “Can Stop” set to “False” in Windows 7. Set to “True” in Windows 8.
  • Function Discovery Provider Host (fdPHost) service had “Can Stop” set to “False” in Windows 7. Set to “True” in Windows 8.
  • Group Policy Client (gpsvc) service had “Can Stop” set to “True” in Windows 7. Set to “False” in Windows 8. Was “stopped” by default on my non-domain joined Windows 8 machine, but “running” by default on my non-domain joined Windows 7 machine.
  • HomeGroup Provider (HomeGroupProvider) service had “Can Shutdown” and “Can Stop” set to “False” in Windows 7, set to “true” in Windows 8.
  • Offline Files (CscService) service had “Can Stop” set to “True” in Windows 7. Set to “False” in Windows 8. Was running by default on my Windows 7 machine,stopped on Windows 8.
  • Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRPsvc), Peer Networking Grouping (p2psvc), andr Networking Identity Manager (p2pimsvc) services has “Can Shutdown” and “Can Stop” set to “False” in Windows 7, set to “true” in Windows 8.
  • Plug and Play (PlugPlay) service had “Can Stop” set to “False” in Windows 7. Set to “True” in Windows 8.
  • Shell Hardware Detection (ShellHWDetection) service had “Can Stop” set to “False” in Windows 7. Set to “True” in Windows 8.
  • Software Protection (sppsvc) had “Can Shutdown” and “Can Stop” set to “True” in Windows 7, set to “False” in Windows 8
  • TabletInputService display name changed from “Tablet PC Input Service” to “Touch Keyboard and Handwriting Panel Service”
  • WinDefend service display name changed from “Windows Defender” to “Windows Defender Service”
  • eventlog service is now capitalized to EventLog
  • Windows Update (wuauserv) service had “Can Shutdown” and “Can Stop” set to “True” in Windows 7, set to “False” in Windows 8
  • WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service (WinHttpAutoProxySvc) had “Can Stop” set to “False” in Windows 7. Set to “True” in Windows 8.  
  • Wlansvc capitalized to WlanSvc

     

    What’s missing – Winodws 7 Service not found in Windows 8

    Display Name Service Name
    Adaptive Brightness SensrSvc
    Desktop Window Manager Session Manager UxSms
    Disk Defragmenter defragsvc
    Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v2.0.50727_X64 clr_optimization_v2.0.50727_64
    Microsoft .NET Framework NGEN v2.0.50727_X86 clr_optimization_v2.0.50727_32
    PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator IPBusEnum
    SPP Notification Service sppuinotify
    TPM Base Services TBS
    Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0 FontCache3.0.0.0

    • About chentiangemalc

    specializes in end-user computing technologies. disclaimer 1) use at your own risk. test any solution in your environment. if you do not understand the impact/consequences of what you're doing please stop, and ask advice from somebody who does. 2) views are my own at the time of posting and do not necessarily represent my current view or the view of my employer and family members/relatives. 3) over the years Microsoft/Citrix/VMWare have given me a few free shirts, pens, paper notebooks/etc. despite these gifts i will try to remain unbiased.
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