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Re-enabling unneeded services in Windows (until they are needed)

Cross-posted to 3 groups.

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Following up on this excellent thread posted today by "John C"
 *Disabling unneeded services in Windows 10*
 <https://www.novabbs.com/computers/article-flat.php?id=84265&group=alt.comp.os.windows-10#84265>

I first want to admit openly that I never understood Windows services.
Nobody teaches us this stuff. So we let Microsoft define the defaults.

I don't even know what most of the services do that are on in Windows.
But one service I know what it does, is the print spooler.

a. I do not print much (maybe once every few months)
b. So why should I have printer services running all the time, right?
c. My philosophy is I should run the spooler - only when I want to print

Is that logical to assume services should be off until needed?
And then, is it logical to assume it should be easy to turn them on?

If so, the way I've re-enabled the print spooler is shown in this graphic:
 <https://i.postimg.cc/kgMz8Kh1/printspooler.jpg>

To clarify that graphic, here's what I do for print services, which I 
openly ask the Windows & printer teams at large whether this procedure 
shown above and below can't be extended to all (or most/many?) services?

1. Win+R > services.msc > Print Spooler > Stopped (Startup type = Manual)
2. When I want to print, I cascade "menu > hardware > printer > spooler"
3. Which is simply a shortcut whose target uses the task scheduler
   TARGET=C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /run /TN "task spooler"
4. Where the task scheduler takes care of eliminating UAC prompts
   %comspec% /c start "" c:\sys\batch\spooler.bat

Below is the spooler.bat file which was written by others on this ng, 
specifically Andy Burns & VanguardLH whose help has been invaluable.

 @echo off
 REM spooler.bat starts & stops the Windows print spooler
 call sc query | findstr /i spooler
 if %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 goto :Stop?
 :Start?
 set /p user_input="Spooler is not running. Start it?"
 if %user_input%==y net start spooler
 goto :Icon
 
 :Stop?
 set /p user_input="Spooler is running. Stop it?"
 if %user_input%==y net stop spooler
 
 :Icon
 echo "Change shortcut icon color (red/green) depending on outcome"
 exit 0

The use model is that the print spooler is set to OFF/MANUAL by default.
A. When I need the print spooler, I exercise the taskbar cascade menu
    "menu > hardware > printer > spooler"
B. I enter "y" when it asks me if I want to enable the printer spooler
    "Spooler is not running. Start it?"
C. Then I print.

NOTE: There is no UAC required, which is why we used the task scheduler.

After I print, if desired, I can disable the printer spooler by running
the exact same process over again (which is the beauty of this method)!

A. When I do not need the print spooler, I reverse the process 
   by exercising the cascade pullout menu that Windows 10 provides
    "menu > hardware > printer > spooler"
B. I enter "y" when it asks me if I want to stop the printer spooler
    "SERVICE_NAME: Spooler"
    "DISPLAY_NAME: Print Spooler"
    "Spooler is running. Stop it?"
C. This is intended to run services only when they're actually needed.

My question to the team of Windows & printer experts is...
Q: *What other rarely-used services can this approach be applied to?*

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Thread

Re-enabling unneeded services in Windows (until they are needed) Marion <marion@facts.com> - 2025-01-16 12:48 +0000
  Re: Re-enabling unneeded services in Windows (until they are needed) Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2025-01-16 13:29 +0000
    Re: Re-enabling unneeded services in Windows (until they are needed) ant@zimage.comANT (Ant) - 2025-01-16 23:18 +0000

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