What's the difference between PROCESSES and SERVICES

[User42]

In WIN XP Pro SP2. Could it be briefly explained? The difference between
processes and services. And, which services and processes can be safely
disabled or stopped or ended without affecting the operating system basic
performance. The goal would be to speed up boot and shut down time.
Thanks in advance for any information.
Felix

 

[Jim Macklin]

A process is a program that you directly control/interface
with, such as WORD, Internet Explorer and a service is a
program that is used by programs to provide "services" that
you use indirectly.

see www.blackviper.com to learn about the rest of your
questions.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
some support
http://www.usdoj.gov/olc/secondamendment2.htm



| In WIN XP Pro SP2. Could it be briefly explained? The
difference between
| processes and services. And, which services and processes
can be safely
| disabled or stopped or ended without affecting the
operating system basic
| performance. The goal would be to speed up boot and shut
down time.
| Thanks in advance for any information.
| Felix
|
|

 

[DanS]

In WIN XP Pro SP2. Could it be briefly explained? The difference
between processes and services. And, which services and processes can
be safely disabled or stopped or ended without affecting the operating
system basic performance. The goal would be to speed up boot and shut
down time. Thanks in advance for any information.
Felix

Generally speaking, a 'process' is any program that is running. TYPICALLY,
each program instance running is one process.

A service is a process (program) that runs every time your computer boots
up, and are available for use BEFORE login. These are usually 'system'
program's that you don't interact with, such as networking services, but
not always. For an example, I have 2 FTP server packages. FileZilla Server
is installed as a service, and BPFTP Server is not. When that particular
computer is started, the FileZilla FTP server is available when noone is
logged in yet. The BPFTP server does not run until I log on to the PC
because it is just a 'regular' process (program) that is started from the
'Startup' group.