Unfortunately, no. Hardware profiles no longer are supported in Windows 7 (or Vista) and do not perform like they did in XP. In fact, they appear to have been removed completely.
Several services have the ability to be uninstalled. You can add or remove these services by:
- Head to Start
- Select Control Panel
- Select Programs
- Select Programs and Features
- Select Turn Windows Features on or off
I have found that the following Windows 7 Services can be installed or uninstalled:
- Application Host Helper Service ~ Not Installed
- ASP.NET State Service ~ Not Installed
- Client for NFS ~ Not Installed
- Fax ~ Installed
- Indexing Service ~ Not Installed
- LPD Service ~ Not Installed
- Media Center Extender Service ~ Installed
- Message Queuing ~ Not Installed
- Message Queuing Triggers ~ Not Installed
- Microsoft FTP Service ~ Not Installed
- Net.Msmq Listener Adapter ~ Not Installed
- Net.Pipe Listener Adapter ~ Not Installed
- Net.Tcp Listener Adapter ~ Not Installed
- Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service ~ Installed
- Rip Listener ~ Not Installed
- Simple TCP/IP Services ~ Not Installed
- SNMP Service ~ Not Installed
- Telnet ~ Installed
- Web Management Service ~ Not Installed
- Windows CardSpace ~ Installed
- Windows Media Center Receiver Service ~ Installed
- Windows Media Center Scheduler Service ~ Installed
- Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service ~ Installed
- Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache 3.0.0.0 ~ Installed
- Windows Process Activation Service ~ Not Installed
- Windows Search ~ Installed
- World Wide Web Publishing Service ~ Not Installed
Unfortunately, no. Hardware profiles no longer are supported in Vista and do not perform like they did in XP.
You can, for example, disable a service in the logon tab, hardware profile section for “Undocked”, but:
- Cannot create any new profiles
- Vista automatically detects what profile to use.
As such, an example of this would be a laptop that has a “docking station” with additional hardware attached to it. Vista would use the normal profile while the system is “docked” and use the “Undocked” hardware profile when on the road. This reduces the amount of drivers loaded and hardware detection issues (PnP) resulting from adding and removing hardware all the time.
Several services states cannot be modified using a registry patch in Windows 7. These are not listed to avoid errors while applying the patch to your system.
All services that have the ability to be installed or uninstalled via Add/Remove Windows Components are not listed. This is in an effort to not break existing configurations.
I have found that the following Windows 7 Services states cannot be controlled by a registry file in normal or safe mode:
With the default Category Control Panel:
- Head to Start
- Select Control Panel
- Select System and Security
- Select Administrative Tools
- Select Services
- Select a service to adjust by double-clicking
- In the General tab, Startup type section, select Automatic (Delayed Start), Automatic, Manual or Disabled.
If you like, you can also do: Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> Run –> type in services.msc –> Select OK.
After configuring all services that you desire to change, reboot to see the effects of your tweaking.
Note: Do not use msconfig to stop services. It basically is “disabling” a service. Use the above procedure and set to “manual” instead for testing purposes.
You need to check:
- Head to Start
- Select Control Panel
- Select System and Maintenance
- Select System
Under the “System” section, look at “System Type”. This will tell you if you are using a 32-bit or 64-bit Operating System.
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Mar 042008
The short answer: depends.
The long answer: D E P E N D S.
The best way for you to figure that out is load up everything that you plan on doing “at the same time.” Meaning, if you regularly have 5, 10, 20 or more browser windows open, Email client, a media player streaming music/video, a game or high powered editing software, fire that all up! After doing so, hit CTRL+ALT+DEL to open up the task manager and determine how much memory all of your applications are using.
With Windows Vista and Windows 7, this is listed at the bottom of the Windows Task Manager as “Physical Memory:” and is shown as a percent.
For example, if all of your applications and OS are taking up 256MB, or 25% out of your available 1GB of system RAM (and notice I am NOT including virtual memory availability), you should be fine and MAY not notice any improvement with additional RAM. Again, this depends on your needs and your perception of a speedy system.
If, however, your system is using 1.5GB (1500MB) of memory and your system only has 1GB of physical RAM, then virtual memory is being utilized extensively and it would be best to upgrade to additional RAM. How much do you need? Depends on your wallet.
In all cases, the more the memory the better. However, a “gotcha” exists:
If you are using Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 32-bit versions, they only support a maximum of 4GB physical RAM with, depending on hardware, between 2.5 and 3.5GB available for use by the OS. As such, if you have 3GB of memory and wish to upgrade to 8GB, it would be pointless while using a 32-bit OS as it will not “see” it or use it, anyway.
If, however, you are using a 64-bit OS, this particular 4GB barrier does not exist, so upgrading from 3GB to 8GB, depending on system use, may have an effect on your perceived system speed.
The “minimum” RAM to run XP SP2 is listed here:
64MB is low and any memory beyond that, up to the 4GB 32-bit barrier, would be better. What and how much you need depends on your wallet and the system hardware itself. Check with your PC manufacture for specifics on how much memory your particular model PC supports as they are all different.
The “minimum” RAM required to run Vista is listed here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/systemrequirements.mspx
Even though it is listed at 512MB for Home Basic and 1GB for all other versions, my performance requirements are beyond the “minimum” and I would recommend no less then 2GB to run Vista at all. By default, on a system with 8GB of memory, due to caching and various other Vista mechinisms, the OS uses about 700MB to 1GB. Using less physical RAM may reduce that figure, but adding more RAM will increase system speed if only making the minimum requirements.
The “minimum” RAM required to run Windows 7 is listed here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/system-requirements.aspx
Even though it is listed at 1GB for all versions, my performance requirements are beyond the “minimum” and I would recommend no less then 2GB to run Windows 7 at all. By default, on a system with 8GB of memory, due to caching and various other Windows 7 mechinisms, the OS uses about 700MB to 1GB. Using less physical RAM may reduce that figure, but adding more RAM will increase system speed if only making the minimum requirements. If anything, make the jump to “64-bit” and get a system with atleast 4GB, if not 6GB or 8GB. You can never have enough RAM.
Dec 182007
What I am not going to do:
- Predict on an individual basis whether Service Pack 1 or 2 “will work for you.”
- Test whether or not System Restore will “undo” Service Pack 1 or 2 or if you will be able to go back to a previous install point before Service Pack 1 or 2 installation.
With that said, this is my recommendations:
- No matter what, I would recommend to install SP1 and then SP2. If for nothing else, the knowledge that all of the “security” updates are current, not to mention the “bug” fixes.
- Back up everything you cannot afford to lose.
- Contact Microsoft for any Technical issues that arise with the Service Pack 1 or 2. I do not work for them. I do not have a direct line to them. They can answer and fix your problems much faster than I.
Several services states cannot be modified using a registry patch in Windows Vista. These are not listed to avoid errors while applying the patch to your system.
I have found that the following Windows Vista Services states cannot be controlled by a registry file in normal or safe mode: